I think I just found the cause of all my troubles.

[Kai]

http://youarenotsosmart.com/2009/11/11/learned-helplessness/

In 1965, a scientist named Martin Seligman started shocking dogs.

He was trying to expand on the research of Pavlov – the guy who could make dogs salivate when they heard a bell ring.

Seligman wanted to head in the other direction, and when he rang his bell instead of providing food he zapped them with electricity. To keep them still, he restrained them in a harness during the experiment.

After they were conditioned, he put these dogs in a big box with a little fence dividing it into two halves.

They figured if they rang the bell, the dog would hop over the fence to escape, but it didn't. It just sat there and braced itself.

They decided to try shocking them after the bell. The dog still just sat there and took it.

When they put a dog in the box which had never been shocked before and tried to zap it – it jumped the fence.

You are just like these dogs.

If, over the course of your life, you have experienced crushing defeat or pummeling abuse or loss of control, you learn over time there is no escape, and if escape is offered, you will not act – you become a nihilist who trusts futility above optimism.

Studies of the clinically depressed show that when they fail they often just give in to defeat and stop trying.

The average person will look for external forces to blame when they fail the mid-term. They will say the professor is an asshole, or they didn't get enough sleep.

Depressed people will blame themselves and assume they are stupid.

Do you vote?

If not, is it because you think it doesn't matter because things never change, or politicians are evil on both sides, or one vote in several million doesn't count?

Yeah, that's learned helplessness.

Continued in link.

Fuck.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

All too accurate, and it's a hard trap to get out of.

[Kai]

All too accurate, and it's a hard trap to get out of.

The trick seems to be doing lots of easy tasks to build back up confidence. I think this trick is often called "keeping busy".

[navkat]

Been doing this shit to myself for YEARS.

BONUS FUN: The very fact that you quit becomes yet another failure in and of itself for you to commemorate with more sofa-to-ass contact.

[Salty]

This explains the dishes. I have a little note above my sink that says "Therapy" to remind myself that I will feel better about my whole life if they're done. Sure, there's the mess that weighs on my mind, the clean afterwards that relaxes me. But gratification of having them done in only a few minutes when the task built itself up in my mind as monumental is hard to describe and look a handy explanation.

[Salty]

I do disagree with the voting thing. Just because one path is fruitless doesn't mean you have to give in. You can keep crashing your head into a brick wall over and over but that doesn't mean you have to walk away from it when that doesn't work.

[navkat]

I just found out I have a weird sub-type of ADD that causes me to be the antithesis of hyper...my brain doesn't make enough dopamine and actually physiologically shuts down when something tedious or requiring intense concentration is put in front of me.

Turns out, this subtype is least recognized, most likely to internalize "you're a failure" criticism from parents, teachers, etc and the most helped by stimulant meds. I sought a Dx because I'm going back to school and am one of those people who starts of with every intention of taking good notes and paying attention, but I drift... It happens before I even realize I just spent half an anatomy lecture thinking about how many termite wings it would take to fill a balloon and what that balloon might feel like after it's tied off, or how I could redesign eating utensils to address the problem of that piece of lettuce one can never manage to stab at the bottom of the salad bowl.

They gave me Dexedrine (Like ADDeral, but Dex is the right-haned isomer of the same amp in ADDerall).

Surprise, surprise: I've been taking great notes, making awesome grades. This, above all else, has been a cure for the self-esteem issues. I say to myself every day I get a good test grade back: "So, as it turns out, you ARE really fucking smart, girl."

[Kai]

I do disagree with the voting thing. Just because one path is fruitless doesn't mean you have to give in. You can keep crashing your head into a brick wall over and over but that doesn't mean you have to walk away from it when that doesn't work.

That wouldn't explain the depression of making that decision though. In your case of the enlightened citizen, they would choose not to vote and make that a point of control in their life, and wouldn't become depressed about it.

[Salty]

I see. There's a part of me that's revolted by this, my own capacity for it. It seems like the enemy.

[Ambassador KLOK KAOS]

Best solution is to be productive, as stated.

There are several nuerological tricks you can do to fight this garbage though.

One is verbally/mentally reframing every negative into a positive (synapses that fire together, wire together)

and another I know of is smiling at yourself in the mirror for a full minute straight.

The trouble with techniques like this is that it's hard to remember to use them when you're in a shit mood.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

All too accurate, and it's a hard trap to get out of.

The trick seems to be doing lots of easy tasks to build back up confidence. I think this trick is often called "keeping busy".

I call this trick "pick one". When I'm under stress or depressed my ability to prioritize just shuts right the fuck down and I can be stalled for days simply by feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. Obviously, that just compounds the problem.

So, my coping mechanism is to pick a task at random and complete it. Today, that task is listing auctions on eBay (even though holidays are a shit time to list). It honestly does not matter which task I pick, as long as I complete it, because that little sense of accomplishment will help me pick a new task tomorrow.

[Doktor Howl]

All too accurate, and it's a hard trap to get out of.

The trick seems to be doing lots of easy tasks to build back up confidence. I think this trick is often called "keeping busy".

I call this trick "pick one". When I'm under stress or depressed my ability to prioritize just shuts right the fuck down and I can be stalled for days simply by feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. Obviously, that just compounds the problem.

So, my coping mechanism is to pick a task at random and complete it. Today, that task is listing auctions on eBay (even though holidays are a shit time to list). It honestly does not matter which task I pick, as long as I complete it, because that little sense of accomplishment will help me pick a new task tomorrow.

I prefer your GO FOR A WALK method.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Navkat, I also have ADHD (the regular kind) and fucking love how meds help me sit in one place and pay attention! Hate what they do to my heart, though.

[Suu]

Yikes. Yeah...Been there, done that.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

All too accurate, and it's a hard trap to get out of.

The trick seems to be doing lots of easy tasks to build back up confidence. I think this trick is often called "keeping busy".

I call this trick "pick one". When I'm under stress or depressed my ability to prioritize just shuts right the fuck down and I can be stalled for days simply by feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. Obviously, that just compounds the problem.

So, my coping mechanism is to pick a task at random and complete it. Today, that task is listing auctions on eBay (even though holidays are a shit time to list). It honestly does not matter which task I pick, as long as I complete it, because that little sense of accomplishment will help me pick a new task tomorrow.

I prefer your GO FOR A WALK method.

YES. That too!

GO THE FUCK OUTSIDE

It really works! It's an AMAZING cure-all for almost everything!

Depressed?
Fat?
Can't get a date?

GO THE FUCK OUTSIDE!

In fact, tomorrow after therapy I am going to the river, where I will run on the sandy beach, lie in the sun, and immerse myself in the alarmingly radioactive water. I will doubtless feel a million times better tomorrow night than I will tonight, where the game plan is A. eat pork, B. drink beer, and C. smoke cigarettes.

But tonight, it's all about CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE, which one must do with beer, pork and fire.