explain this mystery of life please someone

[isabeau]

how come you can feel great, happy, on top of the world most of the time, and then for no reason whatsoever ( or maybe there might be ) you plunge down. that happened to me today. i have a good life. i dont have everything of course, but i have my health. i have a great husband (however a vanilla) a nice house, a great vacation to look forward to in a week and a few days. so explain to me why i am feeling so down all of a sudden? i try to be upbeat and happy. in this forum i mostly try to be friendly and nice. i lack fun in my life, but i expect that. you can think you look ok one day, then the next , cant stand to look at yourself in the mirror. this isnt a complaint thread, just wondering about the mystery of the mind, or brain, or whatever controls your feelings.

isabeau

 

[crydun]

how come you can feel great, happy, on top of the world most of the time, and then for no reason whatsoever ( or maybe there might be ) you plunge down. that happened to me today. i have a good life. i dont have everything of course, but i have my health. i have a great husband (however a vanilla) a nice house, a great vacation to look forward to in a week and a few days. so explain to me why i am feeling so down all of a sudden? i try to be upbeat and happy. in this forum i mostly try to be friendly and nice. i lack fun in my life, but i expect that. you can think you look ok one day, then the next , cant stand to look at yourself in the mirror. this isnt a complaint thread, just wondering about the mystery of the mind, or brain, or whatever controls your feelings.

isabeau

for most of us, moods have cycles. We feel good, we feel bad. For instance, I have SAD(seasonal affective disorder) and if I don't get enough sunny days, my energy drains and I get very moody. It could otherwise be a great day.
Different people are affected by different things that trigger their mood changes.
Take a long bath, sit in a comfy chair and pull out a piece of paper. Write down everything good that you have in your life. Then, write down everything that is not so good. Usually, the good outweighs the bad, making one's self-worth increase and they feel better.

If that doesn't work, get a feather and tickle the back of the thigh. Laughter IS medicine!!

take care!!!

 

[Limeoutsider]

I find that its other people who effect my mood, hence I avoid them

 

[isabeau]

thanks crydun. sorry to hear about your disorder. and lime i know that about others affecting your moods.

isabeau

 

[leafstk]

Hope you're feeling better soon, Isabeau! The mind can be a funny thing. I don't know you that well, but its been a pleasure reading your posts and teasing you in the Silly Forum 🙂 You'll find its natural to feel as you do, take care 🙂

 

[isabeau]

thanks hon although i wasnt seeking sympathy i was wondering why the mind works the way it does. thanks though xoxo

isabeau

 

[mark 19]

42! Sorry someone had to say it the question was so close 😀

If you want to have a more scientific answer I believe it has to do predominantly with the level of dopamine in the brain which varies naturally, it can be affected by lots of things i.e. sunlight as mention above, can’t speak from personal experience but often drug users (Doesn’t happen with all drugs) get depressed several days after they’ve taken drugs as the brain goes from being flooded by dopamine to having virtually none (the low after the high).

Personally I get the same thing I can be happy when I’ve got nothing in particular to be happy about 🙂 or chronically depressed when things are going well 🙁 Don’t know what in our evolution it was that decided what did and didn’t trigger the release of dopamine. But personally I would just say to do as much as you can that is known to stimulate the release of dopamine or simmlar chemicals (short of becoming a drug addict 😀 ) i.e. let plenty of light into your environment, relax and listen to music get tickled or something simple that you enjoy, and/or have sex (Sorry rude answer but the best way to stimulate the release of dopamine other than drugs, and I can’t say its ever made me anything other than happy)

 

[isabeau]

mark im truly impressed. you are a very bright person. thanks for that explanation. xoxo

isabeau

 

[red indian]

A much simpler explanation.........

.....life is like a bananna, one day its in your mouth, the next, its up your arse.


Thank you so much for stopping by, but your time is up......Next!!!

 

[amk714]

So that's why I don't like bananas! 😀

As for the role of dopamine (thanks to mark for bringing it up): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine

Everyone has their ups and downs. It wouldn't be normal for someone to be happy all of the time (shiny happy people, yuck). 😛

 

[Knox The Hatter]

Swear to Cheney, I was gonna post the following in a whole new thread tonight...

Here, in my life, I have a wife who loves me very much...I have a nice, warm, comfy home...I have over ten nieces and nephews through marriage who are very nice, a second cousin who's really a de facto niece to me, and a surrogate nephew at work whose hair I tussle, and as am fond of as if he were a son...

I have both my parents, each in good health, and my younger sister, who, I, one day, when I was 13, tried to whack with a pitching wedge, has become a friend, a valued and trusted friend, whom I love very, very much, and who never ceases to amaze me. I have my best friend, who I've known for 27 years, who I smoked my first joint with, in his living room, at three o'clock on a Saturday morning...I smoked it down way, way too fast, and it hit me fast, and when I got up to go to the bathroom, I fainted. For years, I begged him not to tell anyone, but now, who gives a shit?

I have three great cats. I have a wealth of wonderful people right here on this forum who I've either met in the flesh, talked to on the phone, or interacted with as lines on a screen. My car runs. I have all these things...

And yet, I feel like the loneliest person in the world.

And, I don't even know why.

 

[Red Jester]

Swear to Cheney, I was gonna post the following in a whole new thread tonight...

Here, in my life, I have a wife who loves me very much...I have a nice, warm, comfy home...I have over ten nieces and nephews through marriage who are very nice, a second cousin who's really a de facto niece to me, and a surrogate nephew at work whose hair I tussle, and as am fond of as if he were a son...

I have both my parents, each in good health, and my younger sister, who, I, one day, when I was 13, tried to whack with a pitching wedge, has become a friend, a valued and trusted friend, whom I love very, very much, and who never ceases to amaze me. I have my best friend, who I've known for 27 years, who I smoked my first joint with, in his living room, at three o'clock on a Saturday morning...I smoked it down way, way too fast, and it hit me fast, and when I got up to go to the bathroom, I fainted. For years, I begged him not to tell anyone, but now, who gives a shit?

I have three great cats. I have a wealth of wonderful people right here on this forum who I've either met in the flesh, talked to on the phone, or interacted with as lines on a screen. My car runs. I have all these things...

And yet, I feel like the loneliest person in the world.

And, I don't even know why.

Now that sucks.

 

[Ticklish9's]

Chemicals

Chemicals in the brain (Seratonin largely) play a major role in dictating mood. Consumption of important "brain foods" (such as vitamins B-6 and B-12, 5-HTP and 5-HT1B) can ensure a steady supply of Seratonin and a smooth release in necessary quantities into the brain's blood stream.

I drink two chocolate soy milk drinks almost every day, each of which contains 50% of my Daily value of Vitamin B-12. I notice that, contrasted with days that I go without (when I'm out of town, for example) I am more alert, more energetic, and more generally upbeat when I get my B-12. It's a subtle but big difference.

 

[isabeau]

.....life is like a bananna, one day its in your mouth, the next, its up your arse.


Thank you so much for stopping by, but your time is up......Next!!!

lmao red indian thats funny as hell. love your siggy btw

isabeau

 

[toyou444]

how come you can feel great, happy, on top of the world most of the time, and then for no reason whatsoever ( or maybe there might be ) you plunge down. that happened to me today. i have a good life. i dont have everything of course, but i have my health. i have a great husband (however a vanilla) a nice house, a great vacation to look forward to in a week and a few days. so explain to me why i am feeling so down all of a sudden? i try to be upbeat and happy. in this forum i mostly try to be friendly and nice. i lack fun in my life, but i expect that. you can think you look ok one day, then the next , cant stand to look at yourself in the mirror. this isnt a complaint thread, just wondering about the mystery of the mind, or brain, or whatever controls your feelings.

isabeau

Biorhythms, honey. Its all about the biorhythms. The moons pull/the weather/the time of year/your person chemistry.

Sorry to hear you were down. Hope something perks you back up.

~ toyou

 

[isabeau]

thanks hon i do feel much better and a week from tomorrow im off to st johns in the us virgin islands. yippeeeeeeeeee lol

isabeau

 

[red indian]

Thanks Isabeau!!.........

....yes its a great picture, I love that smug supercilious grin! and the row of victories painted on the side of his kite. I am pleased to tell you that Wing Commander Stanford Tuck is still alive and going strong.

 

[isabeau]

thats totally cool red indian it does stick out i love it

isabeau

 

[TKpervert]

We all have our ups and downs. If you were 'up' all the time, that's cause for worry, as you're most likely flaming nuts.

Sometimes we can even feel guilty (subconsciously) for feeling happy, which can bring on a downer. Figure that one out !

We are not simple machines.

 

[isabeau]

so true pervert and i figured it out lol thanks

isabeau

 

[Knox The Hatter]

"Now that sucks."

Yeah, I guess it does, Red Jester. I guess it does. And I would like to remove this particular suckage, but I'm having a problem doing that right now.

I've been in a mild form of depression, in gradations, since I was six or seven, when my parents reconciled after a long separation. I can only count ten or twelve days since 1967 or so that were genuinely happy ones for me, "no worry" days, much of the time, I've been down for reasons that completely eluded me. I refuse to go on any kind of medication for this, since, in the words of a TMF member from way back in the day, I don't want to become a walking case study for Upjohn. All I ever wanted was a little validation, and maybe, just maybe, a bit of understanding from my loved ones. I might as well go up to Donald Trump and ask him to give me three million dollars.

My parents and my sister are the kind of people whose pro-active solution to depression is to tell you to 'snap out of it'. Then, they wonder why I never chose to hang around them

 

[isabeau]

knox hon pm me anytime ok? snapping out of it is something only someone who has no idea about depression would say. listen i've been there done that, while mom was alive and in her various depressions i would get so mad and disgusted with her , thinking somehow she did it on purpose. but i now know thats not true. its lots of times a chemical imbalance. and btw sometimes meds are the only thing that will help. i know because i fought having to take them, not wanting to end up like mom, an addict of xanax and other prescription meds. but because i am aware i take special precautions. without paxil however i'm not sure i would ever have gotten off the couch last year. sometimes you need meds even if you dont want them. i do want to get off them sometime, but it has to be gradual i hear. take care knox and dont forget to pm me whenever you feel the need.

isabeau

 

[Knox The Hatter]

Thanks, sweetie.

 

[crydun]

not only that but:

remember Knox,

whenever you're down, I'm the laughter ringing in your ear.

 

[isabeau]

ooo crydun just that siggy alone makes me giggle and curl my toes. that can cheer me up anytime.

isabeau