CoffeeStain comments on Open Thread, February 1-14, 2013 - Less Wrong

6 Post author: OpenThreadGuy 01 February 2013 08:26AM

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Comment author: CoffeeStain 08 February 2013 06:35:39AM 5 points [-]

Here's a question perhaps not posed too often. I'm new here, and finding the sheer amount of effort people seem to put into the status quo topics quite daunting. I recognize the objective value in many of the things discussed, in that by discussing them there is moral benefit. But day-to-day, I find myself envious rather than spurred to action that people are able to put forth the effort.

For far too long, I've been frustrated and in a mental lull, and I find little to attribute this to except a decrease in effort about the things I know I am capable of caring about. Being part of a community of like-minded individuals seems like the thing that would help me get out of this, but this in itself requires the sort of effort I only feel lucky to have currently as I make this attempt to interact with one.

Any advice for getting out of the rut?

Comment author: Qiaochu_Yuan 08 February 2013 07:37:59AM 3 points [-]

Ask Shannon Friedman for a free consultation?

Comment author: CoffeeStain 08 February 2013 10:18:11AM 4 points [-]

Done, with apprehension. To be honest, the mildly altered state meditation stuff kind of weirds me out, which is hardly a predictor of its potential efficacy. To be more honest, my religious upbringing, to which I still often have a little allegiance (a discussion, and a long one, for many another time), suggests an argument about not looking too inwardly for answers to your innermost hurts. But the real or imagined force of that argument is not the source of my apprehension, so I best ignore it.

I may wish to find a local therapist that is paid for by my health insurance. How does one walk into a general practitioner's office and ask for a therapist? What sort of therapy am I looking for?