for some reason ive always thought most people most of the time are in a pretty bland state of mind, not really happy or good feeling, and being kinda down most of the time is the normal thing. like feeling good, is a rarity, but most of the time you just stay low or just sliding by. am i right here? or do "normal" people feel some degree of well being throughout the day?
I feel a great ammount of well being every day. Whether that is normal or not I have no idea but it works for me. It's important not to slide into the "life is shit" frame of mind because a couple of bad things have happened. Every day brings something new. People need to be aware of that and deal with each thing individually and not store up the bad shit.
I feel a more...calm/peaceful feeling throughout the day rather than just downright happiness or sadness. I don't have a huge smile slapped on my face, nor do I scowl constantly. I do however, experience more happiness than I do sadness/madness. But, like etherea said before, every day brings something new.
First of all I think it's important to understand that there is no broad category of "normal" people. Within demographics there obviously exist averages, but when you are talking about something so vague and opaque as how people feel for the majority of a day, those averages would tend to break down a bit I would think. The "Us/Them" and "I/You" dichotomy is simply untrue and a bit prejudiced when it comes to defining "normal", whether that quality is meant to be perceived as good or bad. For instance personally I tend to differ from the posters above me by idling in prolonged apathy/nothingness, with huge spikes of ecstasy/depression occurring irregularly.
change normal to healthy. and even thne i agree with you about the whole normal thing. me, i dont feel calm or good in my day to day state of mind, i feel depressed, nervous, or discontent most the time. i have to take some kinda something to get me feeling good.
I think having to "take something" in order to feel good is a bit of a slippery slope. In dealing with my own history of mood swings I've learned to be as wary about the exaggerated highs as I've been about the lows- as my experience suggests there's likely going to be an uncomfortable crash like coming down from any drug. I think that using a drug to feel normal is a way of developing a dependency on it. IMO drugs should only be recreational in most cases.
It is a sign of the times. Everyone is brought up to believe that life should always be happy, content and perfect. We buy into that and the end result is that we believe that a little pill or many of them is going to fix what we do not fix in us. The elusive feel good is a myth unless you can exist in a bubble. I do not believe in medications unless they are combined with solving the issues that cause the swings or lows in people. It is a band-aid of avoidance in dealing at times with real life. No one is guaranteed happiness all the time but often misery is what is acceptable. Life really is a roller coaster ride and sometimes you are going to be up and sometimes down. Accepting that and instead dealing with how to deal with the downs and the ups instead of medicating to make it neutral, is the problem. When someone is genuinely content or happy with life, it makes others very uncomfortable and the assumption often is that they are not being truthful or hiding something. Since when did we become so jaded that we can not accept the joy in others without doubting the existence of such. We have become a feel good society, what a disservice to ourselves. There are those who truly benefit from medications and they are needed. For most it is the easy answer as the real answer of going into themselves is more difficult.
I've come to the point where I'm realizing that it has been the not-so-good times that have made the most positive impression on my life... that I'd be soft and ill-prepared life in general had I found a way of constantly feeling "good". I think the mind thrives on balance and getting too high is as bad- maybe even worse- than getting too low. It seems that the pharmaceutical industry has sidestepped common sense medicine in favor of maximum profits with prescription only meds being advertised in order to program a brand name in the mind of a patient who can potentially influence his PCP into prescribing it. Plus, all the new "disorders" being "identified" enabling all manner of anomalous thought to be pigeonholed as mental illness worthy of prescription... hell, they've even "identified" a mental illness that is basically being excessively fixated on eating healthy. I suppose I ought to get my prescription to address my clear mental illness -eh? Bullshit. All they seem concerned with is profits..
The pharmaceutical companies are in this for their own interest and healthy people don't need them. Bad marketing for them. I have the biggest gripe with medical professionals who prescribe without doing anything else. The excuse that, well it is better than doing nothing, is not acceptable anymore. I have no issue with anyone who needs meds in life and there is a time and place for that. If someone is having a rough go and needs them then they should also do all of the things that are required to heal not just pop some pills and hope it goes away. We are far too complacent about even medicating kids. This is the generation that if a little hyper, medicate, if a little sad, medicate......and it is endless. Then we wonder why they medicate and self medicate their youth away. I am not referring to those who actually benefit from treatments, I am speaking of those that adults find easier to manage because they are being doped. I do agree that if people do not handle the down things in life then coping is not something that they learn. It simply buys back into the let us all feel wonderful all the time. That is not life. I think that how people handle the down times in their lives is an indicator of who they are. I think today there is a category for just about anything you want to call a syndrome or disease....DO NOT sign up for that one.
