4 ms·

Depression and anxiety are diseases of the ego. When you dissolve your ego, such afflictions melt away.

amelius 6y ago
You mean personality disorders? I think they are something else.
SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
Yes, fearful and anxious battered women are full of ego. So are soldiers suffering from PTSD. Agoraphobics are bristling with pride.
- 0x8BADF00D 6y ago
  That’s one narrative they form about the story of their life. In order to be free from that (often) faulty narrative, dissolving the ego is necessary. Either through psilocybin or other methods.
  - SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
    You could have just cut through the pseudo-spiritual junk and say "self medicate with mushrooms". I know it doesn't have the gravitas, but that's actually what you're suggesting.
    - 0x8BADF00D 6y ago
      Your comment has so many levels of ignorance I don’t know where to begin. One does not “self-medicate” with psychedelics, as the experience can be intense and often unpleasant. Judging from your comments, you’re crippling your ability to think clearly with your anger. I really do hope you find the help you need.
      - SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
        > One does not “self-medicate” with psychedelics, as the experience can be intense and often unpleasant. So you're suggesting that you get a prescription from a licensed psychiatrist who then guides you through the therapeutic use of them?
      - dang 6y ago
        Please don't cross into personal attack, regardless of how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - heavenlyblue 6y ago
      I am enjoying how the parent, in a typical new-agey way puts their opinion which is based on literally nothing and then behave as if they have a better moral compass than the others. This is so classic it’s amazing. I love mushrooms by the way. But every single person I know who did acid or shrooms regularly behaves like that. It’s a clear side-effect of spending too much time in imaginary limbo. The basic effect is that since you have such a vast internal world the real world doesn’t matter anymore.
      - SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
        I've no ill will towards psychedelics, I just intensely dislike when pseudo-spirituality gets pushed as a solution to very real and very hard problems that ruin people's lives and the lives of those around them.
- dang 6y ago
  Would you please not post in the flamewar style to HN, as you did here and downthread? It's not kind, it's not what this site is for, and it leads to worse. Above all, it makes discussions tedious extremely quickly, because curiosity is the first thing that gets dropped when people start attacking and defending. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and sticking to the rules when posting here, we'd be grateful. Note these ones: "Don't be snarky." "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith."
onemoresoop 6y ago
Are they? I thought they’d be more of a wrong interpretation of the reality, wrong as in unecessarily negative; or a chemical imbalance or a bad situation in life, or suppressed emotions, or lack of agency or... there could be so many reasons. It doesn’t help that too many things are fit under the label of depression either. And a reason for a higher prevalence of depression in the western hemisphere is in my opinion how we choose to live our lives.
- onemoresoop 6y ago
  I dont doubt that there are cases of depression being caused by an unhealthy ego, but that’s not always the case.
Trasmatta 6y ago
Nope, not always. I had a bad psychedelic trip with complete ego loss, and it gave me a boatload of issues that I still haven't completely recovered from. I'm more afraid of death then I was before, and I've been dealing with a higher level of generalized anxiety as well. Psychedelics and ego loss aren't always a panacea.

You mean personality disorders? I think they are something else.

Yes, fearful and anxious battered women are full of ego. So are soldiers suffering from PTSD. Agoraphobics are bristling with pride.

0x8BADF00D 6y ago
That’s one narrative they form about the story of their life. In order to be free from that (often) faulty narrative, dissolving the ego is necessary. Either through psilocybin or other methods.
- SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
  You could have just cut through the pseudo-spiritual junk and say "self medicate with mushrooms". I know it doesn't have the gravitas, but that's actually what you're suggesting.
  - 0x8BADF00D 6y ago
    Your comment has so many levels of ignorance I don’t know where to begin. One does not “self-medicate” with psychedelics, as the experience can be intense and often unpleasant. Judging from your comments, you’re crippling your ability to think clearly with your anger. I really do hope you find the help you need.
    - SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
      > One does not “self-medicate” with psychedelics, as the experience can be intense and often unpleasant. So you're suggesting that you get a prescription from a licensed psychiatrist who then guides you through the therapeutic use of them?
    - dang 6y ago
      Please don't cross into personal attack, regardless of how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - heavenlyblue 6y ago
    I am enjoying how the parent, in a typical new-agey way puts their opinion which is based on literally nothing and then behave as if they have a better moral compass than the others. This is so classic it’s amazing. I love mushrooms by the way. But every single person I know who did acid or shrooms regularly behaves like that. It’s a clear side-effect of spending too much time in imaginary limbo. The basic effect is that since you have such a vast internal world the real world doesn’t matter anymore.
    - SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
      I've no ill will towards psychedelics, I just intensely dislike when pseudo-spirituality gets pushed as a solution to very real and very hard problems that ruin people's lives and the lives of those around them.
dang 6y ago
Would you please not post in the flamewar style to HN, as you did here and downthread? It's not kind, it's not what this site is for, and it leads to worse. Above all, it makes discussions tedious extremely quickly, because curiosity is the first thing that gets dropped when people start attacking and defending. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and sticking to the rules when posting here, we'd be grateful. Note these ones: "Don't be snarky." "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith."

onemoresoop 6y ago

Are they? I thought they’d be more of a wrong interpretation of the reality, wrong as in unecessarily negative; or a chemical imbalance or a bad situation in life, or suppressed emotions, or lack of agency or... there could be so many reasons. It doesn’t help that too many things are fit under the label of depression either. And a reason for a higher prevalence of depression in the western hemisphere is in my opinion how we choose to live our lives.

onemoresoop 6y ago
I dont doubt that there are cases of depression being caused by an unhealthy ego, but that’s not always the case.

Trasmatta 6y ago

Nope, not always. I had a bad psychedelic trip with complete ego loss, and it gave me a boatload of issues that I still haven't completely recovered from. I'm more afraid of death then I was before, and I've been dealing with a higher level of generalized anxiety as well. Psychedelics and ego loss aren't always a panacea.