Will I Go
Crazy?
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For Writers Beat the Stigma The Any Dream Will Do Review
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For Writers Beat the Stigma The Any Dream Will Do Review
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3 Ways to Stay in Touch with Reality Dear Friend, Thanks for
emailing me. I've been
in your situation many times. I'll be in a hypomanic phase, and I'll be sure
of something, maybe good, maybe bad, about myself, the family, my acquaintances,
or my life in general. Too sure. Maybe I’m not in touch with reality. I highly
value being in touch with reality, so I've developed some things I say to myself
to accomplish that effect. What is
being in touch with reality? For me it’s having a pretty good idea what’s
going on, not being fooled by people often. You can never be absolutely sure you
are in touch with reality. It’s partly guesswork. But it’s very important
for me to be in touch with reality, because if I’m not I don’t have
credibility. Here are the rules that work for me. 1. Subtract
3 for paranoia If I'm sure
somebody intends to hurt me, I find 3 facts about them, e.g., They said a bad
thing about me, They said a bad thing to me, and They frown whenever they see
me. I discount these 3 things as untrue and never take them into account
again. When thinking about the issue, I only take into account the facts that
are left. This keeps me from overreacting and keeps me closer to reality. 2. Never
make a major decision until you have thought about it for at least 4 days. It's tough
to follow this rule. When you're manic do you chafe at the bit like I do? 3. Take
the victim sign off your forehead If I
signal people that I'm usable, they will use me. I've developed a little
protective cynicism to prevent that. My friend,
I wonder what would be left if you subtracted 3 facts from your situation. Maybe
you wonder if your imagination will ever stop trying to run away from you.
Well, I'm 59, and my mind still needs a lot of reigning in, i.e., the 3 tricks
above. But it's getting easier. At those times when I most want to say or do
something, when I just can't wait to stake my claim, those are the times when
I've learned that I have to not act until I do some thinking. Love, |