Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all - in a very bad way here. I've not been diagnosed autistic (hence the question) but my self-harm, depression, introversion and misanthropy tend towards some of the symptoms you guys sadly have to deal with.
Over the last 6 weeks of the Britsh general election, I've found it almost impossible to deal with the lies and halftruths which have been the constant diet and I think have reached my end point. I don't want to react to bullshit with the red flash of righteous indignation, but I do. So, are there meds/other things which enable some of the "noise" to go away? I've been on Sertraline (min dose) for 20 years, but even that doesn't stop me flying into a rage when certain buttons are pressed. I've considered keeping myself half-pissed (the only tme I feel any good) or stoned (don't want to smoke though, or hang around street corners - not my style) or usng CBD, about which I know nothing.
Just for background, I exercise regularly, but can't do meditation/mindfulness (have tried many times and it doesn't work for me) - so thought I'd ask, wthout much hope, whether there are prescription drugs (or CBD?) that "take the edge off" and would allow me to live half a life.
Thanks
I’ve recently been learning a lot about Zen Buddhism - and one thing I found very helpful is that address the aspect of what we ‘consume’ - and using this term they are referring to EVERYTHING that we consume: food, drink, media, news, the influence of the society around us, drugs, the emotional input of the people we mix with, messaging from family and friends, social media etc etc.
You specifically mention the influence of the election coverage and its impact on you. In Zen Buddhism they describe human beings as having many ‘seeds’ inside them: seeds of anger, seeds of happiness, seeds of sadness, seeds of joy etc etc, And they say that what we ‘consume’ will ‘water’ those ‘seeds’ - so (for example) if we watch lots of news coverage of Gaza it might ‘water’ our seeds of despair, or if we watch lots of coverage of lying politicians it might water our seeds of cynicism and hopelessness. On the other hand if we spend time in nature it might water our seeds of peace, or if we listen to wonderful music it can water our seeds of joy.
It’s not always easy but in many cases we have some choice over what we ‘consume’. For example - we can switch the news off, and watch something more inspiring, or choose to listen to more music, or read an inspiring book. We can spend less time with very negative people, but instead give our time to more positive influences. We can choose to eat simple healthy food rather than eat lots of junk.
what we consume has an effect on us. So we need to think about what we want to allow into our heads and our bodies, and make choices that help our overall well being when we can. I know many will disagree with me but I don’t think drugs are the ideal answer. I think there are other ways - but they do take time and effort. For myself Zen Buddhism is helping me to improve what have been lifelong issues with severe anxiety - it’s the only thing that has made a significant difference for me. I discovered the Buddhist teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh and it’s been truly life changing for me.
Anyway - I hope you find things that help you too - I know it’s so difficult but from my own experience I’d say that there’s always hope. Good luck!
What a forum this is! Wish I'd discovered it sooner Thanks Kate Kestrel for your words - I suspect there are minds / mindsets which are so special / so far removed from what "mainstream" life "requires" that drugs are needed just to get to a starting point, but mine may not be one of those, and exploring one of the many helpful philosophies (such as Zen) may be a better road to sanity. I've always engineered my life to stay as far outside what mainstream society insists upon as I possibly can, but this politics stuff has encroached. It won't happen again - Twitter, Youtube and political podcasts are already gone as of yesterday, and I've lanced a personal boil which was the main contributor to the crash which brought me here. Thanks all, but don;t stop with the good advice.
I find this community so good too - it’s helped me on so many occasions and I’m so grateful to everyone who shares their experience and thoughts on here. I had already severely reduced my exposure to news and politics - but I tuned into a bit more due to the election. Now I’m reducing it right down again (although I will catch the headlines because I don’t want to be completely out of touch). It’s good to get the balance right isn’t it? Not easy - but possible :)