JoshParnell wrote:Interesting question and seems like a potentially-interesting thread

Answer - AFAIK I am not medically abnormal in any way. Guess it goes without saying that this doesn't preclude being abnormal Describing oneself is always a weird endeavor, but I think those who know me would probably say something along the lines of "very weird, but in an endearing way." Or at least I hope they would add that last part I'm very reclusive by nature and spend most of my time alone in my thoughts (by choice). As for brain chemistry, I am fairly consistent, peaceful, and docile, but definitely experience sharper and more constant stress than most (I'm sure that's been a critical part of what helped me). As I think many who read the dev logs have gathered, I spend a significant portion of my time feeling guilty about not having accomplished enough

At any rate, I would imagine that having abnormal brain chemistry in some way would help one do things outside the framework of normal professions (e.g., be an independent). So although I don't exactly contribute concretely to the test of your hypothesis, I support it

I would be very interested to know, though, more about how you have set yourself up to deal with your condition? In particular, any chance you'd be willing to share your experience in managing the depressive episodes? How do you reassure yourself that you'll get out? How do you make sure that you don't do permanent damage in that condition that would put your productive highs at risk? Just curious (and of course you can tell me to f!@# off as well )

I'm always interested in any ideas or techniques related to manipulating one's mental state. At one point I was a big proponent of exercising mental control, though over the years I've become less convinced that mental control is very feasible (or at least not as feasible as I once imagined). I've recently been toying with the concept of mental "training" using sensory cues. In particular, I've experimented recently (with some success) with the concept of intentionally creating correlations between the consumption of a certain food or beverage with a strong, positive experience, in an attempt to allow a (false) induction of that positive state at will. Yes, I'm open to the thought of training myself with monkey treats

(Interestingly, I used this technique to induce a fairly strong positive disposition during my first play of X Rebirth. It could potentially explain why my perception of the game was (and still is) more positive than most? )

EDIT : Oh, and welcome to the forums!