BackToSquareOne

I don't know Threshold, you might have the meditation thing right. Here's an interesting take on it. Adyashanti - True Meditation part 1 of 3 - YouTube

Hammer

Easy, but sort of non-answer --

We do not tend to feel this way.

Really. Makes a HUGE difference.

Not saying anything as better or worse, but we just do not tend to experience this.

Johnston

@thresh,

Again, I relate to you. My meditation has to be slightly active in order for me to reap the rewards. I too find contemplating things in solitude to be of benefit in calming my mind. Today I listened to some Bach sonatas after I worked out. Just laying there staring at the ceiling fan and letting thoughts enter and exit was very relaxing.

Threshold

People truly do live on different planes of existence! My ex used to tell me the same thing. That he just didn't feel that way. Part of me felt jealous, but part of me was not. I mean, I can't imagine having such a different response to life. It's a little scary to me. Like maybe it would be like living without one of my five senses.

I seem to experience life WAY more intensely than he does. I don't know that, but that is how it looks, and I am not sure I would choose what he has (though it seems more comfortable) over what I have...for all it's inherent issues.

Like you say, not better or worse, just different.

Hammer

If one were being clinical -- you not only have the emotion(s) more intensely, but once they hit, the last longer for you.

But it becomes a very unfair comparison between A(s) and non-A(s) when one side sets themselves up as the superior beings for much of anything.

foolsgold66

That's my cue. We all live in different universes. Some of them are labeled 'normal'.

wheresthefun

I find it hard to believe that people without addiction issues never want to get out of their own heads. I'd have to guess, with no data to back this guess up with, that non-addicts use many of the same things mentioned here INCLUDING just letting go. BUT I know before I had an addiction problem, I had many a time where I wanted to get out of my own head, just that booze wasn't one of the answers I looked to. Ah, the good old days.

Then again Hammer, maybe I misinterpreted what you were saying.

Hammer

I was speaking most specifically to Threshold's description(s) combined with your question.

In the case of what Threshold was describing, (rather than general addiction, per se), which is an Amplified Emotional State -- can happen towards all sorts of feelings -- Good, Bad, Fear -- but Fear is one of the deepest.

The "people, who don't have addiction problems," as you say, do not tend to experience this. On the other hand, typical estimates for folks in Long Term A treatment are over half do.

Emotional Dysregulation is a common driver into various substance abuse including Alcohol. Sort of a Self-Medication regime for the Pain in the Brain, as it were. Many addictive substances tend to sedate the Hyperactive portions which are generally centered around the Amygdala.

If you would like to see what it looks like in Color Photos, hit this PDF link >>>

http://www.cla.temple.edu/cnl/PDFs/D...islowOlson.pdf

Take a look at Figure 2, a few pages in.

foolsgold66

It's important to register the significance of words like 'tend' to understand Hammer's statement. Everybody is in a certain area of the bell curve when you slice up their characteristics.

littlefish

I talked with my sponsee about this today. I had that "happy hour" feeling yesterday, my joke that it isn't happy at all. That feeling I often get between about 4 and 6PM. Miserable. Not happy at all. I easily fall into an unexplainable slump at midday. Anxiety, depression, you name it.

I used to go running for a drink at that time. I grabbed a drink because I thought: I am going to have those feelings and I can't endure them!
We discussed how as alcoholics we learned to react with panic to various emotions
and never learned to experience them, somewhere along the line we decided experiencing them was too excruciatingly painful.
Which, it's not.
I think normal people have sadness, depression, feel down. But they don't panic over it and they aren't afraid to just feel those things for a while. They put it into perspective that having a bad day is a part of life. I had to learn how to do that in sobriety. Just feel bad for a while and realize it's not the end of the world and it will pass.

TucTee

I definitely used to drink to escape. Turned out I diluted the joy of everyday life by drinking. Instead of finding refuge, I engendered a condition wherein nothing was an escape except drinking. Not drinking has eliminated that condition and helped me find healthier ways to find solace.