3 ms·

As a (very) amateur climber myself, I admire Alex. But the litle I know about psychiatric illness, I could clearly see that Alex is in depression - and that is,

by klhugo 7y ago

As a (very) amateur climber myself, I admire Alex. But the litle I know about psychiatric illness, I could clearly see that Alex is in depression - and that is, IMHO, one of the strongest motivations of him to free solo. In other words, soloing makes him forget the real pain. In case it goes sideways, he just does not care much.

pen2l 7y ago
> In case it goes sideways, he just does not care much. I don't think it's that. In some video online it covers Alex getting a brain scan, to determine if the part responsible for fear is maybe broken. It turned out that it wasn't, it was just that Alex was such an experienced climber that he knows with full confidence what he has to do and what his limitations are. Him failing doesn't really factor in the calculus of his mind as a possibility.
- balfirevic 7y ago
  Wasn't the conclusion that his fear response is greatly attenuated? http://nautil.us/issue/39/sport/the-strange-brain-of-the-worlds-greatest-solo-climber http://nautil.us/issue/39/sport/the-strange-brain-of-the-wor...
- bart_spoon 7y ago
  The brain scan is from the documentary, which if I remember correctly did result in the conclusion that his brain does not function like a normal human's in the context of fear.
rtkaratekid 7y ago
As someone with personal experience with psychiatric illness and having a degree in psychology and neuroscience, being trained on recognizing and treating disorders, I'd recommend avoiding attributing a clinical diagnosis to people without knowing more of the story. As a climber who's met Honnold and many other extremely high-end climbers, it's a pretty common thread that they don't feel 100% alive except for when they climb. You may be able to argue that they're all depressed people trying to get their fix, but I don't think that's true. The thing is though, it can be hard to explain this phenomenon to people who don't have some sort of hobby that gives their life such purpose. I really enjoy my life outside of climbing, I honestly do. But it's the stories of adventure and hardship (even if self-imposed) that really enrich my life and have made me who I am. Honnold is similar, just a lot more so.

by klhugo 7y ago

pen2l 7y ago

> In case it goes sideways, he just does not care much. I don't think it's that. In some video online it covers Alex getting a brain scan, to determine if the part responsible for fear is maybe broken. It turned out that it wasn't, it was just that Alex was such an experienced climber that he knows with full confidence what he has to do and what his limitations are. Him failing doesn't really factor in the calculus of his mind as a possibility.

balfirevic 7y ago
Wasn't the conclusion that his fear response is greatly attenuated? http://nautil.us/issue/39/sport/the-strange-brain-of-the-worlds-greatest-solo-climber http://nautil.us/issue/39/sport/the-strange-brain-of-the-wor...
bart_spoon 7y ago
The brain scan is from the documentary, which if I remember correctly did result in the conclusion that his brain does not function like a normal human's in the context of fear.

rtkaratekid 7y ago

As someone with personal experience with psychiatric illness and having a degree in psychology and neuroscience, being trained on recognizing and treating disorders, I'd recommend avoiding attributing a clinical diagnosis to people without knowing more of the story. As a climber who's met Honnold and many other extremely high-end climbers, it's a pretty common thread that they don't feel 100% alive except for when they climb. You may be able to argue that they're all depressed people trying to get their fix, but I don't think that's true. The thing is though, it can be hard to explain this phenomenon to people who don't have some sort of hobby that gives their life such purpose. I really enjoy my life outside of climbing, I honestly do. But it's the stories of adventure and hardship (even if self-imposed) that really enrich my life and have made me who I am. Honnold is similar, just a lot more so.