Posted by undopaminergic on March 20, 2008, at 22:27:01
In reply to Re: What med should I ask my doctor for? » undopaminergic, posted by Sigismund on March 20, 2008, at 1:44:14
> I was walking through Woolworths today having a conversation with myself about this conversation I hope to have with you, and I missed not only the meat but also the milk.
> My life for 50 years has been conversations about conversations.Oh, I see. I do this kind of mental simulations of anticipated dialogues and events as well, and indeed, at times they take priority over less interesting activities such as driving, that are instead delegated to the autopilot, which does a good job most of the time, but sometimes misses details like old men crossing the street.
>
> My idea of depersonalisation (derived from "Feeling Unreal") may be different to yours.
> You described it as vacant apathy (at its extreme).Here's a good description of the extreme:
http://books-and-coffee.theglancetts.com/?page_id=142
(see "depersonalised schizoid")Fortunately, I rarely decline to that level.
> My idea was more about going through the motions of life but with a sense of inner paralysis and alarm.
I'm not sure I'm following.
> Has your experience with PEA been positive long term?
Not really positive, but certainly educative in several ways. My summary of long-term use is that it feels a lot better than it is. The good thing is that no matter how miserable and lethargic I felt, PEA (oral) would fix it every time in 15 minutes or less - nothing else has been so predictable and reliable. I quit it due to the almost total lack of results: PEA didn't produce long-term (or short-term, to a lesser extent) rational behaviour. It didn't help me achieve any goals, although it gave me the energy and stubborn determination to keep trying, and for longer than I'd like to admit, it kept me from noticing the futility of the situation, because it kept my spirits up. One day, while not being high on PEA and thus not feeling very well, the truth dawned on me and I decided not to take any more of it. That's one of the few times that my dopamine-deficiency - the anhedonia and lack of motivation - has been useful - it makes it so easy *not* to do things (such as take another dose of a drug) - a normal, healthy person wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation, which is what they call addiction.
I think that's a good real-world example of what is called perseveration in the litterature on (mostly) animal experiments. If it's not working, it's time to try something else - not harder.
poster:undopaminergic
thread:818436
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080316/msgs/819130.html