Madmechanic,

It's extremely brave and honest of you to open up and tell us this.

I think that you are a much stronger person than you might realize. Having the guts to open up like this is something most people would not be able to do.

You show a great deal of humility in a world that's being damaged by too much arrogance. The world needs more people like this.

You're also extremely analytical. That's good for solving problems and you are working on solving your mental health problems. It won't get better unless you're doing what  you're doing. 

But being OVER analytical can be a curse. It can cause you to obsess over things.

The tremendous anxiety that you feel when the topic of climate change comes up is 100% real and shows a big weakness but instead of accepting that, I see in this post, somebody who acknowledges it and is wanting to confront it to manage it better.

That, my good friend is a strength that many people lack. 

I think the both of us are connecting strongly because of similar views on the fake climate crisis and letting the scientific method guide our thoughts.

I also understand anxiety and depression and have great sympathy and understanding for this.

My Mom, lost both parents as a child and had it rough growing up. This damaged her as an adult. She had extreme manic depression, self medicated with pills/booze. Was a loving, singing mother one day and the next 2, be a raving maniac(verbally and physically abusing me as a child) . She threatened to kill herself hundreds of times and had her stomach pumped numerous times in the ER.  In high school, I wished she would just get it over with. I hated her for being like this.

This caused me to misbehave. The cops either brought me home or came to our house because of me 7 times by the time I was 16. I did extreme vandalism and got suspended from school in 8th grade and again in 10th. I was required to go to a psychiatrist during both those years. 

I developed a severe drinking problem ages 18-20. My first visit to jail for drinking was in Daytona Beach FL on Spring Break at 18 on public intoxication. At 19/20 I had 2 DUI's.

At 20, I went to AA meetings for 30 straight days to show a judge I was trying to get better since I was facing a potential 90 days in Tawas City, MI for a 2nd driving drunk on a suspended license.

The AA meetings ended up being a  TRIPLE bonus. 

1. The judge saw 30+ signatures in my little yellow book and was so impressed that he reduced the charge to Impaired Driving with my sentence being time served(I was in jail for 3 days before somebody drove 200 miles from my home in Detroit to bail me out. 

2. I went to AA meetings to get signatures but while I was there at 20, what really happened is that I learned to look deeply inside myself to try to understand my aberrant behavior. I acknowledged the fact that I was an alcoholic and was born that way because of the neurotransmitters being unbalanced in my brain IN ADDITION to having the crazy childhood..

3. At the same time, I totally forgave my Mom and that started the best mother-son relationship you can imagine for the next 35 years.

But the best part of the story is that all us 6 kids became successful and Mom used the joy over this to completely replace the negative memories she had growing up with good ones and she healed. Her last 25 years were extremely peaceful and no longer featured substance abuse. 

Dad gets 100% of the credit.

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/97187/#97241

Observing this, us 6 kids learned several key lessons.

1. We understand mental illness. Never judge people like that. In society when you break your leg, nobody expects you to do physical labor. However, a person with a broken or sick mind is often expected to function like a person with a healthy mind. What they need is compassion and treatment/assistance, not judgment and indifference. We watched a very broken person get healed and realize that when their mind was not functioning properly, they wished like hell it wasn't that way and were not doing it intentionally.  People that don't have a mental illness or haven't been exposed to it, just can't imagine what it can do. 

2. When a person is in a bad situation most people will get bent out of shape because that's human nature. They compare it to WHAT THEY WISH were the circumstances and the comparison always makes them feel worse about their predicament.  The trick is TO ACCEPT it.  Of course do things to make it better but ACCEPT that today, I'm stuck with this and for the rest of the day I can dwell on how it sucks or I can decide to be happy DESPITE my life sucking.  We just have to accept some bad things going on that you and me have no control over. What we do have (if we are able to use them) is enormous control and opportunities in this age of human history. 

What would you and me be doing right now if this were 150 years ago or the other thousands of years prior to that as humans?

The situations we complain about the most right now in the developed world are probably better than the best situations for people centuries ago.

For instance, we lost power for 12 hours last Saturday.  Even while we still had the batteries of electronics, our cars and the promise that full power was only a few hours away........it sucked because we are conditioned to needing all the things that power brings to us and if we don't have all of them.........it sucks.

Up until the last 120 years or so, people had almost nothing that we consider essential to daily life today. 

They didn't miss something they never had?

There's 2 points about that.

The obvious one and also how it applies to us in 2023. There are 100+ different items impacting our lives daily with conveniences or enjoyment or usefulness that would be greatly missed if there were taken away.

If you leave the house and suddenly remember you forgot your cell phone.........oh my!

In the 1930's, our hottest decade ever in this country, people didn't have air conditioning............or any age before that.

They didn't have refrigeration, electricity 150 years ago.

They didn't have psychiatrists/therapists or gyms.......you name it, they likely didn't have it and we take it all for granted.

Maybe they didn't have as much to worry about because their world was so simple and uncomplicated.

1,000 times less opportunities. An analytical person could really make the comparison and think about this deeply and be able to generate additional positivity by embracing what is totally true about how truly blessed we are today compared to previous generations.

In 2023, despite all the divisiveness and hatred and all the charlatans trying to sell stuff and us being bombarded constantly with negative news, including that the planet is being destroyed by a fake climate crisis(which can really tick me off if I let it-so I get your feelings)......that same world offers us 100 times the amount of positive things if we seek them out intentionally. All we need to do is choose the positive things and shrug off the negative things. Yeah, easy to say if you aren't afflicted with eco-anxiety or extreme irrational phobias/fears.

Mom, actually was petrified of all animals and of severe weather.  As a tv meteorologist I  counseled a dozen people with severe weather/tornado phobias. I actually think her fear of severe weather greatly motivated me to study it. 

Not sure how effective I was but presenting the actual statistics and minuscule odds of being injured from severe seemed helpful.

With the fake climate crisis. The majority of people sincerely believe it because they've been bamboozled. They want to save the planet. The bamboozlers deserve our hatred for taking advantage of people for their self enrichment..........but don't give it to them.

Hate and anger are the most destructive human emotions of all. It destroys the hater, not the one who is hated. I'm not suggested that you have hate but other negative emotions can also be self destructive.

I'm sure that you're taking advantage of modern medicine and taking something to help improve your brain chemistry and to treat symptoms. 

Exercise is great therapy. It also causes your body to feel better and a healthy body promotes a healthier mind. 

If you've never tried this one, a steam sauna can make an enormous positive difference 

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/97261/

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/97261/#97262

MM,

I drive my wife nuts when the ABC Nightly News comes on leading with extreme weather from climate crisis stuff or if CNN does the same thing.

She gets tired of me correcting their junk science with facts. 

A lot of what they say and my response is similar to the last 100 times I commented.

And I can be an extremely expressive person, even when I'm just talking about something that's no big deal.

I mention her because she is somebody that is built different than me.

She went thru several years of having constant panic attacks, especially when our youngest son was having some issues.

I must have taken her blood pressure and pulse hundreds of times in those days because she thought she was going to have a heart attack during a panic attack.

I drove her to the outside of the emergency room several times, just to cause her anxiety to settle down. Being  right there, gave her peace of mind that if she had a heart attack, medical attention was just a couple of minutes away.

It worked.

Sometimes, when she was having extremely high readings, like 180 over 110,  I would tell her it was 150 over 90 and it would help her.

The higher the reading, the more fuel it provided for the panic attack/addrenaline rush. White Coat Syndrome!

She took the max dose of Lexipro for a couple of years and it helped her mind to not care as much about many things, dampening out the extreme, escalating fear and adrenaline surges that fed her panic attacks. She did breathing and relaxing exercises. She does Pilates. You might look into this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilates

After the panic attacks stopped completely, she got off the Lexipro because it stifled her creativity.

No way to have your cake and eat it too. 

The impact of the med stifled something really bad but took away something good. One has to decide if the positives are worth the negatives.

Fortunately, her panic attacks are extremely rare now.

She has 3 other siblings with regular panic attacks and social anxiety and  our oldest son, that takes after her has them as well as depression. Clearly its a genetic thing, which likely plays a role for you.

So, like them,  your tolerance for confrontations and stress was predetermined to some extent by the genetics of your brain chemistry and endocrine system.

But you're an extremely intelligent, pro active person that can take advantage of the tools in today's age to manage this issue, including considering some options mentioned here.

Everybody is different and you will probably know yourself best, even better than the therapist at times that helps you to know yourself.

For some people, blocking out/avoiding the offending thoughts might be best.

For other people confronting those thoughts head on might help resolve it.

Very often, the fear of something happening is much worse than that something happening. And the fear always adds to whatever it is you're afraid of, even if the event happens. 

If being afraid of tornadoes was needed to get a person to go to the basement during a tornado warning, it might be a positive. People in basements, almost never get killed by, even the strong tornadoes.

How many opportunities will there be that feature being in the basement saving your life?

Like 1 in a 100,000?

For that benefit, its not worth carrying around this constant phobia of severe weather if you live in tornado alley.

How many people are afraid to get in the car for a trip anywhere?

Cars accidents kill 40,000 people every year, 1,000 times more than tornadoes but we've completely accepted that risk, even knowing that fact.

seeing video of the decimated neighborhoods from a tornado outbreak has a lasting impact on our psyche compared to a car accident fatality.

 So we get in the car, put on our seat-belt, have tires with good tread, drive defensively, always being alert (no texting) knowing whats around us so that we can react quickly and life goes on.

It's all about ACCEPTING things that we can't control and doing our best with what we have.

We can't control the actions of drunk drivers or texting drivers on the roads. What a shame that would be if our elevated fear of them caused us to avoid driving completely. 

We either face that fear or make a major sacrifice because we can't manage it.

Facing the reality of the climate crisis bs is different because its not as critical to you as, say driving a car.

However, if you want to be fully engaged in today's world, where you can't go anywhere and not be bombarded with the fake climate crisis narratives............confronting and accepting might be the best way. Then you don't have to fret about being caught off guard by bs stories on the topic that pop up randomly.

But that's me.  Your reactions might be so extreme as to sabotage any attempts to conquer this. Additional exposure could make it worse?? 

Even a specific mental illness doesn't come with the exact same symptoms or the same exact effective strategy that works  in every case.

I hope this discussion helps.

Mike, I will start this reply with something that I suspect has more meaning and significance to you than it does to me. That said, every word is still true and applicable.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

I say this likely has more meaning to you because, I have never attended an AA meeting. In my entire life I have barely touched alcohol and very much in moderation. That said, a former boss of mine made me aware of this simple prayer when he knew I was going through the early stages of my breakdown. I keep a copy of this as my wallpaper on my cell phone so that every time I turn on my phone screen I am reminded of it.

That said, I have a hard time actually keeping the teaching in mind day to day.

You are absolutely correct that an analytical mind is often it's own worst enemy. Fixation and obsession are certainly the appropriate words to describe what our minds often engage in.

I do take medication for my mental well being. I take 300 mg of Wellbutrin everyday. It more or less helps but my mind can still overpower it. I don't want to take anything stronger as my previous experiences with things like Zoloft and Effexor (both SSRI type medications) result in some disturbing nightmares as well as some undesirable side effects.

I would love to start exercising again, even just going for a walk around the neighborhood would be an improvement, but I have to build my body back up again to the point where I can do that safely.

I would personally avoid a sauna room. On my 21st birthday I suffered a bad case of heat exhaustion and my tolerance for hot temperatures has never been the same sense. I think the medical term is "heat sensitivity." It's bad enough that I will often sleep with only a sheet covering me in the middle of winter and often nothing at all throughout the rest of the year.

I do firmly believe that if I can get ahold of my rampant brain, I can significantly improve the quality of my life, but I also need to do so without compromising that which makes me the quality of engineer that I am. My ability to focus on an engineering problem (call it fixation/obsession if you want to) is often what has allowed me to find a solution.

But I am now 34 years old and I know that I cannot continue to live my life with the constant levels of stress/anxiety that I have for the past 24 years of my life (basically what started when I was first diagnosed with Crohn's and only got significantly worse at the end of 2018).

MM,

I know that prayer very well from those AA meetings.

Interestingly, I don't do well with support groups because I'm extraordinarily independent and have the will power to control my actions based on being motivated, disciplined and understanding myself.

I was at a desperate point in my life then, trying to stay out of jail for 90 days and got hit over the head with facts and the truth by a fluke. Listening to the stories of bright, honest people 20+ years older than me (who stated that they wished they knew what they did then, when they were my age). Connecting to their stories..........except I hadn't lost a marriage or lost a job or lost my opportunity to get an education yet.

The light bulb went on brightly in my head. Alcohol will steal all those things away from you and then, 20 years later, you'll wake up and realize that you've frittered the most important part of your life away and it will be too late. 

For several decades after that, I became a weekend alcoholic and 100% sober M-F. Never missing work or a commitment. What we call a FUNCTIONAL alcoholic. 

I have a younger brother that's an accomplished real estate attorney that has houses in Prague and Portland. He runs marathons and does triathlons. He also drinks 1 to 2 bottles of wine every single night.

I'm glad that you've not turned to alcohol to self medicate which is what has destroyed more brilliant people than any other thing in history.

It's related to the way brains work and neurotransmitters being imbalanced in many cases.

Mom told me that any night she was loaded on booze and pills she had what she called "active brain".  She stayed awake the entire night with her brain racing wildly, obsessing and replaying mostly bad things over and over because she had all the bad things happen to her growing up. It was unbearable, so she turned to self medicating.

Her last 25 years, they came up with new meds and she, with my Dads assistance went to different docs and tried different stuff and found a couple of good ones that turned off her active mind. She also replaced the bad memories with good ones. She healed from a pretty severe case of mental illness.

Her brother, Joe came to stay with us 20 years ago, when I was staying up all night trading. I was shocked. Joe stayed up all night too, mostly reading and conversing with me. He said he's always had extreme insomnia his entire life and his brain races, so he can't  sleep. 

Genetically, I take after my mom's side and I was blessed(cursed) with "active brain".

You only have to observe my posts to see it in action. I take 100 mg of Doxepin before bedtime to sleep. Otherwise, I would lay awake half the night with my brain racing.

Up until 4th grade, my parents had to lock me in my room at night. If I had to pee, I had to pound on the door for them to let me out.

This was not from abuse.  

Dad used to get up at 5 am for work. When I was 5 years old, he was having breakfast and  got a phone call from a neighbor 3 doors down, that told him "Frank, your son is over here playing with our dog" When Dad came to get me, the neighbor said that I was over there numerous times at that hour and finally decided to call.

I actually remember those days. I had horrendous nightmares too until I was in 8th grade and many sleepless nights. 

As a young child unable to sleep, sometimes after a nightmare, I would just get up and sometimes go outside well before sunrise. Active mind! Over analytical mind when I got older.

MM, one thing that I have conditioned my brain to offset this with is to go thru a ritual of doing the exact same things every night before bed and to end it, laying in bed reading my Ipad and thinking about things that I have control of.

Even fake climate crisis stuff. I might read a disturbing story but instead of being upset, I relish in the authentic facts and review them with plans to respond the next day but with the mindset of ENJOYING it, not as a confrontation but a golden opportunity to share the authentic facts with people who don't know them...........and it makes me happy and brings peace because I'm doing something good to enlighten other people rather than having a pointless debate with a block head person that won't listen to a word.

That's how I do it.

Like you stated off the top of your last post. I know what I can't change, which is peoples minds but what I can do is present authentic science/facts to anybody that has an open mind and even when that means NOBODY,  the big bonus, every time is that I LEARN THINGS in the process, including how to become a better communicator that tries to respect others views who disagree with me. 

Everybody is different but I'm just sharing with you the things that cause my "active brain" to stay in an area that stays productive......doesn't lead to destructive thoughts or self inflicted damaging emotional thoughts that feed on themselves.

I would say this thread is my recipe for doing that.

 Use this to help make yourself a betterperson!            

                            Started by metmike - Feb. 28, 2022, 7:24 p.m.    

        https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/82252/

I've often stated that I'm the smartest person that has done the most stupid, damaging things to themselves during their life time. Even when not drunk, my active brain, when I was younger has latched on to some crazy ideas, even for just  short impulsive moments that have caused me or people around me harm.

My personal objective is to be the total opposite of that.

Which brings up another thought. I've spent a great deal of time helping out as a volunteer in a dozen different organizations.

Youth sports, Rescue Mission, Santa Clothes Club, Easter Seals, Keep Evansville Beautiful and Chess(coached 4,100 kids and am at 5 schools right now and on the board at the Scholastic Chess of Indiana).

None of those positions paid money, in fact, they all result in me using personal resources. 

No amount of money can bring the wonderful feeling of knowing that you helped other people or participated in an endeavor to help other people. 

You will be working with other caring, generous people.  Uniting in an environment dedicated to  an AUTHENTIC altruistic cause of your choice.

1 last comment on the meds. Modern science and medicine has greatly advanced and we can measure almost everything that can be measured in the human body.

But NOT the neurotransmitters in the brain.

Taking different antidepressants are based on assumptions about our NT that are often just guesses and using trial and error.

Take this med and lets see if it helps.

I know that you have Crohns Disease and also take  Welbutrin.

What are the chances, that of all the drugs out there, Welbutrin is managing your issues the best?

I took it in 1993/94 for a year and it did zilch for me. Everybody is different. You are very bright. Read up more on alternatives and ask your doctor to try different things if you find something that makes sense based on your condition/symptoms.

I take a heart med, Tenormin and 7.5 mg of prednisone too as well as a boat load of Voltaren gel. Every one of them, I picked and asked the doctor for a script. 

Also Tumeric, Hyalauranic Acid, Fish/Flaxseed oil, glucosamine and a dozen other stuff  that I spent hundreds of hours researching.

This is what you call taking control of your medical outcome and not just relying on doctors, some good and some bad.

Even the best don't have the time that we do to spend studying our case to get it right. 

A really smart patient that does their own homework is a doctors best friend for finding solutions and treatments.

MM,

I forgot to mention again, that I have Ehlers Danlos, as well as  an autoimmune disorder similar to Lupus and severe osteoarthritis which is why I need those meds/supplements.

I've had 24 surgeries under an anesthetic and also 22 skin cancers removed.

I have 2 ortho doctors wanting to do knee joint and a right shoulder joint replacement surgeries for 2 decades.

Instead, I discovered treatments that I TOLD THEM ABOUT.

The dermo doctor is using one of them to help his patients. ......good for him.(prescribing the HPV vaccine for skin cancers and flat warts based on my discussions with him-and its worked already on 1 of his patients, covered in flat warts that didn't respond to treatments for 5 years until getting the HPV vaccine)

The rhumo and ortho doctors are inside the box people that are not interested in learning anything that doesn't come in the form of a mainstream medical source and are too busy making money on joint replacement surgeries to be interested in things that would take away from that lucrative business.

It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/11/30/salary/

So I read every study/paper I could and was intrigued with hyaluronic acid  and its applications for arthritis.

   I tried therapeutic doses (200 mg/day) of hyaluronic acid (makes up half of the synovial fluid which lubricates your joints) .

With 100% certainty, it saved my knees from replacement surgery and is a strong factor in keeping my right shoulder from deteriorating as well as other joints, in my opinion.

I explained this to my rhumo doctors and their response was " we have a few patients that have been getting shots in their knees from their ortho doctors recommending it"

Instead of learning about it themselves and helping the hundred of patients that would benefit. They ignore it.

This study came out in 2000, one of dozens since then. There is no excuse for the medical community to not be embracing this and treating their patients with it, more than 2 decades after its been out there.

The main reason is because the doctors are making too much money on treating sick people, (in this case joint replacements and strong prescription meds) so that they are disinterested in actually curing them.

Hyaluronic acid supplementation

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11926-000-0022-x

I'm not saying that doctors are intentionally dishonest.

Just that they are often wrong(or miss more effective treatments) and rarely willing to try new things that don't fit exactly into their limited perception of the treatment protocol.

I can't possibly know if this applies to you, MM and in what form.

However, I can see that at least part of your stress is related to not being able to control things around you. That includes your Crohn's disease and mental illness where you continue to struggle with management.

Most people would have a hard time doing  a better job than their doctors ........who went to medical school and have the experience.

So they put their entire health outcome in the hands of those doctors.

I can tell you with 100% certainty that I would have been dead over 2 decades ago, if I'd done that.

You are extraordinarily bright and analytical. The type of mind that can help their doctor improve on the treatments they are getting.

You can't imagine the feeling of empowerment  was for me when experiencing the powerful benefits of the H acid that made an immediate difference.

It's been that way, for several other supplements and activities (steam sauna) with varying very  positive results.

I have serious health problems but I feel extremely good about effective treatments that keep me from feeling the loss of control from a body that is deteriorating.

I feel greatly empowered because I am doing numerous things to effectively fight back and not just capitulate and feel bad for myself.

On the climate change issue, I write articles and posts here and do appearances on tv and radio to fight back against the climate charlatans selling weather snake oil.

Since this is climate religion, its not likely people who believe are going to change views because of me...........but some do.

Previous moderator Alex, an ex journalist and very liberal person completely changed his climate change views after reading my stuff.

Regardless, I feel empowered by expressing myself using and most important of all....... in doing the research and analysis feel good about knowing the truth.

That's the thing, MM.

Knowing the truth shouldn't be a curse and cause stress.

Knowing the truth should help to set you free..........if you can let it.

You know the truth about the climate crisis. Let that be a positive thing, knowing that you are enlightened by authentic science and not caught up by the climate religion.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss but is that the kind of bliss you want?

Would you prefer to be an ignorant or gullible or bias cursed person that believes in fake news because they don't analyze everything, sometimes obsessively? Oblivious to it all and so, not caring because of that?

This was the powerful mind that you were born with.

Its just tough to harness that power but rejoice over the fact that you were blessed with such a wonderful mind!

Now, for a reality check!

"I would love to start exercising again, even just going for a walk around the neighborhood would be an improvement, but I have to build my body back up again to the point where I can do that safely."

I completely understand that being depressed drains your motivation and gives rise to excuses and justifications for NOT doing what you know needs to be done here.

You're a 34 year old man with Crohn's and severe depression.

Not a handicapped person without legs in a wheelchair(that could still do upper body exercises).

Though I understand your mindset and why, making lame excuses for not getting off your butt to at least start a basic exercise program is sentencing yourself to failing.

OVER exercising greatly damaged my body as a  stupid young man but vigorous, limited and controlled exercising is saving my life as a wise old man.

This includes the steam sauna.

I would personally avoid a sauna room. On my 21st birthday I suffered a bad case of heat exhaustion and my tolerance for hot temperatures has never been the same sense. I think the medical term is "heat sensitivity." It's bad enough that I will often sleep with only a sheet covering me in the middle of winter and often nothing at all throughout the rest of the year.

Sorry, MM I don't accept this.

I believe you about feeling hot much of the time but the most effective treatment for your condition would be steam saunas based on the biology of human beings.

Like exercise making your body stronger and more conditioned, steam saunas greatly contribute to our bodies becoming more efficient at cooling thru ADAPTATION.

If you are a weak out of shape person, is the treatment to avoid strength training or exercise?

USING the weak muscles is exactly what strengthens them thru adaptation.

Our bodies cool by perspiration because evaporation is a cooling process. With 1,000% certainty, regular, controlled exposures to steam will cause your body to get better and better at sweating under the same initial conditions.

This causes it to become more efficient at cooling itself. 100% science/biology.

I get that you are depressed and have empathy for that but  you will fail miserably if you lack the motivation to take any of this advice and instead, make lame, anti science excuses for it.

You certainly don't need to get a portable sauna for less than $100 like I showed earlier but making the invalid excuses for not doing it and for not exercising is the exact wrong, counterproductive mentality for you to get better.

I gave you everything that I know of to help..............but only you can make madmechanic better.

Mike,

You put me in quite a position here. I have to decide how I interpret your responses. It is pretty clear that you have done a lot of research on your own behalf (not something I doubted) and have found solutions that work for you. You are also presenting them rather...passionately, however from where I sit, it comes across as borderline offensive or insulting. But, this is me trying to interpret words on a webpage without any tone of voice to help me decide your intent. I'm confident your intention is not to offend.

I can see where you would see some of my statements to be thinly disguised excuses, which is unfortunate. I make those statements (for instance the one about exercise) from a position of me being cautious with MY body. Not wanting to hurt it even further than it already is at the current time. Yesterday I mowed the lawns at my house for the first time in months. Yeah, I motivated myself to do it because it needed to be done, but the level of physical exertion it caused on my body (a body that really should have another 25-30 pounds of muscle mass) meant that as soon as I had finished putting the lawn mower and yard waste collection can away I was on the floor inside my house clutching my abdomen in pain. This is one of the issues I have dealt with for as long as I've had Crohn's. Over exerting my body has a price which is usually pain where there is already active inflammation caused by the Crohn's. I suspect most people who might read the statements I just made would jump at saying "your just feeling the effects of using muscles that haven't been used properly in too long. No pain no gain!" That's not the case and I'm telling you this from MY personal experiences.

In high school I was probably in the best physical condition I've ever been in my life so far. The required freshman PE class involved a lot of push-ups, sit-ups, and running. Lots and lots of running. Our final exam in that class was a 3 mile run around the school campus and you had to do it under a certain total time to pass the class. Obviously we were all building up our body endurance throughout the year doing shorter runs but it was still a physically demanding thing for the vast majority of us. I paid dearly for that 3 mile run the rest of the day due to aggravating the areas of my body where there was active Crohn's inflammation. It is what it is, and I will tell you this, it has been MY experience in life that the fastest way to train your brain to NOT want something, is to associate that something with physical pain. It's how I learned not to crave popcorn or peanuts, two foods that will cause a Crohn's flare up within hours of consuming them, at least for me.

I can relate to your sentiment about some doctors just wanting to collect a paycheck and not wanting to learn. Whatever their personal reason may be. Last year I worked briefly with an infectious disease specialist (C. Diff is classified as an infectious disease). She put me on my second and third rounds of antibiotics. After the second round didn't help, I had approached her about the option of an FMT (Fecal Microbial Transplant) and she dismissed it with some lame excuse and insisted that a 3rd round of antibiotics would work and that if I didn't like that option I was "welcome to go get a second opinion." The thing is that in my area infectious disease specialists are quite rare and I would have to go through the process of getting a new referral from my primary care to a new specialist which would have to be approved by insurance. Then I would have to wait to be seen by the new specialist assuming insurance approved the referral. All of that would have taken up precious time, time I didn't feel I could afford spending waiting for paperwork to be shuffled. I felt I didn't have much choice in the moment and reluctantly agreed to the 3rd round of antibiotics, which, no surprise, didn't work either.

It was at that point I approached her again about an FMT (something that has potentially a 90% success rate in treating C. Diff), this time I was firm in my conviction that I would refuse a 4th round of antibiotics. She reluctantly said she would talk to my GI doctor about an FMT via a phone call, something she never did. So I gave up on working with her. She was an older gal and I found out through talking to some of my other doctors that she is well known for being old school and set in her ways. So much so that she refuses to use HIPPA approved electronic medical message systems (like email) to talk to other doctors and will instead send faxes or make phone calls.

This was just one of many reasons that compounded last year to make me basically give up on the modern medical system entirely. I spent a lot of time reading about alternative medical theories and approaches. Something I could share some time, but I suspect I will get a lot of backlash for that topic around here for how...controversial some of those alternative theories are.

I also feel that in many ways, you (Mike) and I have gone far off course here with some of the life experiences we have shared in this thread so far. My original intention with my initial post was to hopefully get some ideas on how to curb the embedded fears about this mass marketed climate change crisis bullshit, not to critique my personal approach on how I am rebuilding MY body.

As a quick side note regarding the mental health medications. It is my personal goal at this time working with my therapist to work towards NOT needing any anti-anxiety medication at all. The way I see it, I never needed any until the end of 2018, and even then I didn’t actually start taking meds until about August of 2019 as I was trying to work through my issues with therapy alone at the time. I personally believe that it is possible to get back to a position mentally where I don’t need that kind of medication anymore, that is my goal, so I’m not interested in experimenting with other brands or formulations.

Reflecting on how I approached my initial post, I can imagine some will read it as a “oh poor me, feel sorry for me” sort of deal, again that was very much not the intent. I’m not looking for sympathy, I get plenty of emotional support from my wife, my family and my therapist. I was hoping to get some ideas for techniques on ‘fixing’ what I see to be a broken mind that is fixated on something that it still perceives to be a threat despite ample evidence to the contrary.

Mike, you used some rather strongly worded statements to the effect of me making excuses as to why I don’t get off my “lazy butt” and do something physical. This does in some ways offend me, but that might also be your tactic. To rile someone up by hitting them with something potentially insulting but likely true with the hope that they will get pissed off enough to do something about changing. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but that’s what I see. And I’m over here trying to explain, honestly, why I approach such activities with the level of caution that I do.

Thanks, MM,

I sincerely appreciate all your wonderful posts. I can tell that you are extremely analytical and intelligent.

You've made many positive contributions. 

I also feel honored that you are asking me for my opinions on this topic because you must value my insights. 

As it turns out, I have an incredibly long list of experiences with medicine and medical issues and have spent 3 decades learning in order to apply. Without them, I would have died almost 3 decades ago. I've actually had 2 different events where I lost 4 units of blood from a blot clotting issue just over a decade ago. I somehow made it to 67 and the chances of reaching 77 seem pretty low. 

However, while I'm still here, my biggest objective is to learn as much as possible and generously share it with as many people as possible.

My current regime, while maybe not optimal for everybody(I would need several more pages to tell you all of it) capitalizes on some indisputable biological/medical/physiological principles that I've come to embrace. 

With aging, its been getting harder and harder to stay disciplined to apply these.

I go to the gym less often. Sauna less than I should most weeks. My connective tissue(collagen)  disorder(Eylers Danlos) causes negative impacts from exercise. However, NOT doing it results in much worse impacts. It's a balancing act that seeks the path where the benefits outweigh the negatives and with age, gets harder and harder.

I have to make myself do it and will skip extra days because its so hard to stay motivated on days when I don't have the energy like I did 20+ years ago. After doing it, I feel so dang good and that also applies to my mental outlook, sleep and indirect realms.

 When it's time to do  the next vigorous workout or sauna, I'm back to finding reasons to delay it until tomorrow, then the next tomorrow. Maybe I didn't sleep well or am busy preparing for a tv show or am stressed out from chess practice or my right shoulder needs more time to recover. 

There always seems to be a good reason to skip it for another day past when I had decided to do this activity. Call it lazy, call it procrastination, call it old age if you want. The bottom line is, no matter the reason/excuse,  ITS HAPPENING on a regular basis. 

Luckily, I'm extremely dedicated and it never changes the regime, just the frequency. And the longer the delay, the greater the benefits, IMMEDIATELY after the skipped day(s).  This is a profound reinforcement of my body needing it and being overdue. I know my body. This always happens and its  completely expected based on universal principles of exercise and certain activities (like  a steam sauna).

Yet, none of my doctors even tell their patients to do much of what I'm doing. 

I seriously would have died a long time ago if I based my health regime solely on doctor's advice.

Here's another little nugget for you.

Very often, a person with no physical limitations that has optimal health doesn't need to pay attention to the items that define my regime.

Whatever they are doing works. They don't need to construct a unique regime to adapt because of a compromised body. So many people look at them as examples of what to do and what not to do.

 But when your health or body  becomes compromised, that is no longer you. It forces you to become more enlightened about principles/elements that are taken for granted so that a compromised body can maximize what that body can do.

What many people do in that compromised health condition is just use it as an excuse to NOT do many things they could be doing.  This is happening every day all over the world.

The mindset is, "If I can't walk a half mile, then no sense walking a block. If I can't do 2X, then it's an excuse to not at least do 1/2X and build up to 2X", which is actually the only way that it can happen from adaptation

On you seeing this as borderline offensive. I'm sorry that you feel that way but am not surprised  based on human nature. 

All people love to hear and read things they agree with. They love to receive sympathy and be told they are doing everything they can because it makes them feel good about themselves.

That's where my first few posts were mostly coming from. 

However, I'm not here to just tell people what they want to read/hear. 

I'm here to tell people what THEY NEED to read/hear, if its in a field that I have enough knowledge to be able to do that to help them.

You are offended because my implications are that you are not doing everything you should be. Well, you aren't.

If you choose to ignore my suggestions, I won't be offended. If you take them the wrong way, I won't be offended.

I know why I generously offered them. 

You asked for feedback and I gave it. One reason that I asked you to post here instead of private email is so that I can share everything with other readers. These principles and suggestions are universal for everyone. Maybe somebody else, or 2 or 3 will get something out of it.

I really don't have time for personal emails, when I can cover the same ground and impact dozens of people.

Think about this.

Did you get me involved because you sincerely want help/additional insight or because you need somebody to tell you things to make you feel better while you read them?

I tried hard to do both with the main objective being to help you.

I'm not telling you to do exactly what I do. These are things that are saving me and bringing great quality to my life.

Please apply  the proven concepts/principles in a way which fits your unique situation best.

Peace and love,

metmike

With regards to use of the portable steam sauna and how the principles that I described work in the real observational world(not just theory or because that's what it supposed to do).

I hadn't used the sauna for almost 2  weeks because I got lazy. 

This past Wednesday, I did my short strength training work out at The Pit. The workout went very well and I ended it with 15 minutes on the Jacob's Ladder.

I produced very little sweat. Sweat is what cools our bodies and I've noted my body doesn't sweat nearly as effectively as it did 30 years ago while doing something similar.

I was not surprised because going that long, at my age with no sauna or exercise will take a huge toll on my body's ability to sweat and cool itself.

Heat never bothered me, so its not that big of a deal. However, it reminded me that I've been neglecting using my portable steam sauna at home.

So Thursday and Friday, I did the sauna on both nights. I could tell already on the 2nd night, how much more sweat my body produced. This happens 100% of the time.

So here is where the difference was profound.

Last night/Saturday I went back to The Pit and did nothing but the Jabobs ladder for 20 minutes.

Everything else was exactly the same as the 15 minutes on the Jabobs Ladder on Wednesday.......except for using the steam sauna 2 times, Thu/Fri.

Unlike Wednesday, with very little sweat, I had a big puddle underneath me with at least 100 drops of sweat. My shirt was completely soaked.

This profound difference was entirely from doing the steam sauna for 2 days, around 30 minutes(15 X2)  each time. 

It was from my body adapting in order to became more heat tolerant. I've known this forever. 

Early in the Summer, working outside I didn't sweat nearly as much as later in the Summer because our bodies acclimate/adapt to expose to heat by producing more sweat to cool.

This causes us to be more heat tolerant. 

Avoiding heat expose causes our bodies to be even more sensitive to heat. 

The Science of Sweat: Why Some People Perspire More

https://www.henryford.com/blog/2019/09/science-of-sweat-why-some-people-perspire-more

MADMECHANIC ~ "My original intention with my initial post was to hopefully get some ideas on how to curb the embedded fears about this mass marketed climate change crisis bullshit, not to critique my personal approach on how I am rebuilding MY body."

I'VE GOT (HAD) A GOOD FRIEND THAT HAD BEEN A WONDERFUL PSYCHOLOGIST FOR 40+ YEARS.... HE DIED A FEW YEARS AGO.  HIS METHOD IS/WAS: TRUE COMPASSION ~ EMPATHY & UNDERSTANDING ~ THE ABILITY TO NOT JUDGE ~ TO NOT BLAME ~ TO BE ABLE TO SEE A PERSON AS THE PERSON THEY WERE & TO RECOGNIZE THE PERSON IS SINCERE IN WANTING & NEEDING THE GUIDANCE TO BE THAT PERSON THEY USED TO BE.  IT TAKES TIME!  IT TAKES PATIENCE!

HIS STYLE WAS SIMPLE.  HIS 1ST REQUEST TO ALL OF HIS CLIENTS WAS >>> DO NOT TRY TO RUSH THRU THIS!  YOU DIDN'T WIND UP WHERE YOU ARE, OVERNIGHT ~ YOU WON'T BE HEALED OVERNIGHT.

HIS 2ND REQUEST?  GET AWAY FOR A WEEKEND & SPOIL YOURSELF!!  DO WHAT USED TO BRING YOU PLEASURE.  IF BAD THOUGHTS COME TO MIND...PUT THOSE THOUGHTS ON THE "BACK BURNER" & SHUT THE HEAT OFF.... GET BACK TO THE PLEASURABLES & STAY IN THE PRESENT!!  AVOID NEGATIVITY AT ALMOST ANY COST!!

HIS 3RD REQUEST?  WALK AWAY ~ SHUT IT OFF & SHUT IT DOWN ~ CRY IF YOU NEED TO!!!!  IF/WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A SITUATION THAT WILL "TRIP YOUR TRIGGER" ~ WALK AWAY ~ SHUT IT OFF & SHUT IT DOWN!!  YOU CAN HAVE FULL CONTROL OF YOUR THOUGHTS & ACTIONS.  YOU WILL GET THERE, HAVE PATIENCE WITH YOURSELF.

HE COULD TELL WHEN A CLIENT WASN'T SERIOUS. IN THOSE INSTANCES. HE SENT THEM ON THEIR WAY & TOLD THEM TO COME BACK WHEN THEY WERE SERIOUS.  YEP, A FEW OF THEM DID GO BACK TO HIM & HE STARTED ALL OVER WITH THEM. THEY CAME OUT JUST FINE & DANDY!

HIS WORDS OF: WALK AWAY ~ SHUT IT OFF & SHUT IT DOWN!!, ARE VERY EMPOWERING!!  I USE THEM TO GET AWAY FROM NEGATIVITY & SMILE WHEN I DO.  LOL HE WAS A WONDERFUL MAN!!  HE ALWAYS TOLD ME I HAVE ONE OF THE SIMPLEST (IN A GOOD WAY) MINDS HE'D EVER ENCOUNTERED.  I LOVE MY "SIMPLE" MIND!!  LOL

I READ YOUR POST AS A VERY SINCERE PLEA FOR HELP ~ WITH NO HINT OF "OH, FEEL SORRY FOR ME!", WHATSOEVER!  MAYBE, MY POST CAN HELP ~ I HOPE SO!

HUGS & BLESSINGS ......... JEAN

BTW ~ TEARS ARE FULL OF TOXINS!  NATURES' DISINFECTANT, SO TO SPEAK

Thanks much, Jean!

Some great points in there.

MADMECHANIC ~ "My original intention with my initial post was to hopefully get some ideas on how to curb the embedded fears about this mass marketed climate change crisis bullshit, not to critique my personal approach on how I am rebuilding MY body."

++++++++++++

You are under the false illusion that when you ask for advice, that you get to tell the person what the advice should be. 

Gaining control of your personal life with positive elements that contribute to a healthy body is one of the best ways to experience empowerment that applies to your psyche under all circumstances.

If you don't appreciate that then take more time to try to gain objective discernment before reacting defensively. It  can be extremely effective but only if you are committed to making it work. 

You don't have to do a thing that I suggested that works for me............but at least pick your own methods to apply the principles. 

You should also note that you're not alone with your anxiety related to the fake climate crisis.

Most people with eco-anxiety, however are stressed out because they believe in the climate crisis, especially young people. 

They are petrified that, because we are supposedly destroying the planet, they have no future.

One can really understand why this would create enormous stress in their lives. If you really thought the planet was going to be destroyed during your life time, it's a horrible thing to NOT look forward to. 

Climate Anxiety: Doomsday Cult or Mental Illness?

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/08/climate-anxiety-doomsday-cult-or-mental-illness/

 Finally a real expert telling us the truth about Covid19: Greta on CNN. Scaring and converting children into the climate crisis cult.  Eco-anxiety in children. Greta controlled as the United Nation's climate activist puppet. Failedpredictions of the UN and past climate crisis religion high priests, like Al Gore. Showing the truth with actual data/observations vs telling people to listen to the fake science. May 2020. https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/52100/

++++++

Their objective is to scare people and try to steal their intelligence by perpetrating a fake climate crisis using convincing sounding scams.

 You can fight back by educating yourself and NOT letting them control your brain or thinking. You are the sole force that controls your own thinking on this. They can't capture an objective, educated brain. .........which is you!

Dumpster Diving NASA Climate Scientist Peter Kalmus: ‘Biden must declare a climate emergency’ – Admit he has ‘bottomless grief’ because ‘we are losing Earth’ & seeks to ‘end’ fossil fuels

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/28/dumpster-diving-nasa-climate-scientist-peter-kalmus-biden-must-declare-a-climate-emergency-admit-he-has-bottomless-grief-because-we-are-losing-e/

. Kalmus blames “capitalism” for the alleged climate crisis. “Can’t you all see? The real villain was capitalism all along.” Watch: Peter Kalmus weeps over climate in April 2022: “We have been trying to warn you guys for so many decades that we are heading towards a F*cking catastrophe.” – “We are going to lose everything. And we are not joking. We are not lying. We are not exaggerating.” – We have to stop financing of fossil fuels. We have to stop new fossil fuel projects. we don’t have any carbon budget left.” – “It is going to literally take us to the brink of civilizational collapse. and we have to stop it right now.

++++++++

MM, imagine if you thought this way?

Knowing the truth based on enlightenment via authentic science can help to set you free.

There are far more important things to worry about in our world. And even those things, shouldn't take over the thoughts of people that can't do anything about it.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/28/climate-change-weekly-478-backlash-polls-confirm-climate-change-is-low-priority-issue/

Attunement is a Deep Mindfulness Practice

tinyurl.com/2bad5xw3

+++++++++++

Hygiene for Your Mind: Live Well and Be Happy Using Mindfulness Psychology

https://tinyurl.com/36ue2n6m

• Gives you perspective
• Decreases depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness
• Increases positive emotions and emotional regulation, social connections, focus, attention, memory, and innovative thinking

In sum, meditation boosts your health, happiness, social life, self-control, brain function, productivity, and perspective. By observing your mind, you become free from learned limitation.

The Biochemistry of the Mind-Body Connection

While we still don’t understand everything about the mind-body connection, scientists are discovering some of the ways in which communication occurs. Dr. Jennifer Weinberg, MD, MPH, MBE, a preventive and lifestyle medicine physician, describes the brain as “the hardware” that allows us to experience the thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and emotions that we collectively call the “mind.” 

Communication happens via chemical and physical messengers, such as hormones and neurotransmitters. In fact, researchers have identified the actual neural networks that connect the cerebral cortex to the adrenal medulla, which actives the body’s response in stressful situations. These findings illuminate how mental states, such as stress and depression, can influence organ function.

What Is the Mind-Body Connection?

https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/mental-health/understanding-the-mind-body-connection/

The mind and the body are not two separate entities—although they are often treated that way. Physical health and emotional health are intimately intertwined in what’s known as the mind-body connection. 

Our chemistry and biology impact our mood and emotions, as well as thoughts and beliefs. With all of these factors combined, they play a major role in influencing our stress and physical health. If you’ve ever felt your stomach tighten up when you were anxious, you’ve experienced the mind-body connection.

Jean,

Thank you for your post. Those are some profound steps your friend imposed on someone's treatment.

I need to re-read them a few more times to gain a better understanding of what the goal of each step is.

Thank you for sharing this and I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your friend.

Mike,

So I have to concede to your point about "when asking others for advice you don't get to pick what advice they will give."

On reflection, I think I had an existing idea of the kind of advice I was hoping to receive, and it's very much closer to what Jean generously provided. More of mental techniques or approaches to life.

I think what may have also happened here is that I read a lot of what you wrote as if I had to do exactly what you do or else I'm screwed. That's how it came across to me. I get you are very passionate about the things you have personally spent copious time researching, testing and implementing, but from my perspective reading your posts, your passion came across as if you were an all knowing individual.

You are very smart, I don't dispute that, but it comes out rather strong sometimes. This is just my opinion.

I trust what I have read and researched regarding the "climate crisis" and the conclusions I have come to (that there is no crisis) and in theory that should be enough for my analytical mind to close the book on this topic and put that book back on the shelf and move on with my life. But there is something else going on here, another behavioral response that has come out of reaching my personal opinion/conclusion: I get seriously irritated, frustrated, even angry anytime the term climate change is even so much as mentioned.

It pisses me off that more people don't see things the way you and I do, but I also hate that there is little I can do to change their minds. This feeds into that feeling of hopelessness.

Furthermore, it angers me immensely knowing that governments the world over are throwing obscene amounts of money at this "problem" and driving their own countries down a path to ruination. But again, there isn't really anything I can do to stop this. Hopelessness.

This is the cycle that plays out in my head.

Here in California, as of January 1, 2024, the sale of all fossil fuel burning small engines will be banned. Period. No new gas powered lawn mowers, no new wood splitters, no new gas powered generators. Yes, even gas powered generators cannot be sold new in this state. Try telling that to the people across this state that lost power this last winter when we got hit by storm after storm after storm.

And why? Because the democrats who run this state think that banning new small engines will somehow make a tangible difference. Perhaps yard work crews working daily on my street, keeping my neighbors lawns perfectly mowed will be quieter once they are forced to replace their aging equipment with new battery powered stuff, but that only creates a new problem. They are going to need a trailer full of charged batteries to do all the work they do in a day. And then they are going to need a garage full of chargers to recharge those batteries every night.

Anyway, I've gone off track.

You have offered your advice in your way Mike and I'm glad that in your most recent replies you have stated that what works for you might not work for me or someone else and I completely agree. I was put off by how strongly you were presenting your advice initially as if it was my only option and my life literally depended on doing everything you do. Again, this is just how it felt to me reading it.

As a friend of mine used to say "text on a screen has no soul". His point was that in the absence of tone of voice, a message that is purely text can be interpreted in different ways by different people. I sat here and read your messages as if you were here in my house literally getting in my face and ordering me to do those things.

MADMECHANIC ~ YOU'RE WELCOME

MY FRIEND WAS ALSO A HYPNOTIST.  HE WAS A FIRM BELIEVER IN ATTAINING PERMANENT "FIXES" FOR THE MIND, W/O MEDICATIONS ~ WHICH ARE TEMPORARY, AT BEST!  TAKE THE MEDICATIONS AWAY & SEE WHAT HAPPENS.  MOST MINDS CAN BE HEALED WITH PROPER "TRAINING".  WHEN WE LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY "TRAIN" OUR BRAIN ~ WE KNOW WHAT TO DO IF/WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES "SLIPPING" BACK INTO THE ABISS... AND, WE CAN QUICKLY DO A 180 ~ WALK AWAY ~ SHUT IT OFF & SHUT IT DOWN!  I DO FIND THE HUMOR IN THE SIMPLICITY OF THE WORDS.  LOLOLOL

AS FOR THE SCENARIO OF THE "CLIMATE CHANGE" RADICALS?  LOL THEY ARE A PRIME EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAUSES ME TO REACT TO ANYONE THAT "BLOWS AUTHENTIVE SMOKE".  HAHAHHAHAHAA  MOST TIMES, I CAN LAUGH & "SLUFF" IT OFF. THE FEW TIMES THAT I CAN'T? I JUST REFER TO THEM AS "DUMB ASS"!  THEN, I WALK AWAY ~ SHUT IT OFF & SHUT IT DOWN!  (YEP, I TALK RIGHT OUT LOUD AT A VIDEO OR ARTICLE ~ "OH, YOU DUMB ASS!!")  HAHAHAHAAA

MADMECHANIC, I FEEL VERY CONFIDENT THAT YOU WILL REACH OUT TO YOURSELF & FIND THAT YOU "ALLOWED" OTHERS TO DISRUPT YOUR GOOD NATURED, WELL-BEING MIND & BODY.  BUT, ALAS ~ IT WAS ONLY TEMPORARY!!  

YOU'RE YOUNG ~ YOU DESERVE A LONG ~ FUNNNNN & HAPPY LIFE! GRAB AHOLD OF IT ~ CHERISH IT.

BABY STEPS ~ BABY STEPS ~ BABY STEPS. YOU'LL FIND THEY TURN INTO LONG SMOOTH STRIDES, MY FRIEND.  AND... ONCE AGAIN, YOU'LL KNOW HOW GOOD IT FEELS, TO FEEL GOOD!

HUGS & BLESSINGS....... JEAN

Thanks much for showing that you can step back and look more objectively at information.

Not everybody responds to the same methods of therapy.

For instance "ignorance is bliss" is one method that I didn't discuss. 

Ignore it, pretend it doesn't exist and then it doesn't have to bother you.

However, from our discussions I sense that you believe strongly in the authentic science and the junk science is completely impossible to ignore. You just pointed out examples of them intervening in lives based on the junk science. 

It's complete nonsense and they're getting away with it right now. Living in California is the WORST state in the U.S. by far because of the, sometimes retarded environmentalist laws imposed.

You have 3 choices.

1. Join the club and get on board with the fake climate crisis program and be happy with it.

2. Pretend it isn't happening and go around in complete denial.

3. Acknowledge it's complete bs and that it ticks you off.......then work on PRODUCTIVE things in your life that you DO HAVE CONTROL OF to give you empowerment........like with exercise that has solidly proven, universal mind-body benefits. 

4. Educate yourself on the science so that you can feel confident on being on the RIGHT side.  Never capitulate and let junk science win or destroy your mind or will. Use it to feel confidence, not defeat. 

5. I suggested strategies that work for me. Everybody is different. Always use a strategy/tactic that you feel personally connected to because, its only then that you can embrace it. I always tell parents in my chess programs that sign them up to develop their minds. "Never force a child to play chess when they repeatedly resist, it will only cause them to hate chess!" So if you hate the thought of doing exercise.........find something else. become involved in a volunteer organization that helps people, for instance.

6. find things  that give your life tremendous meaning, quality and reward……and use those as therapy.

Dr. Daniel Swain and AGBULL follow

Dan Go@FitFounderThe average American gets 3000 to 4000 steps a day. This pales in comparison to our hunter gatherer ancestors who got 16,000 to 17,000 steps. This image shows 2 brain scans that represent a students neural activity during a test following sitting and walking for 20 minutes. The color blue represents lower neural activity, while the color red shows higher brain activity in a given region. This shows that exercise has a massive impact not only on your physical health but your mental health. Here are 5 reasons why: 1) It increases serotonin, norepinephrine & dopamine, which manage your thoughts & emotions. 2) It releases endorphins into your body that block out pain and make you feel good. 3) It promotes neuroplasticity, which enhances your brains ability to learn skills and change. 4) It increases oxygen supply to your brain that can help with memory, flexible thinking and self control. 5) It helps you manage stress & increase energy, which will help you become better at every aspect of life. If exercise came in pill form, it would be plastered across the front page, hailed as the blockbuster drug of the century. Do you need to hit a gym to get the benefits? It helps but no. You can find ways to get more movement throughout your day. It could be taking the stairs instead of using the elevator. Or parking a bit farther from your spot. You could even do walking meetings. You can do micro workouts like doing 10 pushups each time you use a door or squats before you sit. There are many ways to get more exercise throughout your day that the only thing you have to get over is yourself. Do not sleep on what a few more steps or a bout of intense exercise will do to your brain and body. It is the #1 metahabit in the world for a reason. Use it to your advantage. Ps. Credit to

@SahilBloom

 for being the first one to bring this brain scan to my attention.