| ||
| ||
| Psychology Information | |
|
|
Time Out of Mind
Let us first consider the role of time in our lives, then let us consider that role in terms of mental illness. Buddhists and Hindus, among others, propose that time does not actually exist. The Western world, however, with its dependence on clocks and deadlines, scoffs at such a notion, relying upon sayings such as "Time is money" and "Time is of the essence." Time is of the essence. What an expression. Its inherent suggestion is that time comes from our essences; time exists within our souls. This is consistent with the Western position that time was discovered rather than created. Then again, the question haunts us: what if we did, in fact, create time? What if all our ticking clocks and watches amount to nothing more than a symbolic quest for orderly and coherent living? It's a terrifying yet convincing idea. One considers, then, how time functions from the perspective of a person with a mental disorder. The sufferer of depression, or anxiety, or psychotic ailments, likely travels life's trajectory in creaky slow-motion. Catchy sayings such as "Life's too short" make such victims grin wearily, responding in their minds, "No, life's too long." Given the incessant presence of pain in the victim's mind-- the ceaseless worrying, excessive self-reflection, and troubling sensory distortion-- hours tend to stretch, stretch, stretch until the act of exiting one's bed in the morning becomes overwhelming. Another kind of smile, likely even more weary, will cross the sufferer's face when met with this maxim: "Time flies when you're having fun." Indeed it does, and indeed the patient's schedule leaves no room for fun of any kind. Unless, of course, one counts the quiet joy of the moment when the depressed person sees that it's already six o'clock and thinks, "I can't believe I've made it another hour." It is this writer's suggestion that given the dark relationship between the aching mind and the ticking clock, the mentally ill should ignore time altogether. Take a note from our Eastern thinkers and do not, as my father always told me, "try to live the whole future in one day." Again, time needn't be regarded as a finite fact of life. One may choose to doubt it, or, moreover, disapprove of it! Who needs time, anyway? Whose mind needs a sweltering flurry of images from a thousand yesterdays and ten thousand tomorrows? The path to wellness may take two months or it may take two years. This is of no consequence. The moment is of the essence. About The Author Eric Shapiro is the author of "Short of a Picnic," a collection of fictional stories about people living with mental disorders.
MORE RESOURCES:
Psychology - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
What's the Problem: Introducing Solution Focus Pt 2 Again, many of us think we listen, yet we don't always "attend" to the person who is speaking to us. We are too busy doing other things! We are not being 100% attentive. Panic Attacks: Effective Ways to Cope Jill is a 21 y/o college student who used to do well until about a few months ago when she started to experience "weird" attacks almost daily. She described her experience as "horrible. Its Never Too Late First of all, a bit of background: A high school dropout, stay-at-home mom until the age of 40, I wasn't too motivated to learn. Then I read the following quote:"Old Bureaucrat, my comrade, it is not you who are to blame. Nature VS Nurture - Theories of Personality in 21st Century Nature vs Nurture theories have wasted a lot of energy of human beings. Plato is considered first to realize that you are made of not only flesh but also an intellectual soul. Are Observations Objective? On the outset all observations may seem to be objective, but in reality subjectivity tends to shape the objective observations. The observations can be categorized into three for better understanding Objective, Subjective, medley of subjective/objective observations. Why Does It Seem That There Are More Children With ADHD Than Ever Before? Even though the percentage of people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is likely the same as in the past, there are three likely reasons why it seems that "there is more ADHD" than ever before: First, we become more aware of problems like this as parents than we were as a children. We have grown up now and we are more concerned about these issues since we have our own children. Time Out of Mind Let us first consider the role of time in our lives, then let us consider that role in terms of mental illness. Buddhists and Hindus, among others, propose that time does not actually exist. HypoManiacs Often Misunderstood Are you a Hypomaniac? If you are you have some definite advantages over others. Hypomaniacs are often superstars in their fields, but they are often misunderstood by those who work so hard to profile personalities and put individuals into neat little boxes. Intuition I. The Three IntuitionsIA. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Nightmare After The Ordeal Sarah is a 28 y/o accountant who had a traumatic past that she kept to herself. At age 15, she was grabbed by a masked man while she was jogging in a park. Serial Killers Countess Erszebet Bathory was a breathtakingly beautiful, unusually well-educated woman, married to a descendant of Vlad Dracula of Bram Stoker fame. In 1611, she was tried - though, being a noblewoman, not convicted - in Hungary for slaughtering 612 young girls. Narcissism, Substance Abuse, and Reckless Behaviours Pathological narcissism is an addiction to Narcissistic Supply, the narcissist's drug of choice. It is, therefore, not surprising that other addictive and reckless behaviours - workaholism, alcoholism, drug abuse, pathological gambling, compulsory shopping, or reckless driving - piggyback on this primary dependence. Split Personality - A Myth or a Reality? IntroductionIn this world today, there are a lot of unbelievable diseases. One of them is the disease of human's mind, and a split personality is counted as one of the disease. Anti-Social Behaviors and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Anti-social behaviors are common with ADHD individuals. About 60% of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder kids are also oppositional or defiant. The Psychology of Torture There is one place in which one's privacy, intimacy, integrity and inviolability are guaranteed - one's body, a unique temple and a familiar territory of sensa and personal history. The torturer invades, defiles and desecrates this shrine. Emotional Intelligence: The Basics There's so much talk about emotional intelligence and how it can promote personal and business success. What is it really? What are its basic tenets?Emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize, understand, and manage one's emotions and that of others. Creating A Winning Mindset Do you know anyone who always wins? Sure you know that person, everything just works out for them. They go into business and they are an instant success. No Picnic In Sight Upon being diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, I saw the reality behind the greatest myth of mental illness, the myth that The Victim Is Unaware of His or Her Own Condition. A childhood flooded with media depictions of the mentally ill had lead me to believe that the afflicted had somehow been robbed of their objectivity, thrown into a dark hall-of-mirrors beyond the realm of rational perspective. A Case for Multiple Intelligences Based Classroom Instruction Although many high school age students tend to think and learn in nontraditional ways, American schools still base their instruction primarily on the verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences. As a result, many students who are not strong in these traditional intelligences develop poor attitudes toward school and their academic achievement suffers. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) At a Glance Most narcissists (75%) are men.NPD is one of a "family" of personality disorders (formerly known as "Cluster B").
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
