Lived Experience Forum

[Whiteknight]

Acceptance of our mental illness means getting it in perspective. Knowing why it is there is knowledge and knowledge provides comfort by removing the unknown or speculation.

So with no training, reading of books and being a sufferer with mere peer experience, I've come to some basic conclusions of the origin of mental disorders.

Take stress. Stress can be a definite trigger for bipolar. Where  did stress come from? This morning from our kitchen window we observed ducks on the golf course. They were wading in a puddle, feeding, looking out for predators, socialising and soon to breed. In fact there isnt much more that a duck does! Apart from raising their offspring.

Is it so that humans were in a similar mere "survival" point? We needed a few extra things- fire, shelter, hunting tools. But in terms of stress we had the same fears- predators  (other humans and dangerous animals) and so on.

This survival stuff without modern day stresses went right up till a few hundred years ago. Then in seemingly an instant, barely a few generations, surviving life went from the above basics to include- paying bills that meant employment often in fields we arent suited to, travelling in cars in traffic, flying, social media, listening to centrelink recordings "your time is important to us".., seeking accommodation and the list goes on and on.

Suddenly our lives minute by minute is filled with unnatural activities in order to download to provide us with those basics. ..shelter, food etc. We no longer hunt to provide 100% of our meat, even a modern hunter/fisher might only provide themselves 10%. 

Stress  isnt anxiety nor worry imo. Stress is as powerfully  debilitating though. Stress is when you are overloaded then you get that unexpected bill in the mail or someone like your child places more burden on you. To me stress is like jamming an extra apple into a paper bag already full and splitting. Worry is looking at the empty bag over concerned at how many apples it will hold but not possessing any apples to begin with. Anxiety is never having faith in the syrength of the bag even though everyone uses them.

Stress is bad. It has accelerated in recent generations as the number of daily tasks has multiplied in a world where unnatural activities are performed to just survive.

It isnt our fault we cant cope and the only remedy is to back pedal towards a more simpler lifestyle dipping into society only as much as we need to do in order to live as healthy as we can.

Its only been a few generations, many humans havent had the genetic ability to cope and some revell in it. 

WK

[Margot]

I liked your use of metaphor to explain your perception of stress, worry, and anxiety. Thanks for sharing your perspective @Whiteknight.

[utopia]

@Whiteknight. I too love the metaphor of the apples and the paper bag. You explained stress, worry and anxiety very clearly.

Yes I think a more natural and simple lifestyle would help reduce stress.