Posted by Racer on August 29, 2004, at 11:36:22
In reply to Re: what is remission? » shadowmon, posted by Larry Hoover on August 29, 2004, at 11:14:26
Regarding the line between normal emotional reactions and abnormal, that's a question I have been hurting over this past week or so, too. (And a curse -- a really serious curse -- upon the woman who first gave me Wittgenstein to read!)
I'm not sure I've come to any really firm opinion about it, but the best I can do is sit in Ludwig's chair and say that the boundary is drawn according to our needs at the time. Having had the money thing going myself, in a very big way, my guess is that 'remission' means that we see that number, recognize the pain it causes us, grieve for it, and then move on. Double points, I think, if we can move on to looking at alternative solutions...
One of my old students would pay me in cookies -- her husband worked at a cookie factory, so he'd bring them home for her to pay me with. That's an alternative solution to a lack of money preventing someone from taking the classes that would lead to better job opportunities. Make sense? Another potential student, though, called numerous times saying she couldn't find a job, because she didn't have the skills, but she couldn't afford our classes so she sat at home -- calling me over and over for a couple of weeks -- and I offered her a deal: come in and work in our office a few hours per week, and she could get not only the classes themselves, but experience, a letter of recommendation, and some private coaching to boot. Nope, that was too hard for her. Personally, I think the first one shows what remission might look like -- and she was sunny and sweet, too, so I'd probably have *given* her the lessons anyway, if she didn't seem to like "paying" for them. (And the cookies were awfully good...) The second, on the other hand, might not have been clinically depressed, but she certainly had some sort of hopelessness going on that probably met the description of dysthymia.
What is remission? You know, I know that I've been there -- nice countryside, wish I'd brought a camera -- but can't seem to find my way back. Maybe once someone here finds the way, s/he'll send us all a roadmap.
poster:Racer
thread:383535
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040825/msgs/383649.html