Happiness

[Verminator]

Hello all -

I am coming back to this forum with a plead for help. I want to know how to be happy without drugs, antidepressants, or alcohol. One of my coworkers has a book called "10,000 reasons to be happy" but the book is incredibly lame. I am hoping the fine people of this forum will give plenty of valid reasons to be happy... and won't be the usual responses like "You are breathing, stupid" and "You have a roof over your head, don't be an asshole!" My hope is that your insight will give me passion for life and define my true purpose?

Muchos gracias!!

[Don't Blink]

Find something in life that you are passionate about

[Skunch]

I found over time that happiness through altered states as the biggest lie in life!! Then came the reality that reality was still reality and it sucked at times but now with a headache or shakes or craving or acouple of times near death experiences!! What fun huh?? Things that make me happy centered and better are just a show of interest from you and I will share more here.

Gary

[Spirit of Desire]

I will be on anti-deressants for the rest of my life, I smoke a large amount of cigarettes and drink a lot of alcohol.

However i dont think that this makes me any less of myself, I am who I want to be and my other minor flaws dont change that. I want to be a teacher so im at uni. I want a long term relationship so I chat up girls.

In my opinion nobody has to change their lifestyle too much to be happy, happiness comes from the things we do because we want to not the things we have planned out in advance to make ourselves happy.

I will say though that if you think you might be suffering from depression and havent been to see a doctor yet then you should go as soon as you can.

[Verminator]

I am on antidepressants... but I feel I was more driven and determined without them. With them, I am just more numb than anything.

I tried to ween myself off of them and the results were disastrous. I was at work and went out at lunch to take a quick nap in my car. After 20 minutes or so, I woke up and immediately started crying and was confused about where I was. It was truly scary... almost a manic episode. I don't think I will be off of them anytime soon.

I do have quite a few interests... but they are all leisure related like comedy, music, sports, etc. I think that I need to find a purpose in labor/my career. This is where I fall way short.

This is a good thread... please spill your guts because I don't want to be the only middle class privileged family man with good health with issues!

[Starfire]

Everything is chemical responses. My antidepressants are storytelling and gaming. I started the former because I was hell depressed. I also need trance, meditation, forums, and girls. So that's six things that apply to me. They may not apply to you, but we do need a range in our lives. All the best !!

[Verminator]

When you say "range", you mean my weight and yo-yo dieting trends, I've got that covered!

[Lonestar]

Regarding the antidepressants, I'm assuming this/these were prescribed, and so only your doctor should adjust, substitute, or remove it/them. As you've already learned, trying to "self-unmedicate" can have disastrous, if not deadly consequences. Consult with your doctor about the effect it/they are having on you.

I can relate to medications having an effect on one's motivation. Although I'm not on any psychotropic drug [and I pray I never have to be], what I am prescribed does have an effect on my energy level, real or imagined. I've known people who were on antidepressants and/or antianxiety meds, with varying degrees of effect depending upon daily dosage. One woman I dated took so many meds [again, prescribed] that she couldn't function in a workplace, and not much so at home.

Happiness is subjective, of course. I try to find happiness through creativity in drawing [mechanical and electrical], reading [printed and Internet], interacting with coworkers and friends [and this includes Facebook and forums such as BoF, here], and even going out [when I can afford it!]. There have been times that I've knocked the "edge" off my unhappiness with alcohol, or if I'm in physical pain, a decent painkiller.

All things in moderation. And yes, sometimes it isn't easy.

[Verminator]

Thanks Lonestar... that helps a lot.

My American HMO doctors had been more "indifferent" about my approach to weening myself off the medication but I now know better. Of course, my mail order pharmacy has sent a fax and haven't heard back from the unorganized doctor's office and I am about to run out of the medication. This could get ugly!!

[Skunch]

C'mon peeps....this all sounds like alot of bullshit to me

[Verminator]

Nope.. completely serious. The local pharmacy has an APB to my doctor to refill the Paxil prescription... stat! The pill controls my life.

[Don't Blink]

going to leave this here

[cerina]

That is an extremely interesting video, DB.



As Lonestar said, happiness is somewhat subjective and everyone has different ideas about what constitutes happiness. Most people have 'if only' happiness ideals ... "If only I had loads of money, I would be happy", "If only I had a bigger/better house/car/boobs/penis/job/wife/family I would be happy". In my opinion, you cannot find real happiness by looking outside yourself. You have to find it inside you. You have to learn to like and love yourself, to be comfortable in your own skin (and your own company), to recognise your strengths and the positive aspects of your personality and the things about you that you like. That does not mean liking your nose, or your butt or any of your physical assets and it certainly doesn't mean measuring your 'happiness' against that of others.

Depression has many causes ... in the 'olden' days, when I first started my mental health career, we used to call it reactive or endogenous depression. Reactive, obviously, caused by a situation such as the death of a loved one, loss of job, or traumatic event. Endogenous depression is much harder to treat non-medically as there is no identifiable cause. This is the group of depressive symtoms that tend to respond best to the SSRI or NDRI antidepressants.

Regular exercise and the subsequent release of endorphins is one way of obtaining a feeling of happiness (and fitness). Finding something you enjoy doing. Helping others. All these things can help increase your happiness quotient and it is true that doing something to make someone else happy will increase your own level of happiness.


Great topic, Verminator.