Interests you can't share with other people
AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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I say, roll with it. Keep diving in and learning new things about EDs until the next special interest grabs your attention. That’s kind of how it works for me.
And just in passing [with under-trying, which often works the best] , you might be able to help some other people. For example, maybe with a link you think is better than average, or what in your judgement is the top 3 features, etc. [I really think we human beings often have this weird quirk in which we get an overview of something by a set of three main facts or three big categories]
Here’s something which interests me about eating disorders—
With anorexia, I read that some recent thinking is that it’s not 100% psychological. But it might also be the fact that the body’s “thermostat” for appetite has gotten re-set.
Thanks for the excuse to share some info, I do think it's useful for people to know about
Anorexia has the highest death rate of any mental illness.
People often assume that restrictive eating disorders are just a response to societal beauty standards that over-emphasise thinness, but based on first-person accounts of people's goals and motivations for their restrictive EDs, that seems to be just one factor. Amoung goals, I've seen:
looking more feminine / looking more masculine / looking genderless, looking powerful and in control so people will respect me, looking weak and fragile so people will be kind to me, looking more attractive so I can find a partner, looking frightening so no one will ever touch me again, looking as sick on the outside as I feel on the inside so that I'll be "worthy" of treatment, achieving a number on the scale that I consider a "perfect" number (without caring how it affects my appearance).
What is more consistent is the presence of other overlapping mental health problems, such as ptsd, ocd, depression and anxiety. When trying to help a loved one with an eating disorder, it's best to focus on supporting their mental health, and avoid talking specifically about their body and their eating habits if you aren't their doctor. Commenting on how thin they look can just reinforce the behaviours, and pushing them to eat more without addressing the underlying problems can result in distrust and rebounds.
Thank you for a goodly array of nice, clear examples.
And I feel you talked with me as an equal, even though you know much more on this topic than I. Not everyone can do this on a major interest. So, nicely done on this count, too.
CockneyRebel
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auntblabby
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Thats quite informative. About anorexia.
Some years ago I overheard two woman talking...a teen girl and an older lady not related but they were obvious friends. Despite the levity in the conversation I overheard the teen gal say "so many times I have had lunch with a friend and the friend will say 'well I gotta go, I gotta get rid of all this food'" ie "bulimia is THAT common". Dang.
Table-Top Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons or Shadowrun.
They were popular back in the '80s and '90s, but seem to have been mostly lost by the wayside.
Everyone I've talked to in the last year seems more interested in video games or phone apps.
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looking more feminine / looking more masculine / looking genderless, looking powerful and in control so people will respect me, looking weak and fragile so people will be kind to me, looking more attractive so I can find a partner, looking frightening so no one will ever touch me again, looking as sick on the outside as I feel on the inside so that I'll be "worthy" of treatment, achieving a number on the scale that I consider a "perfect" number (without caring how it affects my appearance).
This isn't the kind of information that makes me feel greater sympathy with people with eating disorders. It's more like finding out Cthulu is real. I'm appalled and horrified and the knowledge reduces my desire to continue to live on this planet.
I think therein lies the special interest I can't share with anyone: I can't speak openly about what I really think and feel.
I can't express my revulsion, disgust, contempt, or anger. I can't talk about who I think deserves to die and why. I can't talk about guilt and regret. I can't speak casually about my willingness to die, and my fears that some day I could be trapped in a life worse than death.
I can't acknowledge beauty because I'm not allowed to acknowledge ugliness.
I can't show my love because nobody wants it.
I can't tell people what I really think of them, good or bad, because I know it will make them uncomfortable.
My special interest is radical honesty, and this world would accept me more if I was a literal Nazi than if I simply spoke my truth every waking moment of every day. (Nazis don't always express what they think and their opinions are embraced by other Nazis.)
Silence is violence.
They were popular back in the '80s and '90s, but seem to have been mostly lost by the wayside.
Everyone I've talked to in the last year seems more interested in video games or phone apps.
Those games are huge right now. Have you seen the movie that just came out it was awesome. I have two standing groups but not enough time to play. I also own a forum where they do play by post. Mostly Starwars TTRPG games, but there have been others. I don't play much any more on the forum because it is too slow and I don't have consistent access to the internet throughout the day, but I still have several good friends on there.
Also try wearing a t shirt around with dnd dice or other emblems on it. You will be surprised how many comments you get.
This isn't the kind of information that makes me feel greater sympathy with people with eating disorders. It's more like finding out Cthulu is real. I'm appalled and horrified and the knowledge reduces my desire to continue to live on this planet.
I think therein lies the special interest I can't share with anyone: I can't speak openly about what I really think and feel.
I can't express my revulsion, disgust, contempt, or anger. I can't talk about who I think deserves to die and why. I can't talk about guilt and regret. I can't speak casually about my willingness to die, and my fears that some day I could be trapped in a life worse than death.
I can't acknowledge beauty because I'm not allowed to acknowledge ugliness.
I can't show my love because nobody wants it.
I can't tell people what I really think of them, good or bad, because I know it will make them uncomfortable.
My special interest is radical honesty, and this world would accept me more if I was a literal Nazi than if I simply spoke my truth every waking moment of every day. (Nazis don't always express what they think and their opinions are embraced by other Nazis.)
Silence is violence.
I'm confused about your response to those facts about eating disorders. I can understand finding it upsetting, but it sounds like it makes you angry at the people with EDs, and I don't understand why that would be the case (sorry if I misunderstood this).
As for "I can't talk about who I think deserves to die and why" I think this kind of talk scares people, because it implies violence (even if you don't have any desire to actually hurt anyone). Same with talking about a willingness to die- it can make people afraid that you really plan to kill yourself.
A lot of the interests being talked about here don't present any kind of real world danger, they're just "weird" or vaguely morbid. I think what you're describing is different.
I agree with you that you should be able to talk about these thoughts, but I think that close friends/family and mental health professionals would be the best people to recieve them. They sound like they're very upsetting and destructive for you
Last edited by GreenVelvetWorm on 22 Nov 2023, 6:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
funeralxempire
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They were popular back in the '80s and '90s, but seem to have been mostly lost by the wayside.
Everyone I've talked to in the last year seems more interested in video games or phone apps.
Personally, those sorts of games seem to be at more of a high-point than a low-point. There isn't any stigma among normies like there once was. If anything, the internet helps those sorts of games, because people can also play them online, rather than having to travel and meet-up in person. My brother and his friends play via Discord on Saturdays.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/13/dungeon ... virus.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/21/styl ... agons.html
https://www.cbr.com/dungeons-and-dragon ... w-players/
At the same time, there was a rise in the number of people live-streaming D&D games on video platforms like Twitch and posting hours-long sessions on YouTube. Popular D&D groups like Critical Role, High Rollers and Relics and Rarities, which feature voice actors and celebrity players, have continued to fuel interest in the game.
This relaunch, coupled with an increase in social media and video sharing platforms, created a “combustible mixture of explosive growth,” said Chris Cocks, president of Wizards of the Coast.
I didn't dig deeply, but all the reporting I could find seems to indicate things are going great for DnD (although I understand and concede that isn't the same as TTRPGs as a whole).
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"Many of us like to ask ourselves, What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?' The answer is, you're doing it. Right now." —Former U.S. Airman (Air Force) Aaron Bushnell
lostonearth35
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I've been googling and looking up stuff about doomsday anxiety. The other day I read about a guy who killed himself because the world *didn't* end. Wanting the world to end sounds psychotic but I know a lot of people do want it to end. It's not livable anymore, anyway.
I'm a doomer. So what? I've been one since the mid 90's at least, and all the unimaginable horrors and fears I've had have come true. Nothing we can do but embrace the sweet release of death.
That's why I made the Cthulu comparison. One does not become "angry" upon learning an eldritch cosmic horror really exists; it's something deeply disturbing. So to with the deeper dive into the psychology of EDs.
Now entitled, selfish people? Narcissists and sociopaths? Those are the kind of people that make me angry.
I don't believe in the sanctity of human life. I believe life has no inherent value. Life only has the value we put into it through our actions, what we do in the world to make it a better place. Each life is forever on the scales of judgment, weighed against the harm they do. Life and anti-life are also forever on the scales: whether the joy, accomplishment, love, beauty, and other good things in the world outweigh the pain and suffering. Depression may put a finger on the scale, but the scale can tip against life. Most people are desperate to survive - no matter the odds, clawing for every last minute. I only want to be alive as long as I can live; when I can no longer live then it is time to die. Cancer, heart attack, blindness, crippling disability pain. People live with that, but it's never seemed worth it to me.
I don't anticipate dying anytime soon, but I don't expect or want to live into my 80s or 90s. I haven't made and am not making an active plans to kill myself, but I expect at some point in a couple decades to do so. And maybe sooner if something takes my health for an unexpected turn. I want to be able to talk about that honestly, openly, and in casual conversation.
A mental health professional cannot make the problems of the world go away. I have autism, not schizophrenia. I'm not imagining things; I'm noticing what others ignore.
And it's not just that. People don't want honest opinions. Getting married? Having a baby? Nobody wants to hear that you think it's a bad idea; they just want applause. They get hostile because WHY CAN'T YOU BE HAPPY FOR ME?!
If you don't want my criticism you don't deserve my praise.
That's understandable. Sometimes when I encounter human suffering of a type that's out of my own range of experience, I feel overwhelmed by it
I don't anticipate dying anytime soon, but I don't expect or want to live into my 80s or 90s. I haven't made and am not making an active plans to kill myself, but I expect at some point in a couple decades to do so. And maybe sooner if something takes my health for an unexpected turn. I want to be able to talk about that honestly, openly, and in casual conversation.
I agree with this when it comes to my own life, too. I don't want to live long enough to experience the extreme effects of aging, and I hope to have the freedom to make that choice when the time comes. I think people are too squeamish when it comes to discussing death. It happens to everyone whether they want to acknowledge it or not
When it comes to making that judgment about other people (weighing if their existence creates more harm than good and deciding if they should be alive) I think in most cases it's too complicated for me to even consider
I didn't mean talking to a mental health professional so they could change your mind about the messed up nature of the world, more to help you manage the difficulty of living in a messed up world.
Thanks for your response, I understand more clearly now
I don't have any embarrassing interests, just ordinary ones, but can't find anyone to share with either. i.e. I'm crazy for rocks, the earth and geology. I vividly remember when I was taking a class in college I got permission to study the rock samples in the lab late at night by myself. I told myself: This will be the happiest night of my life, and it was. (I also got 100% in the test the day after.) I know there are people who collect rocks but have never met one.
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No disrespect but some of these posts are really something else, my goodness.
My interests are quite different then a lot of people my age. It's not that I cannot share them, it's the fact that it's gotten me in to trouble in the past for talking too much about them or sharing too much.
A few are odd but harmless in my view. When it comes to sex and stuff, I obviously have things I like and would want to happen, but they are likely not that unusual.
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If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it.
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CockneyRebel
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funeralxempire
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Hitler in his bunker throwing a fit with different translations?
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I was ashamed of myself when I realised life was a costume party and I attended with my real face
"Many of us like to ask ourselves, What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?' The answer is, you're doing it. Right now." —Former U.S. Airman (Air Force) Aaron Bushnell
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