There's a skeleton in my closet which few people know about. I have Asperger Syndrome, which is high functioning autism. This fact always surprises people because I come off as a completely normal guy, but the fact is the disorder completely dominates my life. Fortunately, I fair pretty well in life as long as I remain self-aware of certain behaviors, such as to let subjects drop, talk about what people want to talk about (rather than be Encyclopedia Britannica), keep my voice at appropriate levels, show appreciation, etc. And not to violate unwritten social rules. As long as I feel I'm in control of the disorder rather be helpless to it, I seem to do well.
The one problematic area has been social anxiety and a consequent mild depression because of it. For a wide variety of reasons, people don't understand me, I misunderstand them, communication gaffes are frequent, and I often get too wrapped up in analyzing things. Imagine if you were living in Russia and everything was so bizarre and you didn't know how to react to certain gestures, situations, etc. That's my life.
Not much is known about Asperger Syndrome, but I figured out that I probably have low levels of serotonin. So, starting on New Year's Eve, I started a regime of the dietary supplement 5-HTP (the precursor to serotonin) along with vitamin B-6 (helps the conversion). There are no noticeable side effects and the stuff really does work, although I don't take doses on a daily basis and only before socializing, to minimize the build-up of tolerance and save money.
It's been four weeks and my social life has seen drastic improvement. I feel much more at ease, negative thoughts have almost entirely disappeared, and I greatly suspect my non-verbal body language has completely changed for the better. I went from having zero prospects in the past two years to ladies coming out of the woodwork. I didn't do it for success with the ladies, but I cannot deny its influence.
But yet, drug / medical solutions to self-improvement is rather taboo. The sentiment from others is usually along the lines of "You probably don't need that shyt." In fact, I remember years ago when STR8UP posted about having started some anti-depressant and the replies were largely negative, if I remember correctly. But for all the insight about thinking correctly, "You are what you think", and the self-fulfilling nature to beliefs in regards to sexing the ladies; for all the insight about self-reliance and non-dependence, one must acknowledge that no amount of thinking can correct chemical imbalances of the brain. After all, about one out of five people have some form of mental illness / disorder and while most are functional enough to not need therapy, it speaks to how prevalent are problems of the mind.
Yes, I believe people ought to minimize the dependence of medicine in their lives, but for some it can prove to be tremendously beneficial and ought not be dismissed out of hand.
The one problematic area has been social anxiety and a consequent mild depression because of it. For a wide variety of reasons, people don't understand me, I misunderstand them, communication gaffes are frequent, and I often get too wrapped up in analyzing things. Imagine if you were living in Russia and everything was so bizarre and you didn't know how to react to certain gestures, situations, etc. That's my life.
Not much is known about Asperger Syndrome, but I figured out that I probably have low levels of serotonin. So, starting on New Year's Eve, I started a regime of the dietary supplement 5-HTP (the precursor to serotonin) along with vitamin B-6 (helps the conversion). There are no noticeable side effects and the stuff really does work, although I don't take doses on a daily basis and only before socializing, to minimize the build-up of tolerance and save money.
It's been four weeks and my social life has seen drastic improvement. I feel much more at ease, negative thoughts have almost entirely disappeared, and I greatly suspect my non-verbal body language has completely changed for the better. I went from having zero prospects in the past two years to ladies coming out of the woodwork. I didn't do it for success with the ladies, but I cannot deny its influence.
But yet, drug / medical solutions to self-improvement is rather taboo. The sentiment from others is usually along the lines of "You probably don't need that shyt." In fact, I remember years ago when STR8UP posted about having started some anti-depressant and the replies were largely negative, if I remember correctly. But for all the insight about thinking correctly, "You are what you think", and the self-fulfilling nature to beliefs in regards to sexing the ladies; for all the insight about self-reliance and non-dependence, one must acknowledge that no amount of thinking can correct chemical imbalances of the brain. After all, about one out of five people have some form of mental illness / disorder and while most are functional enough to not need therapy, it speaks to how prevalent are problems of the mind.
Yes, I believe people ought to minimize the dependence of medicine in their lives, but for some it can prove to be tremendously beneficial and ought not be dismissed out of hand.
