x-vertism is a behavioural archetype that changes with mental state. Nothing is absolute. Lots of social and structural factors impact people’s mental state from outside their control.
I can appreciate that what you’re saying is good willed, but it feels like the equivalent of telling a depressed person to try “not being sad.”
Telling a person with depression to “not be sad” is in fact, in essence correct, but usually it’s woefully incomplete when people say something to that effect.
What’s missing is the steps to get there. I advocate for gradually pushing yourself through discomfort and challenging how you feel so that it encourages your brain to change. Just like a therapist will tell you to tackle your depressive episodes in small, bite-sized pieces that you can handle until you finally can realize what thoughts and feelings trigger your episodes so you can reduce them.
You are at that point, in essence, doing all the stuff that sounds like empty pabulum if you were to decribe it to someone else. (“I learned to think positively and not dwell on negative thought loops.”) But again, there’s a gulf of work between depression and that kind of lightness, and there’s a gulf of work between being alone and socially awkward and managing a team and going out to dinner events without feeling nervous or self-conscious.
x-vertism is a behavioural archetype that changes with mental state. Nothing is absolute. Lots of social and structural factors impact people’s mental state from outside their control.
I can appreciate that what you’re saying is good willed, but it feels like the equivalent of telling a depressed person to try “not being sad.”
Telling a person with depression to “not be sad” is in fact, in essence correct, but usually it’s woefully incomplete when people say something to that effect.
What’s missing is the steps to get there. I advocate for gradually pushing yourself through discomfort and challenging how you feel so that it encourages your brain to change. Just like a therapist will tell you to tackle your depressive episodes in small, bite-sized pieces that you can handle until you finally can realize what thoughts and feelings trigger your episodes so you can reduce them.
You are at that point, in essence, doing all the stuff that sounds like empty pabulum if you were to decribe it to someone else. (“I learned to think positively and not dwell on negative thought loops.”) But again, there’s a gulf of work between depression and that kind of lightness, and there’s a gulf of work between being alone and socially awkward and managing a team and going out to dinner events without feeling nervous or self-conscious.