If men who read this forum were representative of the general population, then about one out of five of you have some form of mental health issue. People often like to criticize the mental health field for “making everyone sick” by diagnosis but I stand in support of the field. If you think about it, illnesses and disorders of other body parts than the brain are rampantly common and it stands to reason the brain would be no different. If “no one is perfect” and everyone “has issues,” it is not unreasonable that mental health would be an issue for one out of five people. Furthermore, while some diagnoses for disorders may seem overly generalized and attributable to just about anyone, doctors acknowledge by this by requiring certain standards and emphasizing that a disorder must be negatively impacting either a patient’s life or the lives of others. In other words, a bipolar guy who was raised in a solid upbringing and has the disorder under wraps might never need to seek treatment.
What inspires me to write this essay (I’m the person I know who loves to write essays for fun) is that I was born with a form of autism called Asperger Syndrome. Before I came to know this, I had a tremendous mental burden. I knew ever since I was in elementary school that I was different from everyone else, but I just couldn’t pin down why. I was diagnosed with having a severe expressive communicative disorder but that didn’t satisfy me. I learned to talk, so what still was the problem. Why was I so fundamentally different than everyone else and what could I do about it? At one point in elementary school I even wondered for a few moments if I was gay but it always followed by “...But I’m not gay.” I had also started out life being rather outgoing and playful with kids but after a certain time my brain started to go haywire even more and I gradually became withdrawn and emotionally cold. I was moderately depressed by the time I reached high school and still searching for elusive answers. Remarkably, there were many times when I genuinely thought I was happy, although I noticed that I never had a reason to be happy (in any aspect of life) for an extended period of time. The mystery also widened. People would tell me I think too much... after but barely a few thoughts. People would ask me if I was nervous or would tell me I was anxious... while I felt absolutely confident and perfectly calm. I would strike up friendships but never seem to maintain them. When it came to the ladies, they always dropped interest in me after a short period of time... for no apparent reason (even after being on this site for years). It also always struck me as odd that I never fit the profile of an “AFC”—I hate poetry and never once have I given a flower—and the “society has brainwashed you” argument was always thoroughly unconvincing.
Three months ago I discovered I have the aforementioned mental disability and that I’m almost a textbook case. It’s remarkable how autism is a severe disorder and despite that I have a “mild” version of it the effects are still severe and pervasive. I’m not violent and I don’t have problems with authority but otherwise the disability classically defines me in every aspect of my life. One major facet is being oblivious to and thus violating unwritten social rules which everyone is expected to follow; I picked up on many, but I still was violating some key ones. I was also majorly violating rules of body language without even being conscious of it.
Here’s the important part: knowledge is power. Asperger Syndome didn’t officially exist until ten years after I was diagnosed by neurologists with a severe communication disorder, but once I knew what’s wrong with me, the burden lifted. Everything clicked. I finally knew what’s wrong with me, figured out how to address my issues, and within a month or so had drastically turned myself around. I now happen to be a genuinely happy guy. Back when I was very young, before I knew something was wrong and before my biochemistry stripped me of warmth, I always had a smile plastered on my face. The plastered smile has returned. I have at least a smirk on my face as I drive around town, I at least smirk while I’m in a bar have no one to talk to, and of course I’m smiling right now as I compose this essay. Even though I had never had a reason to be happy for more than a moment, I’ve been continuously happy for months. And, yeah, the ladies really seem to like me now. Women are far superior than men at reading emotions and they can tell the difference between a guy who pretends to himself and others he’s happy, when really he is empty, compared to guys who genuinely radiate with happiness. When truly happy, you cannot but help share it with the world.
Another member of this forum, STR8UP, recently began taking medication to overcome a social anxiety disorder. If you ever met him, the last thing that would ever come to mind was that he had social anxiety. According to him, bartending experience helped him cover it up. But after a number of years, he refused to accept that social anxiety “is just the way I’m wired” and took appropriate action. He’s reportedly doing much better now.
The point of this thread is this: it’s easy to see other people for how they really are, but it’s so difficult to see you for your true self; you might not be anywhere near the person you think you are. I figured myself out and am successfully and happily coping with miswired inclinations. Knowledge is power. If you are mentally ill, that might go long in explaining why you are not having the best of luck with the ladies. Seduction techniques, tricks, methods, relationship advice, understanding the nature of women; none of it really matters until you first grapple yourself.
What inspires me to write this essay (I’m the person I know who loves to write essays for fun) is that I was born with a form of autism called Asperger Syndrome. Before I came to know this, I had a tremendous mental burden. I knew ever since I was in elementary school that I was different from everyone else, but I just couldn’t pin down why. I was diagnosed with having a severe expressive communicative disorder but that didn’t satisfy me. I learned to talk, so what still was the problem. Why was I so fundamentally different than everyone else and what could I do about it? At one point in elementary school I even wondered for a few moments if I was gay but it always followed by “...But I’m not gay.” I had also started out life being rather outgoing and playful with kids but after a certain time my brain started to go haywire even more and I gradually became withdrawn and emotionally cold. I was moderately depressed by the time I reached high school and still searching for elusive answers. Remarkably, there were many times when I genuinely thought I was happy, although I noticed that I never had a reason to be happy (in any aspect of life) for an extended period of time. The mystery also widened. People would tell me I think too much... after but barely a few thoughts. People would ask me if I was nervous or would tell me I was anxious... while I felt absolutely confident and perfectly calm. I would strike up friendships but never seem to maintain them. When it came to the ladies, they always dropped interest in me after a short period of time... for no apparent reason (even after being on this site for years). It also always struck me as odd that I never fit the profile of an “AFC”—I hate poetry and never once have I given a flower—and the “society has brainwashed you” argument was always thoroughly unconvincing.
Three months ago I discovered I have the aforementioned mental disability and that I’m almost a textbook case. It’s remarkable how autism is a severe disorder and despite that I have a “mild” version of it the effects are still severe and pervasive. I’m not violent and I don’t have problems with authority but otherwise the disability classically defines me in every aspect of my life. One major facet is being oblivious to and thus violating unwritten social rules which everyone is expected to follow; I picked up on many, but I still was violating some key ones. I was also majorly violating rules of body language without even being conscious of it.
Here’s the important part: knowledge is power. Asperger Syndome didn’t officially exist until ten years after I was diagnosed by neurologists with a severe communication disorder, but once I knew what’s wrong with me, the burden lifted. Everything clicked. I finally knew what’s wrong with me, figured out how to address my issues, and within a month or so had drastically turned myself around. I now happen to be a genuinely happy guy. Back when I was very young, before I knew something was wrong and before my biochemistry stripped me of warmth, I always had a smile plastered on my face. The plastered smile has returned. I have at least a smirk on my face as I drive around town, I at least smirk while I’m in a bar have no one to talk to, and of course I’m smiling right now as I compose this essay. Even though I had never had a reason to be happy for more than a moment, I’ve been continuously happy for months. And, yeah, the ladies really seem to like me now. Women are far superior than men at reading emotions and they can tell the difference between a guy who pretends to himself and others he’s happy, when really he is empty, compared to guys who genuinely radiate with happiness. When truly happy, you cannot but help share it with the world.
Another member of this forum, STR8UP, recently began taking medication to overcome a social anxiety disorder. If you ever met him, the last thing that would ever come to mind was that he had social anxiety. According to him, bartending experience helped him cover it up. But after a number of years, he refused to accept that social anxiety “is just the way I’m wired” and took appropriate action. He’s reportedly doing much better now.
The point of this thread is this: it’s easy to see other people for how they really are, but it’s so difficult to see you for your true self; you might not be anywhere near the person you think you are. I figured myself out and am successfully and happily coping with miswired inclinations. Knowledge is power. If you are mentally ill, that might go long in explaining why you are not having the best of luck with the ladies. Seduction techniques, tricks, methods, relationship advice, understanding the nature of women; none of it really matters until you first grapple yourself.
