Posted by baseball55 on October 30, 2013, at 19:59:30
In reply to Re: Thinking we are special » SLS, posted by Partlycloudy on October 30, 2013, at 18:24:10
Please PC, don't leave in anger. I completely agree with what you are saying. The whole purpose of communication is to connect and feel the same as others, or at least a part of the human community. To reject this is to isolate oneself.
I think for some people, this is okay. Some people just want to be alone. I did for many years. But it wore on me and drove me nuts eventually. Now I try very hard to see myself as connected and similar to others. Maybe not the same as, but similar enough to form bonds.
This is a very big issue in 12-step meetings, which I attend regularly after being addicted to drugs and alcohol. I once relapsed and couldn't stop and went to meetings and confessed my relapses and felt ashamed. I said this at a meeting. I feel so ashamed. Afterward, this guy came up to me and said - you're not unique, so drop the shame. I found this very helpful. Others have worked through the same or similar problems. We all have our failings and weaknesses. But it's important to keep trying to connect and identify with others, to not go off in a huff and say -- nobody understands me. In 12-step groups they call this "terminal uniqueness." Terminal, because it will eventually drive you crazy as you cut yourself off form others and from sources of help.
You have found help in your group and I have found help in 12-step groups. I have also found help here. When I started posting here, I posted to the psychology board because I was obsessed with therapy and my therapist. It was making me crazy and I needed to communicate with others about the experience of therapy.
I found I was not unique. Others experienced the same or similar issues. It's that sameness and desire for connection that keeps babble alive.
So keep communicating with us, PC.
poster:baseball55
thread:1053331
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20130930/msgs/1053397.html