YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I don't know, but sometimes you have to just realize you are powerless and let it go. We may be headed for a cliff but we are in the backseat strapped into our childseats.

Hello Brownblob!

Shit, that's some image...

But it implies that maybe there are adults in the front seats?
Not sure about that....

Not sure about that either. The last year has really shaken my faith in humanity. Maybe it is where I live and the people I work with and the idiots that news channels love to show, but people did not react to the pandemic as I thought they would. People have not reacted to other news events of the last year as I would have thought. I'm not trying to be political here. Neither party represents me, but just the reactions that people have made me question some views I had of humanity and the direction we are going.

I don't think it's megalomania to want there to be less suffering in the world. You're a sensitive and caring person, snoringdog.

I remember as a child being so pissed at Old Testament Sunday school stories about God's cruelty that I wished that I could replace Him. I think it was God drowning most living creatures on earth in the Noah's Ark story that pushed me over the edge. Okay, maybe I just have megalomaniac tendencies myself.

That is quite an image, brownblob. I know some of our views are shaped by the sensationalistic stories that get the most attention, but I too feel my faith in humans further shaken during the pandemic.

Sherri Mitchell, a Penobscot elder and long time human rights lawyer, tells a salient story, that reframes the ‘world’s suffering.’

‘The Dance of the Cannibal Giant’

34:19 on the podcast No Place Like Home. It may need more context than the story on it’s own, I’m not sure. I don’t want to presume others’ views either.

https://www.noplacelikehomepodcast.com/this-season

https://open.spotify.com/episode/73s21bm9IP82bSdH2yRwhf

It helped me. May not be for all.

Try to focus on the things in your direct environment and the things you can influence. If it gets too overwhelming, turn off the news and media for a while. You cannot control what is happening so focus on letting this go.

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your thoughtful replies.
There are a number of elements to this in me I'm sure, and I haven't quite clarified the various thoughts I've had, and why things can bother me so, sometimes.

In CBT they talk about discovering Core Beliefs and how they influence feelings and cognitions. Need to do a little homework..

So, last week two major events happened almost simultaneously;

The large earthquake in Haiti, and the collapse of the Afghan government, with the attendant chaos in the country.
One was natural, and the other man-made.

These felt like a one-two punch, and left me depleted for several days...

Why should this be?
Why should I care so much?
Why should I expect the world to be any better or more stable than it is?

And thinking of those left maimed with absolutely nothing, and those facing uncertainty and possible imminent death at the hands of the ignorant....

I'm here, worried about myself, and my own relatively minor stressors?

Hey SnoringDog,

The world has problems, and we have personal problems. The two are incommensurate - it is a logical fallacy to compare the two. None of this stuff is a competition. We deal with both as best we can with what limited resources we have.

Please don't feel insignificant compared to the problems of the world, SnoringDog (and our friend BrownBlob). You guys are very much significant and worth and good people.

Hello Manny,

Thanks, and yes I do know that.

But not sure why I let things get to me like they do. A combination of feeling powerless along with a belief that things "really shouldn't be this way".
Probably relates to the religious leanings I had when growing up, and a general sense of the injustice in the world.

When in the depths, it's impossible to see beyond my own skull, but at other times, it's good to try to maintain some perspective.

And how fortunate we are to be able to say "It's going to be a good day", and even have half a chance of it turning out so, right?!

Wishing you well..