I mean yes, change is hard and takes time and happens in sometimes-unnoticeable ways, but come on — throw me a bone and let me have something immediate to help keep motivating me toward the long-term change. If it were as simple as “keep doing it every day”, don’t you think I’d be doing that already?
I recently learned about dysthymia - basically a form of long-term functioning depression. Idk why I’d never heard about it before, but it for sure resonates with my experience.
Apparently, we should be able to get ~50/50 external/internal validation. For example, most healthy people can apparently do chores or something and get an internal sense of accomplishment that supports the external validation that is having completed chores.
The problem is, for some folks (hi there) we can’t really put up the internal validation part. Like, I’d be expecting the completed chores to make me happy, but that’s just not how it works. I need to be active in validating myself and saying something like, “good job dude!”
That shit is hard - especially if it’s like the total opposite of what you heard growing up.
Very well put. I too have dysthymia. And unfortunately that “long-term functioning depression” can and does last for years on end. Not to mention that you can also suffer bouts of normal depression on top of the dysthymia depression. Double whammy, as it were.
But yes, I’m pretty sure (at least for me) the only way that I seem to be able to produce dopamine involves food; the junkier the better, but healthy food is not the same. It’s probably the sugar that does it. I’ve noticed the longer I go without eating sugary foods, the worse my moods get.
There is nothing simple about “keep doing it every day”. There are so many reasons not to and it’s up to you and you alone to find the reason or the will to “keep doing it every day.”
In my experience, waiting for the carrot on the stick is much more likely to result in the whip
I completely agree with what you mean, but I would argue it is actually quite simple just not easy. People often talk about the two like they’re the same but it’s important to remember that at times simple things can be quite hard and complicated things may still be easy.
I mean yes, change is hard and takes time and happens in sometimes-unnoticeable ways, but come on — throw me a bone and let me have something immediate to help keep motivating me toward the long-term change. If it were as simple as “keep doing it every day”, don’t you think I’d be doing that already?
I recently learned about dysthymia - basically a form of long-term functioning depression. Idk why I’d never heard about it before, but it for sure resonates with my experience.
Apparently, we should be able to get ~50/50 external/internal validation. For example, most healthy people can apparently do chores or something and get an internal sense of accomplishment that supports the external validation that is having completed chores.
The problem is, for some folks (hi there) we can’t really put up the internal validation part. Like, I’d be expecting the completed chores to make me happy, but that’s just not how it works. I need to be active in validating myself and saying something like, “good job dude!”
That shit is hard - especially if it’s like the total opposite of what you heard growing up.
Relevant video
Very well put. I too have dysthymia. And unfortunately that “long-term functioning depression” can and does last for years on end. Not to mention that you can also suffer bouts of normal depression on top of the dysthymia depression. Double whammy, as it were.
But yes, I’m pretty sure (at least for me) the only way that I seem to be able to produce dopamine involves food; the junkier the better, but healthy food is not the same. It’s probably the sugar that does it. I’ve noticed the longer I go without eating sugary foods, the worse my moods get.
That video explains it very well. Thank you.
There is nothing simple about “keep doing it every day”. There are so many reasons not to and it’s up to you and you alone to find the reason or the will to “keep doing it every day.”
In my experience, waiting for the carrot on the stick is much more likely to result in the whip
I completely agree with what you mean, but I would argue it is actually quite simple just not easy. People often talk about the two like they’re the same but it’s important to remember that at times simple things can be quite hard and complicated things may still be easy.
Here’s a few recipes to dramatically change your life with new habits that are easy to implement. It works!
*life changes not guaranteed to be desirable