We are, biologically we're fair and square in the animal kingdom: Humans are classified as animals. The human's phylum is Chordata (vertebrate). The human's class is mammalia. It's order is primate (the same as apes). It's family is Hominidae (apes that have no tail and can gather food with their hands.) The Human's sub-family is Homininae. It's tribe is Hominini. It's genus is Homo and it's specie is scientifically named Homo Sapiens.
@Son_of_Imoen I'm aware of that. Our differences aren't biological though. They are philosophical. When animals start developing philosophy, come back to me.
@mlnevese Sorry about that. Critters can most definitely hit us hard, and for me, even harder than people sometimes. We still miss ours that passed away 2 years ago and have not been ready for another yet even now. At least we have stories that keep their memory alive.
This is a minor issue all things considered, but I'm still upset. I just tore my favorite pair of brand-new shorts... while staggering away in horror when I realized that the cockroach I saw on the way out of the bathroom was not in fact dead. I saw it turn to pieces as I picked it up with a wad of toilet paper, and I had to go back with another wad to pick up the scraps. Not okay.
They're by far my least favorite insect, and just barely my least favorite animal in general, right behind alligators and crocodiles. I don't know why roaches bother me so much, but they do. I completely emptied the last of the bug spray drizzling the corners of my room with poison--I sprayed so much it actually hurt my fingers to hold the button for so long. If any bugs dare to cross those toxic lines on the wood and the carpet, at least they'll die of poisoning before I run into them... and I'll know to spray first and run away for a couple minutes to make sure I don't see any wriggling legs when I have to pick it up.
On the bright side, at least I know it died in pain.
While I can't help with the shorts, it might make you feel a little better to know that cockroaches are some of the cleanest animals in nature. They have a special coating that makes it impossible for bacteria to stick to them.
Had a visit from a family member today. She supposedly came to help us out with a little bit of money to make dinner, but decided to go on a rant out of nowhere calling my wife and son's disability to be, "bullshit" and just an excuse to be taken care of. I stood up for my wife and showed our "family" the door. My wife was shaken so bad that she had a panic attack that lasted for almost 5 hours, requiring two doses of rescue medication. She came out of it about 10 minutes ago, but we had a VERY rough afternoon/evening.
@ThacoBell: You did the right thing. If this person isn't willing to understand your family's situation, they are not qualified to make judgments about it--especially using such cruel words. It's best to keep certain people at a certain distance for the safety and peace of mind of the household. I'm glad you defended your wife and kept her safe from trauma. You're a good man.
I'll never cease to be amazed by how many people consider mental diseases to be nothing..... Depression?Just cheer up...Panic attack... Just calm down... yeah... right...
My wife used to have panic attacks and sometimes even hallucinated before the stroke that for some reason seems to have healed her of that... We had some complicated situations.
BTW Although her stroke healed her I don't recommend it as a treatment... it was the biggest scare I ever had. In the first three days I wasn't even sure she would survive. The fact she was in another country and I couldn't travel immediately didn't help.
Thanks for the encouragement. This thread is amazing, and it definitly helps keep me sane. I don't get much encouragement irl. @mlnverse My favorite one is "Just push through". Push through to what? This is a lifelong chronic disease, there is no other side. That situation with your wife's stroke sounds absolutely terrifying. I'm glad it worked out in the end.
Telling someone to use willpower to fix a mental disorder is like telling them to use a broken hammer to fix the same broken hammer. Even if it wasn't broken, it's the wrong tool.
@ThacoBell The next time someone comes with something stupid like that just kindly suggest that they jump off a cliff and use their positive thinking to learn how to fly...
You weren't around when my wife had a stroke... in the first three days she had no movement below her neck and had irregular heartbeat and breathing... and I had to accompany everything through emails from the Embassy I received everyday. I'm thankful to everyone at the Embassy to this day and the doctors in Chile who saved her.
@mlnevese All things considered, that was pretty darn lucky. The stroke just happened to kill the part of the brain that was causing the panic attacks and hallucinations? Man.
@mlnevese All things considered, that was pretty darn lucky. The stroke just happened to kill the part of the brain that was causing the panic attacks and hallucinations? Man.
I have no idea... I remember a neurologist explained to me her brain developed a neural bypass around the affected zone and that's why she recovered movement, etc. I'm not even sure she realizes they are gone but It's been nearly 5 years without any episode.
I can say with a high degree of certainty that it is often hard to distinguish weird from reality, but it seems we (i.e. me ) can be of interest to another's study of self.
One day in the late 19th century, the Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach gets on a bus. As he stares down the aisle, he sees a person at the other end, a character he dismisses as a ‘shabby pedagogue’. In the next instant, Mach realizes the shabby pedagogue is none other than himself, staring out from a mirror positioned at the back of the bus.
Yeah, those experiences are a real shocker, I'm here to say.
For a few moments, Mach had become a stranger to himself. Psychologists estimate that around three-quarters of us will experience similar symptoms of self-detachment at some point in our lives. If you’ve been through trauma, or narrowly escaped a nasty accident, you might recall how a sense of unreality can wash over you, how you suddenly disconnect from yourself, or feel as if you’re floating in the air and watching from above. These states of mind seem to function as an experiential airbag, allowing us to deal with life-threatening dangers which would otherwise be overwhelming.
Luckily, with care and patience, the airbag can usually be wrapped up after the traumatic event, and we find ourselves back in our bodies and our lives. But in some unlucky cases, the protective mechanism gets ‘stuck’. People can be trapped outside themselves, unable to inhabit their own experiences, feelings and thoughts – like Mach, if he were unable to reconnect to himself after spying the shabby pedagogue in the mirror.
Some of us definitely get stuck. I guess one could say the illusion was literally burned into neural pathways with a combination of physical damage, high doses of drugs, and pain beyond the scope of those drugs to mitigate. Neural pathways it seems can develop ways around the sense of self and reality as well.
@semiticgod Totally understand your feelings towards cockroaches, I'm not use to seeing them ever, but now I'm in Brazil, I've had a few run-ins with the critters. Not to make myself sound too odd, but I'm the kind of guy who finds a dying wasp, feeds it honey and releases it outside, stops the misses killing spiders and is careful not to tread on ants... and yet, cockroaches... I think a blame a tv episode I saw as a kid where a woman had like 100 behind her fridge and that basically freaked me out for life.
@Raduziel I'm not sure what is going on in Brazil, in terms of downloading or accessing things on the internet... if I see "not available in your area" one more time, I'll … well probably do nothing, but it makes me extremely 'irratado'... can't watch bbc (just read), had to hack the tv to play Netflix, online sometimes there is a paypal option, but my cards rarely work. I got myself a cpf now, so I can buy plane tickets. The amazon tablet I brought didn't work, so had to hack google play onto it. There's usually a work around, but it's a real pain. PS. Love Brazil, I'm enjoying the south, Santa Catarina.
Depression is a tricky one, we still have so much to learn about it and it effects everyone so differently. My own thoughts on it have changed, from when I was young and ignorant, to seeing it from personal experience, to looking back after... looking back, I realise some people I found the most annoying, were trying to help, even if they were way off the mark. I haven't always had this approach, but now, I try to use subtle education for ignorance, rather than avoidance or judgment.
@ThacoBell Good for you. I really hate confrontation... but sometimes it's needed, especially around the people we love. This guy started lighting up a cigarette next to my pregnant mrs… people saw a different side to me that day heh.
Well, my sad tale for today. I'm looking in the mirror at the shop, trying on my suit for my wedding... what's sad about that? Don't get me wrong, Im very happy, but it's possible to be sad and happy at the same time. As I stood there looking in the mirror, the tailor working on the sleeves, I remembered the last time I tried on a suit at a similar place for my sister's wedding. She passed away before her wedding. I never imagined I would have a wedding without her, she was my sister, best friend and the most wonderful person I've ever met.
Comments
@Son_of_Imoen Nah
Today another old friend is gone. She would be 13 in June.
They're by far my least favorite insect, and just barely my least favorite animal in general, right behind alligators and crocodiles. I don't know why roaches bother me so much, but they do. I completely emptied the last of the bug spray drizzling the corners of my room with poison--I sprayed so much it actually hurt my fingers to hold the button for so long. If any bugs dare to cross those toxic lines on the wood and the carpet, at least they'll die of poisoning before I run into them... and I'll know to spray first and run away for a couple minutes to make sure I don't see any wriggling legs when I have to pick it up.
On the bright side, at least I know it died in pain.
Steam allows my region (Brazil) to buy Dragon Age: Origins and DAO Awakening.
But Steam won't allow my region to buy Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate (the pack with all DLCs).
A friend of mine in Canada can buy it. Another one from the USA, too. Another one from Ireland, too.
Nothing pisses me off more than seeing a company that apparently doesn't like money!
My wife used to have panic attacks and sometimes even hallucinated before the stroke that for some reason seems to have healed her of that... We had some complicated situations.
BTW Although her stroke healed her I don't recommend it as a treatment... it was the biggest scare I ever had. In the first three days I wasn't even sure she would survive. The fact she was in another country and I couldn't travel immediately didn't help.
@mlnverse My favorite one is "Just push through". Push through to what? This is a lifelong chronic disease, there is no other side. That situation with your wife's stroke sounds absolutely terrifying. I'm glad it worked out in the end.
You weren't around when my wife had a stroke... in the first three days she had no movement below her neck and had irregular heartbeat and breathing... and I had to accompany everything through emails from the Embassy I received everyday. I'm thankful to everyone at the Embassy to this day and the doctors in Chile who saved her.
Yeah, those experiences are a real shocker, I'm here to say.
For a few moments, Mach had become a stranger to himself. Psychologists estimate that around three-quarters of us will experience similar symptoms of self-detachment at some point in our lives. If you’ve been through trauma, or narrowly escaped a nasty accident, you might recall how a sense of unreality can wash over you, how you suddenly disconnect from yourself, or feel as if you’re floating in the air and watching from above. These states of mind seem to function as an experiential airbag, allowing us to deal with life-threatening dangers which would otherwise be overwhelming.
Luckily, with care and patience, the airbag can usually be wrapped up after the traumatic event, and we find ourselves back in our bodies and our lives. But in some unlucky cases, the protective mechanism gets ‘stuck’. People can be trapped outside themselves, unable to inhabit their own experiences, feelings and thoughts – like Mach, if he were unable to reconnect to himself after spying the shabby pedagogue in the mirror.
Some of us definitely get stuck. I guess one could say the illusion was literally burned into neural pathways with a combination of physical damage, high doses of drugs, and pain beyond the scope of those drugs to mitigate. Neural pathways it seems can develop ways around the sense of self and reality as well.
When the self slips:
Individuals living with depersonalisation disorder bring vivid insight to the question of whether the self is an illusion
Cool!
@Raduziel I'm not sure what is going on in Brazil, in terms of downloading or accessing things on the internet... if I see "not available in your area" one more time, I'll … well probably do nothing, but it makes me extremely 'irratado'... can't watch bbc (just read), had to hack the tv to play Netflix, online sometimes there is a paypal option, but my cards rarely work. I got myself a cpf now, so I can buy plane tickets. The amazon tablet I brought didn't work, so had to hack google play onto it. There's usually a work around, but it's a real pain. PS. Love Brazil, I'm enjoying the south, Santa Catarina.
Depression is a tricky one, we still have so much to learn about it and it effects everyone so differently. My own thoughts on it have changed, from when I was young and ignorant, to seeing it from personal experience, to looking back after... looking back, I realise some people I found the most annoying, were trying to help, even if they were way off the mark. I haven't always had this approach, but now, I try to use subtle education for ignorance, rather than avoidance or judgment.
@ThacoBell Good for you. I really hate confrontation... but sometimes it's needed, especially around the people we love. This guy started lighting up a cigarette next to my pregnant mrs… people saw a different side to me that day heh.
Well, my sad tale for today. I'm looking in the mirror at the shop, trying on my suit for my wedding... what's sad about that? Don't get me wrong, Im very happy, but it's possible to be sad and happy at the same time. As I stood there looking in the mirror, the tailor working on the sleeves, I remembered the last time I tried on a suit at a similar place for my sister's wedding. She passed away before her wedding. I never imagined I would have a wedding without her, she was my sister, best friend and the most wonderful person I've ever met.