#MANY IDEAS AND AN OVERACTIVE BRAIN

[optiwashere]

OK so...

General thoughts on the epilogue on a kneejerk reaction: extremely good, satisfying fanservice. Basically everything I could have ever wanted. The game leaves obvious openings for all sorts of adventures, romances, and friendships, and that is one of the reasons I loved the game.

It's not exactly brimming with any subtext that I've found other than the things you can find in the dialogue.

Also! Fic ideas spawned from the epilogue:

I'm absolutely continuing Blades in the Night because of the "fending off Sharran assassins" line. Like, it's right there. They did it. Girlies fuckin' and fightin' was already real in my heart. Gotta get her to her happy ending away from all the pain.

Shadowheart/Asheera visiting all these people again to see what they're up to??? Hello? To Alfira/Lakrissa's house we go!

Since Minthara can exist in Asheera's playthrough now, I would have to rewrite It Is the Wound She Gave Me and Like I Am Safe Again to make it work. On one hand, I can see her forgiving Minthara in a vacuum of the playthrough but she would never, ever personally forgive Minthara for what she did to Shadowheart in that fic. MANY thoughts. It's complicated.

Absolutely need to write the "scatter copper coins on the bed and play make-believe" scene that Shadowheart teased about. Like, come on!!!

[bayesiandragon]

Sometimes it takes me aback when I see readers who, upon encountering a character who displays apparently highly irrational behavior often in connection to trauma or mental illness, become so confused as to why they seem so irrational or contradictory that they decide that no, it can't be the obvious traumatized/maladaptive thinking, it must be some nefarious plot to manipulate people or be otherwise secretly intentional. But then I remember that I have had quite a few people in my life with one or both of serious trauma or mental illness and that most people probably don't have those kinds of reference points. I see a character make some wildly irrational decisions and just think yup, I can see that/have already seen that.

[hauntedselves]

What does DID look like for someone who has no idea they have it?

lots and lots of confusion and denial! some examples:

they'll obviously have all the symptoms, but instead of knowing that they're attributed to trauma, parts, and dissociation, it's very confusing and many people feel like they're going crazy

amnesia is often glossed over or purposefully ignored ("i just have a bad memory", "i drink too much and it makes me forget", etc)

lots of excuses about part behaviour ("doesn't everyone act like a kid when their favourite childhood show comes on though...?")

attributing things that in hindsight are obviously DID to thinks like the supernatural, imaginary friends, religious experiences, magic, demon or spirit possession, hypnotism, an overactive imagination etc

thinking everyone has these kinds of experiences, not realising that they're not universal

attributing symptoms to other disorders (especially BPD, substance use, bipolar disorder, seizure disorders, traumatic brain injuries, psychosis) or gender dysphoria (or otherkinity/therianthropy even)

remembering only some of the trauma, but thinking that that's all of it

feeling ashamed at their strange, inexplicable behaviour, and being unable to account for it

Here is another post on recognising signs of DID in hindsight.

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

ace/aro-spec convexian cannibalism headcanons

this is what it says on the tin!! I'm basing this loosely off of my convexian cannibalism oneshot fic series, where the fics all sort of slot into the same "universe"

CW: discussion of sex, starvation and cannibalism ahead

SO, I think that Cub, Scar, and Grian are all ace/aro-spec (and autistic but that's not so important here) in my au universe. And I find it fun to explain so I am going to do so.

Note: I am aroace-spec, autistic, and polyam and I am projecting hard. No hate please. Don't like, don't read! ^-^

Grian

An asexual who doesn't particularly seek any kind of sex but is down for whatever if the right person (ahem. Scar) comes along

Way more into sensation-seeking than actual sex acts

His Watcher Powers (TM) make it a lot easier for him to handle pain, after the first few minutes of getting cannibalised his mind drifts off and it all becomes more about Feeling than Pain

He's also accidentally hacked his bird instincts to be kind of into the whole 'being perfect prey' thing

But he doesn't like to mix sex and cannibalism, that makes him uncomfortable - roleplaying as prey or whatever is more like a signal of trust and weird intimate comfort

He likes to 'switch off' his overactive and often stressed brain and just act as prey / food for his partners sometimes - it is a very good de-stressing technique

His Watcher instincts enjoy being the one to Do Cannibalism every so often - this is how he feeds (pretty much only on Scar)

He finds the thrill / adrenaline and sensations of The Cannibalism (TM) really fun, and a way to be intimate without sex

He is not aromantic, but he get embarrassed by most romantic acts

However he will say "I love you" to his partners as a response to them saying it... usually he's not the one to say it first

Scar

Both aro and ace-spec

He has to really really get to know someone before he starts 'falling for' them, and hates the idea of sex with someone he isn't very close to

He's known Cub for a long time and they have a Vex Bond (TM)

With Grian, Third Life really sealed the deal for Scar (though he had a bit of a crush for a while) - he would Vex Bond (TM) with Grian if he could

He's very bad at acting on his feelings, so he waits until someone else says something (usually)

He is, however, outwardly flirty and makes (sometimes unintentional) dirty jokes

He enjoys sex but doesn't require it. It's just another fun thing he can do, alongside the cannibalism. They are very similar to him in terms of enjoyment.

He's also a bit of a masochist, willing to go through a lot to make his partners happy (he has been eaten many times) (and it hurts a lot, but he kind of enjoys it)

Despite the masochism, he still respects his partners' discomfort with sex, and can usually channel the pleasure into something non-sexual if they ask. This usually manifests as vex instincts going kind of crazy

When it comes to cannibalism, Scar is a vex and therefore has to eat other players to survive. He used to starve himself until forced to attack and feed, but after Grian offered to help him, he gained a healthier relationship with feeding

His vex nature comes out when feeding, and he especially enjoys inflicting slow deaths (torture makes vex brain go brr) as well as nesting and 'storing' prey (keeping Grian in a nest for a few days before the cannibalism begins)

He's the most eager to say "I love you" and is very outwardly affectionate. He gets excited to show his love since he feels it quite rarely

Cub

Aroace and has sooo much autistic rizz (well. they all do)

He's mostly grossed out by sex and doesn't want it anywhere near him. Though he finds Scar's innuendos very funny and once in a blue moon he will be down for some messing about

It takes a very special kind of person for him to actually 'fall in love' and he doesnt tend to say "I love you" to many people

Most of the time he seems kind of dry and unemotional but on the inside hes got a lot of feelings

Those emotions show when he gets excited ("LETS GOOOOO") but usually even when happy he seems quite neutral

Grian and Scar are his special people, but even then, Cub is rather awkward with affection and finds it hard to understand his own feelings

With Scar, the Vex Bond (TM) is like a QPR, which helps Cub understand things, but after he and Scar began 'hunting' (see: asking nicely to cannibalise) Grian together things got more complicated and he was hit with an unexpected crush

Which was scary and unexpected because Cub never feels that way about anyone aside from Scar

'Vexes hunt in pairs' is a thing - it makes their instincts very happy and strengthens the Vex Bond (TM)

Cannibalism definitely also helps him get his feelings across without having to talk

Scar was a born vex but Cub was human-turned-vex, and Cub was always quite nervous about the cannibalism thing (so was Scar, but he played it off)

To keep him from starving himself, Scar offered to feed Cub, which Cub accepted reluctantly, but after Scar and Grian's arrangement was established in early season 9, Cub was quickly introduced into the fold

Cub wants to say "I love you" to Grian, even though he doesn't say it often at all

^ It must be made clear that he isn't feeling pressured into saying it, he's just very scared of the words and wants to overcome that fear (as he did with Scar) - it feels strange to admit he loves someone, because it happens so rarely and he feels very strongly about his aroace identity. But he has to come to terms with the idea that he can have love for his special people while remaining solidly aroace.

He also likes the feeling of Grian's feathers #autisticking

[nerdylittleguy]

Transformers Earthspark theory - how Knockout could actually be Mr Smelt

....or ideas about it, anyway. Enjoy my observations!

So uhh here's where the neurodivergent urge to consume media and hyperfixate on it has lead me! Please, feast your eyes on my flow chart/ mind map of madness™.

I know the text is really small, if you click and zoom it could be easier to read. I did try to split the original image into quarters, hope that makes it a little easier to read. However, if anyone needs a transcript I'll do my best to sort it out, my only concern is that I have no clue how to link ideas if they're just bullet points (the idea of having a way to link ideas is what lead me to make this in this format :) )

Perhaps a bit of an explanation as to what lead to this?

A few weeks ago, I saw the Earthspark season 1 part 2 trailer and hey... Who's that?? Breakdown?? Of course, I immediately wanted to watch what existed of the series so far, and imagine my pleasant surprise when I heard Knock Out's (tfp) VA voiced a side character!

Anyway, I started watching the series, finished it in 3 days, cried tears of happiness over Nightshade's pronouns (for those of you who say representation doesn't matter, it does. You probably just feel represented), fell in love with Megatron, etc etc. But imagine my absolute, brain-rotting madness when I couldn't find episode 7 on youtube!

Meh, like that would stop my theory brain. Using various episode summaries I found on youtube (first and foremost this one, as it was short and had good attention to detail! But if anyone has any recommendations for other good summaries feel free to let me know), I started to slowly make a mindmap. That evening I found @transformers-earthspark's blog and the where-to-watch resources... Firefly I cannot thank you enough!!! You're literally amazing!! You have no idea how happy I was to find ep 7!! You do so much, give yourself a pat on the back and a nice snack :))

Anyways, armed with my new access to ALL the earthspark episodes (1 - 10, anyway, as only they are available atm), I remade some of my mindmap, added to it, made more points. Over the last few weeks (aka less than two) I polished my mindmap, did some colour-coding, added images, links, details etc until it could apparently fit on an A3 sheet?? What??? So many ideas from silly old me??

Obviously, I don't think I'm completely right. As a matter of fact, I think I made many assumptions and links that were a very big stretch (blame this overactive imagination of mine. I keep thinking of potential plot lines and then forgetting that actually, I made them up and they're not canon). However, I hope I made a few points that will inspire someone to make their own theories, or just have fun thinking!

Apologies if this all sounds garbled or if it's difficult to understand, I am tired and I have two languages running around in my head (that I'm fluent in, I've also tried to learn 5 others. Lingual hell!!!)

Have a good day/ night and enjoy the theories!

Also a quick note and thing to add: I wrote this on Monday the 27th (I draft just about everything in my notes ok), before I woke up on Tuesday and saw the new images from the episodes, including the one with Breakdown!! AHHH!! /pos So I guess I was right about something? And I mean... Breakdown and a theme of racing in one episode? If this is a coincidence and Knockout is not chilling somewhere in the background then I don't know what to say.

[ghostofskywalker]

OK FIRST HAPPY 3K BABES

but also, I am on my hands and knees for some cassian. maybe some mutual pining 👀

HI MY BELOVED pls ignore that this is so late it's not even funny but i hope you love it!!

words: 825

summary: right before he leaves for a mission, cassian shocks you with a surprising declaration.

cassian andor masterlist || join my 3k celebration!

There's Never a Good Time To Confess Your Love During a War

You stared as he talked quietly with Mon Mothma, most likely running through the details for the mission he was set to begin in less than a full rotation. You had inspected his ship just barely a day ago, so you knew this was coming. It was normal for many who lived on the base to be in and out as they went on various assignments and missions, and it was left up to people like you (mechanics, droid techs, and other non-combat personnel) to hold down the fort while they were gone. You worried for all the rebels you waved off and those ships you repaired when they returned, but there was one person in particular that you had a special apprehension for whenever he took off into hyperspace. 

Most people would say that it’s impossible for a single person to be perfect, but you would have to disagree when it came to Cassian Andor. Not only was he incredibly attractive, funny, and kind, but the two of you had gotten along perfectly from the moment you met. You’d lied to people’s faces more times than you could count when they asked you if you had a crush on him, and it was getting tiring. And it didn’t help that there were only so many juicy subjects of gossip on a Rebel Base (that was not focused on the grim world you lived in), so it came up fairly often in conversation.

How were you ever going to tell him how you felt in the middle of a war? The word “crush” sounded so stupid when there were weekly vigils and services for those that had been lost in the seemingly never-ending fight against the Empire. You would simply have to be okay with the relationship as it was, unless the war suddenly took a turn and the fighting ceased tomorrow. You also in no way wanted to put Cassian in harm’s way or force him to make an decision he didn’t want to, and even though you doubted there would ever be a point where you left the base, your imagination was often overactive and always considering the worst possible outcome, which was that he was injured or killed because of you, your actions, or your feelings for him.

And speaking of the worries, you stared at a message on the screen of your datapad, from Cassian himself. I want to talk to you about something before I leave, it said, and you had no idea what he could possibly want. Pushing away the thoughts that he was going to tell you to leave him alone, or that he was going on a mission and somehow knew that he wouldn’t be returning, you sent a quick message back telling him to meet you by your mechanic station, and hit send before you could back out of it and pretend like you had never received the ping in the first place. Your datapad was all but thrown across the table, and you busied yourself with whatever things you could find, wondering when Cassian was going to come walking through the doorway. 

When he practically appeared next to your work table about an hour later, his face didn’t seem somber, but he also wasn’t the picture of exuberance. “Is everything okay with your ship? I checked it-”

“Doyouwanttogooutwithme?” 

You paused, standing up to face him. Well, that was unusual. You certainly had an idea of what you thought (and hoped) he had just said, but your brain was running too fast to really process the statement. “What?” 

That was not really your finest moment, but then again, when was the life you lived ever perfectly picturesque? 

Cassian stopped, as if he wasn’t sure what to do. For a brief moment, you were convinced that you had misheard him completely, and fear (along with a tinge of disappointment) took hold in your stomach.

Thankfully though, you had jumped to conclusions too quickly. “I really like you, and I have for a long time,” he said, taking a step closer and just beginning to close the gap between you. “I know I’m leaving for Maker knows how long, but I don’t think I could go another day without admitting to you how I feel.” He took a slightly shaky breath in, as if what he was about to say next was the scariest thing that had ever left his mouth. “And I really want to get a drink with you when I return.”

“I’d really like that,” you said, reaching out to take his hand. “And I feel the same way about you.” 

The smile that spread across his face was one that you never wanted to see fade away, and it only grew when you leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “Give the Empire hell for me Andor,” you said, and he nodded. “I’ll be here when you get back.” 

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

[wibzenadarksiderwithasoftheart]

Making Of Monday What to do with plot bunnies.

I've found that one of the wonderful and terrible things about being a fic writer is all the many plot bunnies. They breed, the little bastards, and I'll never be able to write them all, sadly. I do enjoy playing with them though, just letting my mind run wild with a weird idea. They're something positive for my overactive brain to focus on, and for that I'm grateful.

But what to do with them.

Of course there are the ones I choose to work on, the ones that end up being more than just a plot bunny, but those are the special few. There are many that I should kill off, but I'm possessive and can't bring myself to just let them go, so I put them in deep freeze (stasis sleep) so I can find them at a later date. The list is now incredibly long, there are so many small and large iders just waiting for their chance, but I have no idea if I will ever return to them.

A few I've released, set them loose on Tumblr so that they might torment/inspire others, and I should do this more often, but like I said, I'm possessive of them, so it's difficult.

In my note app on my phone, I have a running list where I can quickly write down the pesky bunnies when they come to me, usually at the most inopportune times. It can be anything from a single sentence, or just the title, to something more.

This is my current list: It's far from all my bunnies, as I'm constantly moving them to the deep freeze (a document on my PC) or promoting them into real plot ideas with their own note.

To have one last day with you

Ghost Ship

You're a pretty devil, I have to agree (Halloween fic angel and demon)

Same age Obi Luke Ani

The elven prince and his human, Elver Obi human Ani

To love a god is a terrible and wonderful thing

The dragon in the soul, Anakin turns in to a dragon

In to the woods, Quiobiani, Werewolves, Found in the woods, Forest time strange, Motorcycles

Hig treason, You are found guilty of having assinated the hig Chancellor and will be executed, They found Padmé in the crowd

Bride of the Dragon

Seeking comfort, Padawan and master sleep together, Ahsoka and Anakin didn't know it but with this they continued a tradition in their lineage.

The Pact, Sith and Jedi married every generation So there is this very old peace treaty saying that in each generation of Sith and Jedi two will be designated to be 'married' to maintain peace and balance (this would probably be in a universe where there are more Sith)

The dark fairytales of the galaxy

R2 secret recordings, Luke discovers that R2 has recordings of sex between two hot men and a woman. He shares with Han and Leia… Unaware that it's their parents and Kenobi. Poor R2…

first kiss reveals a soulmate

fan meet, Anakin Obi and Padme are all fans of meet, modern

song fic, you are the reason, in the end

darkness, gone blind, living in darkness, turning to new other senses, the power of sight.

Feel free to ask about these, I would be thrilled, and if there is one you would like to adopt, abduct, make yours, let me know, I need to practice sharing and letting go.

[oleandertrees]

overactive spectatorship in the yj fandom

thank you to everyone who has filled out the google form so far!

i'm mostly a twitter user so tumblr is very much a foreign thing to me (i didn't even know how to properly put a link on here..Thank you to my friend mekenzie who pointed it out to me and then told me how to link it) but i appreciate very much all of you non-twitter users who filled it out. tumblr and twitter are the social media platforms i'm most interested in looking into because it gives the greatest opportunity for analysis and such!

i've only shared very briefly the idea behind this project on twitter so i thought i would explain a little bit about it here since i have more space LOL

i'm a third-year film student with a concentration in screenwriting, and i'm currently taking a critical studies class where we study a variety of different film theories. this (you guessed it!) includes spectatorship theory. to put it very briefly, there are two major types of spectatorship theory: passive and active.

passive spectatorship is, in essence, the belief that the audience doesn't have much say in what happens to them when they watch a movie. the film is merely something that happens To Them against their will. this can be very closely associated with the ideas of sergei eisenstein, who believed that audience reactions could be carefully engineered and predicted by using certain filmmaking techniques. passive spectatorship is also often tied to psychoanalysis, so it's very much involved with the freudian ideas of the subconscious. i personally was taught it under the lens of psychoanalysis and feminist film theory, so we also talked a lot about the voyeurism of the male audience member, the passivity of the female both on the screen and in the audience, and the oppositional gaze of the non-white female audience who takes a deeper look into what they're actually consuming.

which then brings us into active spectatorship. this is the idea that, no matter what, the audience is an active participator in what they're watching, even if they may not actually be aware of just how active the process of spectatorship is. for example, there are physiological processes going on in your brain that make it so you can actually perceive a film as a film, rather than just as a series of still images being projected in rapid succession. we cannot physically make ourselves see the film as images without slowing it down, because our brain is actively working to prevent the illusion from being broken. while this may be an unconscious process (rather than a subconscious process, like in passive spectatorship), it is still active. or, (and i think this one is really neat), to give another example, if you watch a film that is presented in a non-linear fashion (take oppenheimer, for ex.), and someone then asks you to recall the story of the film, you'll tell the story linearly even though the information wasn't presented to you as such. your brain is automatically and actively working to reconstruct the events as you consume them.

furthermore, your brain also builds up a library of references over time from all of the many films, television series, books, etc. you've consumed that enable you to better understand each and every thing that you watch. MEDIA LITERACY FTW! so, to give an ex. here, imagine taking someone who had never seen a slasher before, sitting them down, and making them watch a slasher. they're not going to have any baseline knowledge of what they're watching, so they won't be aware of tropes, references, etc. that are included in the film. there likely wouldn't be a high level of predictability for them, b/c they don't have anything to base their hypotheses on (and the formation of hypotheses are a big part of active spectatorship). contrast this with someone like myself (who loves slashers, watches a lot of them, and loves reading horror & slasher film theory) watching a slasher, who is (whether i want to or not) going to be picking apart every part of the slasher because i have this library of references up in my noggin that i'm pulling from.

sorry for that very longwinded explanation before actually getting into what i personally am doing, but i feel like it is important to know and (i think) it's pretty interesting so hopefully you got something out of it anyhow.. SO! the morning i was doing my readings on active spectatorship for class, it just so happened to be the day after the timeline from the yellowjackets scripts were released, and there was a great deal of conversation about this timeline and particularly about jackie's birthday. this all seemed to me to be a confirmation that spectatorship, indeed, was very active. but the more i thought about it, the more it seemed to go beyond just active spectatorship and into a sort of "overactive" spectatorship.

this is something that i find to be most prevalent (at least from my own fandom experiences over the last ~9 years of being in online fandom spaces) in the yellowjackets fandom. never have i been in a fandom where people spend as much time picking apart every little detail and going to such great lengths to analyze each and every thing that is shown (or not shown!) on the screen. hence why i included questions on the form specifically about analysis and headcanons (i think fanfiction would be another interesting thing to look at, but i think inherently headcanons fit much more along the lines of analysis than a lot of fanfiction does! coming from a fanfic writer..Please don't take that the wrong way...i am a fanfiction lover).

so, to make a long story short, i want to look at (and write about) the ways in which the yellowjackets fandom takes active spectatorship to the extreme and turns it into overactive spectatorship through the analyses and deep conversations that are had about this series on social media spaces. it may not always seem like it, but fandom can be a legitimately important thing, especially within the spheres of theory that i'm talking about here. it can be incredibly illuminating in understanding the ways in which people interact with the media that they consume! and i think that the yellowjackets fandom is an immensely fascinating little slice of all of this, and (hopefully) this project can be something that people can get something out of and learn from.

i'm stupidly busy as the semester is starting to near its close, so this is just the beginning of a very long process, but i once again want to thank everyone who has already filled it out (and especially to those who have provided links for me to their analysis and headcanon posts!). and, if you haven't filled it out already and would like to, i'll link it again here. :)

[ailingwriter]

Ideas for a hypothetical sequel to Live a Live:

So obviously it's going to be another anthology series, but this time people are going to guess that all of the stories are connected so we can make that more obvious, possibly also referencing the original Live a Live.

I think it would be best if all of the stories are new ones. So, let's say 8 new stories. Problem: my overactive brain came up with over 2x as many. Ah well I can pare it down. Hopefully.

Before that though, you may be wondering. Which one will inevitably become the demon king? Answer: Whichever one you choose as your first hero. Because those who have played Live a Live expect one of the main characters to be a villain, they don't expect it to be the first one. In each bad path, the servants of the demon king work to corrupt the hero in any way they can, bringing about a new lord of dark. This also buffs whichever character is chosen first, making the first story much easier to complete.

As for all the different stories... I'll be honest I meant to share all of them in a single post but this first one ended up being so long I decided to put them all in different posts. So here's the first one...

Iron Age: Bitter Cold/Man's Best Friend.

The main character is a hunter trying to provide for his tribe. His special skill is that he can place traps if given the right materials, which he can trade for with the spoils of his hunt in a nearby settlement. This kind of fuses the mechanics of the Wild West and Stone Age from the original Live A Live. In battle, he mainly uses his bow and, again, traps, making him a not very straightforward character to learn.

In the good path, the hunter feeds a wolf who attacked him earlier then gets caught in his trap. The wolf then follows him, which will eventually lead into the domestication of dogs. Maybe not historically accurate, but then again Live a Live isn't always accurate anyway, especially with prehistory.

The two then go on to keep gathering food, all the while noticing strange occurrences. Massacred beasts, torn apart by no man or animal. Eventually, they learn from a neighboring village that a monster roams the snowy wastes at night. If the Hunter faces it at night then no damage can be dealt. Instead he must progress the story until the monster comes to him. He must weaken the monster by quickly setting up traps around the village. Even without any traps, the firelight makes defeating the monster technically possible, but very difficult without having used traps.

In the bad path, demons kill the wolf as well as a lot of the nearby wildlife. This does not stop the hunter from feeding his village. What does is the river being contaminated, causing the rest of the village to go sick and the main character to be the only hunter left standing. In desperation, the hunter goes to another nearby settlement for food. When he's turned down, due to them also being scant on resources, he attacks them and steals all their food, only to learn when he gets back to his village that it's too late. His wife and child have succumbed to illness just minutes before.

Mad with grief, he attacks the village that refused them, justifying his grief with the logic that if they had given him their food, he would have gotten back in time to save his family. The massacre he leads is only halted when he learns of a demon who might have caused this to happen. In despair, he hunts down and kills the demon, but the blood on his hands causes him to become the new Lord of Dark.

[blessed1neha]

Medical Astrology - Anxiety & Remedies

It's common to have uneasiness every now and then. However, strong, excessive, and persistent worry and panic over commonplace circumstances are typically experienced by those with anxiety disorders. Panic attacks, which are abrupt, strong emotions of fear or terror that peak within minutes, are frequent symptoms of anxiety disorders.

These uncomfortable, hard to regulate, out-of-proportion to the real threat, and protracted sensations of worry and panic interfere with daily activities. To stop these feelings, you could avoid certain locations or circumstances. Children or teenagers may first have symptoms, which may then last until adulthood.

Generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder (social phobia), individual phobias, and separation anxiety disorder are a few examples of anxiety disorders. There are various types of anxiety disorders. There are situations when anxiety is a symptom of a disease that requires care.

Any type of anxiety you experience can be treated.

Symptoms

Common anxiety signs and symptoms include:

Feeling nervous, restless or tense

Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom

Having an increased heart rate

Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)

Sweating

Trembling

Feeling weak or tired

Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry

Having trouble sleeping

Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems

Having difficulty controlling worry

Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety

The Basics of Anxiety Biochemistry 

Anxiety may be a difficult disorder to live with, but it's also a fascinating one. Anxiety can be caused by life experiences, by the chemicals in your brain, or by both. Regardless of the cause of your anxiety, it is treatable.

The neurotransmitters in your brain are affected by anxiety.

The biochemistry of anxiety is complex and vast. Studies have shown that nearly every type of neurotransmitter and hormone can play some role in anxiety, as can anything that reduces blood flow to the brain (like dehydration). Anxiety, in many ways, is simply your body's reaction to brain stress.

To give you an idea of how anxiety interacts with the brain, let's look at some of the body's chemicals and how they seem to contribute to anxiety disorders:

Serotonin Serotonin may be the most well-known neurotransmitter. Low levels of serotonin are linked to both anxiety and depression. Like most neurotransmitters, low or unbalanced serotonin levels can occur genetically/naturally, and can also be created by your emotions. Studies have shown that therapy and mental health techniques increase natural serotonin levels. Some medications specifically improve serotonin flow and reduce anxiety.

Thyroid Hormone Hyperthyroid, which is an overproduction of thyroid hormone, has been linked to the development of severe anxiety and panic attacks. Thyroid hormone may be the only hormone that isn't affected by mental health, but rather a condition known as hyperthyroidism. Generally those that treat hyperthyroidism find an improvement in their anxiety almost instantly.

GABA The neurotransmitter GABA is known to be the regulatory center for anxiety. Research has shown a strong association between GABA levels and the development of mood disorders, indicating that GABA also has an effect on emotions. In fact, one of the primary types of anxiety medications - benzodiazepines - bind with GABA receptors and produce the anxiolytic effect. The drug effects on the GABA receptors provides some of the strongest evidence that GABA dysfunction underlies anxiety states.

Epinephrine/Norepinephrine Norepinephrine is responsible for many of the symptoms of anxiety. These hormones and neurotransmitters are responsible for the adrenaline and energy that is pumped through your body when you're stressed or anxious, and cause changes like rapid heartbeat, sweating, etc. In some cases these hormones can become overactive, often as a result of regular stress.

Endorphins Endorphins themselves do not appear to be related to the creation of anxiety but are important to know about in relation to how that anxiety is relieved. Endorphins are mood and relaxation stabilizers. They're often related to "addictions" to various coping mechanisms - for example, endorphins appear to be released when people eat food they like, so eating food may become someone's coping tool. Exercise is an example of a healthy way to release endorphins and cope with anxiety.

Dopamine The role of dopamine in anxiety is only recently getting explored. There is evidence that dopamine has a role in anxiety modulation in different areas of the brain. Some studies have also shown that those with social anxiety may have problems with dopamine receptors. There is evidence suggesting that improving dopamine levels could reduce social anxiety, and possibly other anxiety disorders.

This is just a basic introduction to the biochemistry of anxiety. But the reality is that nearly every hormone and every neurotransmitter can potentially cause anxiety, simply because anxiety is often a warning sign that your brain gives you indicating that something is wrong.

Astrological reason:

Moon associated with Malefics { Rahu, Ketu, Mars and Saturn }.

Most planets in Airy and Fiery signs.

Remedy

Drinking a lot of water.

Offer water to Shivling daily while reciting Om Namah Shivay (108 times)

Eating in less but more frequently.

Applying fragrance/ Deodrant.

Applying Multani Mitti / Multani Soil.

[joshua-flipping-washington]

I'm going to put out my own feelers here, the hyperfixation and brain rot for Good Omens is BAD. I think about nothing but the Ineffable Spouses and stuff that I'd love to write or roleplay. Currently, I'm still working on 30 prompts for October, and I'm slowly getting through the second one now. As well as working on my own story about them finding, or well- A lil girl finding them.

But my brain is always running, like an overactive golden retriever or pitbull. I desperately need to roleplay with someone. I really have been enjoying writing as Crowley, so I suppose I'd like to find someone who would like to write as Aziraphale. Must be 18+, preferably 20 and up.

I prefer to write on Discord, as it's much simpler to just make a server and use it for role-playing purposes, in case other storylines are wanted alongside it.

I do love angst, fluff, and NSFW elements. ( Though NSFW isn't necessary, I do enjoy writing it. )

My replies are done in 3rd person, and I consider myself semi-lit, to advance. My replies always tend to be quite long, because I love throwing in as many details as possible.

I am absolutely open to plotting out something together and talking outside of roleplay to get to know one another. Though I do have a few ideas already in mind, and you can always share any you've got in mind.

Drop me a message if this interests you! I know I'll probably find no one with this, but my brain is just- EXTREMELY WILD. And I need to roleplay. Writing with yourself doesn't hit the same, though it's still fun.

[aachria]

Hello! Fic asker here again! Sorry I keep asking but I have to get this off my chest so- did you know there isn’t a single Httyd self-insert? And yes I have looked and zero nothing at all I hate everything like why isn’t there one? Because there is so many things you can do with it because here’s the thing like what time period are you born in? I know there really isn’t anything needing fixing but my brain is just wanting to hyper fixate to much and I can’t write because if I could I would but I better not see you writing any of my ideas because I will drug you so you get sleep! Atleast finish the one piece first before even attempting to writing anything else! (Unless it’s burn out and you NEED to write something else I get that)

I can promise you I won’t be writing your ideas for you anytime soon. It’s real sad when there aren’t any fics for your niche- that’s the point where you say ‘fuck it I am not talented but I do have an overactive imagination’ and run with it.

[crescent-lunatic-wolf]

I don’t know what to call myself in relation to this otherkin/therian/alterhuman stuff. It’s still kinda new and scary TERRIFYING TBH. Half the reason I created this blog was to sort this out, though, so dammit if I’m not gonna try.

Once upon a time, I was a dumb kid with an extremely overactive animation. And I mean extreme. I had an imaginary friend that I could not get to ‘go away’ until i basically had an existential crisis and screamed at him.

Sorry, old buddy, but I was starting real school and I needed to at least look normal. Im sure you understand.

This was just the first of many incidents where I felt obligated to cynically crush my more outlandish thoughts into a ball and stuff them away in a corner forever.

Then later I figured out that I’m trans. A lot of things started to make much more sense after that: why I hated puberty so much, why I felt too ‘soft at heart’ compared to other ‘boys’, why I oh-so-despised how I looked…

That was over 8 years ago.

Now, much more recently, as in within the week at time of typing this, a bunch of old thought patterns kinda cropped up at once. I am certain that this had something to do with the recent super moon, though. I don’t know if it was something I subconsciously did to myself, or if talking about werewolves just unlocked the forbidden corners of my brain or what, but the thoughts are back and hoo boy.

When I was a younger, edgier, egg-ier teen, I loved werewolves, conceptually. The very concept of wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing except its more wolf-in-human-skin was, in a word, rad. I knew it was a mythological, fantastical concept (logically speaking, I still do), but oh my god how cool would it be to be that kinda monster?! I didn’t care how alienated it’d make me (though to be fair I was already kind of a weirdo outcast). Raw meat, hunting animals or even people by the full moon? Cathartic af. That sheer power, to be able to assume the form of a terror of nature, to be one with and at home with the moonlit wood… I would kill* for that level of freedom and… and…

*PAST tense, I’m not exactly a serial killer in the making here

What is that other feeling though? It was good, I know. Almost addictive. Satisfaction? Desire of some sort?

Whatever it was, it felt right. …and that’s exactly why I had to suppress it. I was only setting myself up for heartbreak by pouring my soul into this idea of being/becoming something that, by all means, doesn’t exist.

Once upon a time, I thought I’d never be a woman, either.

So fuck that noise. This werewolf-at-heart is back. I don’t care if its an unrealistic dream/goal/whatever-the-fuck, it makes me happy, dammit! Like on some kinda spiritual level or something.

So yeah. I think that makes me alterhuman, otherkin, and/or therian? I’m not 100% on the distinctions, but I want to find out. I can at least comfort in the knowledge that, clearly, I’m not the only one who feels this way. Hopefully at least some o’ y’all can accept me into the fold.

- C

[grelleswife]

🥺🎶

💖🤩

✅🤯

i want to know so many things lmao (feel free to ignore any of them) hope you have a nice day :)

(From this ask game here)

Ask, and you shall receive! My day’s going pretty well; I hope yours is, too! 🥰

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

As a sad, touch-starved little gremlin, any scene involving cuddles or hand-holding/hand-kisses reduces me to a sentimental mess. Those quiet respites where characters completely relax and let themselves be vulnerable with their partner because they’re secure in each other’s love get to me every time. :’)

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

Ironically, although I love to sing, I generally can’t listen to music while I write because I get too distracted to concentrate on the fic and just start jamming out instead. 😅 However, I sometimes play a few songs before drafting if I think they’ll put me in the necessary headspace for a particular story.

Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” is my main go-to at present, along with “Mysterious” by Queen Bee.

💖 What made you start writing?

It was the inevitable outcome of being a weird, introverted, socially-anxious only child with almost no friends, an overactive imagination, and a chronic case of bibliophilia. 😎 I frequently made up stories on my own to keep myself entertained, although I rarely summoned the discipline to commit them to paper (or, when I did, flitted over to a different idea after scribbling down the first chapter). However, I didn’t start writing fic until receiving a request for a Sebagrelle oneshot a few years ago. My brainrot for this ship had already reached an advanced stage, and that little nudge served as the catalyst for my foray into the magical (and sometimes terrifying) realm of AO3. 🤪

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

That’s probably a dead-even tie between Grelle and Sebastian, not only because of how fascinating they are to explore, but because they’re dear comfort characters of mine. Writing in their voices is the emotional equivalent of wrapping up in a soft, fluffy blanket (perverse as that may sound given their canon atrocities 😆).

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

Assonance and alliteration. I like my prose to have a distinctive cadence, and using these devices is conducive to that goal. The problem is that my brain defaults to these types of sound pairings a little too often (it’s the bane of my existence 😭), so I always have to comb back through my drafts to keep their usage from degenerating into simple tackiness rather than serving an artistic purpose. 😖

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

I was actually discussing this with another mutual earlier—I may be a bisexual cauldron of lust, but smut is an utter chore when I’m the one writing it. There are so many moving parts to keep track of (double entendre fully intended 😉): Is this position anatomically possible? How are the characters’ bodies situated in relation to each other? Do the acts of physical intimacy align with the emotional underpinnings I want to convey to my readers? It’s absolutely exhausting. There’s a reason I prefer writing flowery, introspective pieces! 😅

[musingsofanaroace]

Realizing I Had ADHD

When did I suspect I had ADHD?

When I was a kid, my grandma would get annoyed by my antsy and fidgety behavior. She also couldn’t stand it when I didn’t pay attention or became distracted. As I got older, my teachers would constantly tell my madre that I would do better in school if I just applied myself. It wasn’t until high school when I made a friend who had ADHD that the alarm bells began to ring loudly in my head. But instead of heading them, I simply ignored them. Then, when I left school, I would periodically get asked by professors or coworkers if I had ADHD. I would always deny it and then try to act "more normal" around them.

Also, my younger sister has ADHD, and since I don’t act anything like her, I just assumed that I couldn’t possibly have it. I realize now that having autism on top of the ADHD most likely led to this belief.

It wasn’t until I watched a YouTube video by stillnotcorry about time blindness that the wall of denial finally exploded into a million pieces.

I then rewatched all of the episodes that the SciGuys did on ADHD and had an “oh shit” moment. Shortly after that, I made an appointment to get assessed for ADHD.

What traits of ADHD do I have?

Note: Note: In this post, I will cover some but not all of the ADHD traits I have. If I mentioned all of them, this post would be too long!

Let’s look at the hyperactive traits first. I’ve always had a hard time sitting still. I constantly bounce my legs up and down or rock from side to side. At a sit down restaurant, I have a hard time sitting through the entire meal. My family is used to me getting up periodically so I can walk around the restaurant for a bit. And if out with people who don’t know me that well, I simply lie and tell them that I have back problems. I also find sitting through an entire movie difficult. When going to the cinema, I always sit in the back row so that I can stand up whenever I feel like it and so that I don’t disturb too many people. On my desk, I have a Slinky, a Rubik’s cube, and a Koosh to fidget with for those times when I need to do something with my hands.

Next point, I have a hyperactive brain. At any given moment, dozens of thoughts will bombard me at once. They zip and zoom around my brain at warp speed. Some comprehensible, others not. If a good idea pops into my noggin, I must speak it out loud multiple times or write it down quickly, or I'll forget it. If I become distracted by these thoughts while writing, I'll put on an album that I’ve heard one too many times. For some reason, the musical noise helps to sooth my overactive mind. And these thoughts become especially loud when I’m trying to sleep. Only by running a fan at night can I dampen them. Of course, this hack works better some nights than others. 

Also, I overthink every situation to the point that either nothing gets done, or it takes a long time (sometime even years) to get it done. 

Lastly, people have told me that I talk too fast and move my hands around too much.

Now, I’ll focus on the inattentive traits. Firstly, I have a short attention span, and people have likened me to the absent minded professor. I can easily forget why I went into a room in the space of a few seconds. Especially if I get distracted by something else. This doesn't just occur once in a blue moon, it happens constantly as in multiple times a day.

For example, I may decide to go into the kitchen to get something to drink. By the time I get to the kitchen, I may have no idea why I’ve made this journey in the first place. I will look around the kitchen for a clue. Let’s say that I see dirty dishes in the sink. I’ll figure that I must have have come into the kitchen to wash them. So I start with this task only to remember halfway through that I was doing the laundry earlier that day. In order to not forget about this neglected task, I stop washing the dishes to go check on the laundry. When I finish this task, I have no clue what I was doing before. So I make the decision to go back to the living room. On the way to this destination, I remember why I had initially gone into the kitchen in the first place: to get something to drink.

If I didn't write out a daily schedule (thanks autism) and put reminders on my calendar, I would never get anything accomplished. I'm truly baffled by those people who can remember everything they have to do without a planner (my madre). They must be wizards or have a secret superpower!

I’m also constantly losing things. Even things that I last used only seconds ago. And after a short or extremely long hunt, I usually find them either in front of me or in the strangest of places. The number one item I constantly loose is my eraser. I never remember getting up from my chair, so I have no clue how it always seems to teleport to other rooms or in places where it definitely doesn’t belong. Like the silverware drawer or the top shelf of the refrigerator.

I also have issues with instructions. I hate it when people give me four or five different tasks at once with no clear indication of how I’m suppose to complete any of them. I need each task told to me individually, and the steps on how to complete each one clearly laid out. I find this method also helps me learn a new subject. I need to know the individual parts before I can conceptualize it in its entirety. If this doesn’t happen, I’ll just have a bunch of words and concepts floating around in my brain with nothing holding them together.

Another trait I have is time blindness. This means that I don’t have a clear concept of the passage of time. No matter how many times I’ve done a particular task before, I still have no idea how long it will take me to complete it if I encounter it again. I’m constantly over or under estimating how long something will take.

And I hate having to be somewhere at a specific time. Let’s say that I have a doctor’s appointment at one in the afternoon. I will spend all morning reminding myself that I have to leave the house at noon. This constant reminder interferes with my work. Instead of devoting all of my attention to the task at hand, part of it is diverted into not forgetting to leave the house at noon. I will also periodically think of something that I must bring with me, and a little pile of these things will start to accumulate next to me. By the time noon arrives, I already feel stressed out and exhausted from the entire ordeal. And I haven’t even had the appointment yet!

Lastly, I would like to talk about emotional dysregulation. In my personal essay on autism, I covered alexithymia. In this post, I would like to touch on rejection sensitive dysphoria. The Cleveland Clinic defines this as experiencing severe emotional pain because of failure or rejection both of which can be real or imaginary.

For me, even a slight failure or rejection will trigger this dysphoria. I feel the pain in my sternum. It feels like someone ripped open my chest and squeezed my heart in a viselike grip. The pain I experience during this moment is worse than any I’ve ever felt before. After this sensation, a dark cloud descends upon me, and I feel an overwhelming flood of sadness wash over me. And for a brief moment, this sudden onslaught of grief feels greater than the pain of losing a loved one. Only during these moments will I cry and rock uncontrollably.

When I was younger, this sudden influx of pain and emotion would trigger a meltdown or a shutdown. Now, I recognize what these feelings mean and can deal with them in a more appropriate manner. I find that writing or meditating while waiting for these intense feelings to pass really helps me cope. Only once these feelings pass can I talk with someone or seek comfort.

And now, I also know that this dysphoria explains why I have low self-esteem and abandon projects the moment I get the slightest inkling that people won’t like them. And knowing this helps me push past these irrational thoughts and continue working on the project.

Do I take medication for ADHD? 

No. I find that stimulants, such as caffeine, increase my anxiety and worsen my autistic symptoms. I would try a non-stimulant, but the potential side effects make me nervous. These include drowsiness, tiredness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, dry mouth, constipation, and increased blood pressure. Since I already have idiopathic chronic fatigue and chronic headaches, I don't want to potentially make these worse in an effort to improve my ADHD symptoms. Also, my padre has high blood pressure and heart disease.

And this concludes how I realized I had ADHD. If you have anything to add, please leave it in the comments. Until next time, take care and stay curious.

[bewitching-aria]

The Happiness Trap, part 1

My therapist recommended I read The Happiness Trap in response to my requests for a book to read. As someone who generally reads very quickly, I took notes to try to consciously pick out segments I found especially relatable or important. I find such a note taking practice helps me better remember concepts and check my understanding.

I originally took handwritten notes! I reproduce a typed version, with some more commentary, to really all-in on the benefits of writing here.

This covers part 1: Why is it so hard to be happy? [read more]

Life is difficult.

With each passing generation, the human mind became increasingly skilled at noticing, predicting and avoiding danger. So now, three hundred thousand years later, our modern minds are constantly on the lookout, assessing and judging everything we encounter. (p.6)

I certainly do relate to having an overactive brain that aggressively tries to account for the worst at all times. In the past, I have explained this behavior as a protection mechanism against variance, where I am unafraid of trying new things so long as I have an idea of what the worst it could be.

Though I have been able to try many new and fun things (and unfun things) without regret with that mindset, surely there were instances where the worst possible scenario I imagined was so unlikely, I avoided doing things I ought not to have. Further, I look back on painful memories where some outcome was worse than what I expected the worst to be. The surprise definitely elevated the emotional response I had.

Another essential for survival is belonging to a group.

So how does the mind protect you from rejection by the group? By comparing you with other members... (p.7)

I have had many difficult experiences with social circles in my past. Compounded by the fact that when I have brought these up to friends (and family...), I have often been told things like:

You should have seen those people were not actually real friends with you.

You need to prove them wrong by being better than them.

You deserved how you were treated.

The last one is the one I want to call attention to. It's a very negative thought, but also one that I myself have found myself thinking a lot. I want to call out, outright, that this line of thinking is horrible.

However, for myself, I convinced myself that such a line of thinking was acceptable (though still negative) because it produced the following:

I deserved how I was treated.

I dislike how I was treated, but because I deserved it, if I want to be treated better, I have to deserve better.

I will deserve better if I am better.

I must better myself.

And indeed, I have bettered myself over my life, and am genuinely proud of what I have achieved, so I did not question this whole thought process as a sort of laziness induced self Machiavellian grind mindset.

There is an additional assumption that I have frequently made that I deserved it because I was the worst in the social circle at various things I'd compare myself against. Grades, attractiveness, personality, etc.

I found some comfort in the passage knowing that this is a sort of widespread rational irrationality.

Life is difficult -- Myth 1: Happiness is our natural state

What is natural for human beings is to an experience an ever-changing flow of emotions... (p.8)

Life is difficult -- What exactly is happiness?

... a life spent in pursuit of feeling good is, in the long term, deeply unsatisfying (p.9)

... there's another meaning of happiness that's radically different: the experience of living a rich and meaningful life.

I have more or less accepted that a good mindset for living life, especially for me currently in my 20s, is to put less emphasis on the future and care more about the present. However, such acceptance is a logical brow beat one, and not one I (at least at the time of writing) emotionally accepted. Such is par the course for me, which we shall see later in these notes.

However, the passage presents this in a way that I do not typically hear.

Normally, when I am given the advice to focus on the present and seek out experiences, this is in response to me thinking about the future in some way. To that end, the conversation is usually one of lifestyle and mindset. However, because my lifestyle and mindset have lead me to where I am, and I have generally been happy with how I've brought things around in life, it's difficult to accept such a dramatic change in thinking, and emotionally I don't think I have (at the time of reading).

The passage invoked an image in my mind of me, in elderly age, telling young people about my life, and how it would be better if I had a vast number of experiences, good and bad, rather than just saying I lived simply but happily. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the latter, but I think I am someone who would like the first. This struck a chord, and opened me up to such a way of thinking more.

The Choice Point

Definition 1. Toward moves. Also known as workable moves. These are behaviors that move us toward the sort of life we want.

Definition 2. Away moves. Also known as unworkable moves. These are behaviors that take us away from the life we want.

There is no list of "right", "correct", or "best" toward moves; we each decide for ourselves which of these behaviors come under this umbrella. (p. 13)

I think this is important to call out, because ultimately this is what differentiates how people live their lives. On one hand, there is some discussion about the capability of an individual to carry out what they believe to be right or wrong, but there is also that different people want to become different versions of themselves. I recall specifically the conversation AC gave about how ones self is fundamentally transient, and that peoples behaviors are so that they can become the self they wish to be, and this felt very related.

Away moves can also include things we do inside our heads such as worrying, ruminating, obsessing, and overanalyzing. (p. 13)

oh man thats me...

Definition 3. Obey mode. Also known as fusion. When our thoughts and feelings dominate us, commanding our full attention or dictating our actions.

Definition 4. Struggle mode. Also known experiential avoidance. When we myopically strggule to avoid, escape, or get out of our thoughts and feelings.

oh man I definitely flip-flop between both of them a lot...

The choice point -- exercises 1 and 2

The first exercise has you imagine that a friend (or romantic partner, or coworker, or any kind of individual that has a named relationship) that is talking about you to someone else, and they are asked to name 3 things about you. What would you like for them to say?

Reader, what would you put for me?

For friend, I had:

Fun

Compassionate

Smart

in that order. This is also the same for relationship partner.

The second exercise had me describe problems I was going through, then a list of away and toward moves associated with them:

The black hole of control

The black hole of control -- Struggle strategies

These go into fight or flight:

Fight:

Suppression. Forcefully pushing unwanted thoughts out of your head, or down.

Arguing. Arguing back with your thoughts.

Taking charge. Taking charge of your thoughts, typically with commands, like "snap out of it!" or "stop thinking!"

Self-judgement. Using harsh self judgment to bully yourself into feeling differently. Name calling, like "loser" or blame like "don't be so pathetic!"

Flight:

Opting out. Opting out of situations, events or activites that tend to trigger uncomfortable thoughts or feelings.

Distraction. Focusing on something else, unhealthy avoidance in general.

Substances. Avoidance/forced removal of emotions by substances.

The blackhole of control -- The problem with struggle strategies.

What's the problem with using methods like these to try to control our thoughts and feelings? The answer is nothing, if

we use them sensibly, appropriately, and in moderation

we use them in situations where they can realistically work

using them doesn't stop us from behaving like the sort of person we want to be, doing the things that matter to us.

This is important, because perhaps individually, falling into using one of these coping mechanisms is an inevitability. I feel that for the sake of priorities, sometimes temporarily avoiding the processing of emotions and difficulty is ok so long as it's not put off forever. Essentially, in a time of crisis, I can see any of these things being ok if the crisis is great enough. However, living your life in crisis mode is terrible, emotionally, and chronically (cortisol and adrenaline moment), which I think I have been doing for my entire life (at the time of reading).

As with anything, there are times and places for things, and the difficult act of processing and going through one's troubles is something that requires a safe space, time and compassion in general. So it is important to seek this out, rather than waiting for it to happen.

Experiential avoidance, in general, is problematic long term because the time and effort spent running away from emotions could be used for more meaningful, life enhancing activities. Further, when the thoughts come back, they often come back stronger, and they come back when we are unable to run farther, so they'll hit at a time when it hurts more. When overused or poorly used, such tactics can also degrade one's quality of life. Substance addiction is probably the most direct example, but never listening to your emotions is a pretty bad thing to do, despite being raised to be a man and not feel anything.