Stupid, but honest question

[minsue]

OK, I read this column in the paper this evening and I can't get this nagging question out of my head. And, really, where else can I harrass innocent people with my wonderings?

It all started with this little weekly medical-type column in the newspaper. I say medical-type because it mostly involves home remedies, though they do provide good and generally accurate information especially regarding how home remedies can interact with prescription drugs. But I digress.

There was a letter from a person wanting to warn others about potential side-effects from Prozac. Basically the rare, but potentially dangerous, side-effects of violent &/or suicidal thoughts.

What got to me was this one statement - On the way to work one day, I fantasized about how my car would look going over a bridge. I was lucid enough to recognize this as a medication problem and I stopped taking Prozac immediately.

I'm sure this is a silly question, but do most people really not do that? I've always done that. I'm not sure I'd refer to it as fantasizing, but those type of mental images are quite normal for me throughout my day. I know my lil mind has some odd and disturbing quirks, but it never occured to me that other people might not do that.

So I ask all of you nice, normal people - Don't you imagine your car going off the edge when you drive over a bridge?

 

[BlackShanglan]

Yes, I imagine. Morbid thoughts do crop up now and then. Perfectly normal.

*dead, flat grin*

Perfectly normal.

Shanglan

 

[minsue]

Yes, I imagine. Morbid thoughts do crop up now and then. Perfectly normal.

*dead, flat grin*

Perfectly normal.

Shanglan

I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing when the asexual horse tells me it's perfectly normal.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Yes, but my thoughts are more that my brakes go out or the bridge collapses or ... or... a thousand other terrible things that could happen. More paranoid than self-destructive.

Anxiety issues? No! *twitch* what makes you say that? *twitch*

 

[minsue]

Yes, but my thoughts are more that my brakes go out or the bridge collapses or ... or... a thousand other terrible things that could happen. More paranoid than self-destructive.

Anxiety issues? No! *twitch* what makes you say that? *twitch*

I get those, too, but only if there are other people in the car with me. Go figure.

 

[cloudy]

Yep, I've thought about it.....several times. But, not in a "maybe I might" kinda way, just with morbid curiosity, I think.

 

[The_Fool]

The closest I can say that I get to that is when I get Vertigo looking out over the edge of a tall structure. I know that I have my balance, but I feel so off balance. But this is totally unrelated to the supposed suicidal tendencies associated with mood modifiers. I'm just scared of heights. Which is funny, because bridges don't bother me, even looking down....

 

[minsue]

Yep, I've thought about it.....several times. But, not in a "maybe I might" kinda way, just with morbid curiosity, I think.

Ahhhh, exactly.

 

[rikaaim]

I often imagine what the vehicle did when I see long tire scorches left on the road. The kind that suddenly veer off into a railing or something. Then the bridges...

 

[carsonshepherd]

I'm scared of heights too. Lot better than I used to be, but the 3-story floating staircase at the new library gives me a little watery-kneed feeling for a minute, before I convince myself how stupid that is.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing when the asexual horse tells me it's perfectly normal.

Happy words under other circumstances. Care to know what else I consider normal?

Shanglan

 

[minsue]

Happy words under other circumstances. Care to know what else I consider normal?

Shanglan

Nope. I've decided to comfort myself with the idea that you said it's normal. If I find out who else you think is normal, that may shake my confidence.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Happy words under other circumstances. Care to know what else I consider normal?

Shanglan

Anal sex?

 

[rikaaim]

Anal sex?

You mean it isn't. Asking from a strictly, repeat strictly, giving end of course.

 

[shereads]

What got to me was this one statement - On the way to work one day, I fantasized about how my car would look going over a bridge. I was lucid enough to recognize this as a medication problem and I stopped taking Prozac immediately.

I had the opposite experience, min. Before I agreed to try Prozac, I used to wonder how much it would hurt, and for how long, if I could work up the nerve to drive the car off the bridge, or more often, into that big light pole over there. I took the hint and tried the Prozac and the idea of driving off a bridge no longer holds any appeal.

I'm sure this is a silly question, but do most people really not do that? I've always done that. I'm not sure I'd refer to it as fantasizing, but those type of mental images are quite normal for me throughout my day. I know my lil mind has some odd and disturbing quirks, but it never occured to me that other people might not do that.

Maybe it's harmless, a brain-quirk, provided you don't feel that you're battling an urge to do it.

The last time I actually feared not making it across a bridge in my car - not because I wanted to drive off it but because it was narrow and terrifying and really really high up - I had ingested a substance best enjoyed at home. (That was a long time ago. I confine my vices to ones that aren't likely to kill anybody.)



"There are no stupid questions. But there are a lot of inquisitive people who are stupid."

~ Anti-motivational office poster at Despair.com

 

[TheEarl]

I used to have bouts of nihilism when I was driving at speed at night, just imagining pulling the car across into the oncoming traffic, just because I could.

I now have to travel regularly down a very steep hill, which requires braking all the way down a narrow and windy road. I have been so tempted to just let the brake go and freewheel down to the next corner. I could reach 40mph before going over the edge.

The nihilistic and depressed Earl

 

[BlackShanglan]

Nope. I've decided to comfort myself with the idea that you said it's normal. If I find out who else you think is normal, that may shake my confidence.

Damn. That means I can't answer Carson's comment.

Yet I feel compelled to
Eliminate the possibility of
Saying nothing.


Shanglan.

 

[minsue]

Re: Re: Stupid, but honest question

I had the opposite experience, min. Before I agreed to try Prozac, I used to wonder how much it would hurt, and for how long, if I could work up the nerve to drive the car off the bridge, or more often, into that big light pole over there. I took the hint and tried the Prozac and the idea of driving off a bridge no longer holds any appeal.

Maybe it's harmless, a brain-quirk, provided you don't feel that you're battling an urge to do it.

What if you just don't have to battle very hard? (Joking, I promise)

The last time I actually feared not making it across a bridge in my car - not because I wanted to drive off it but because it was narrow and terrifying and really really high up - I had ingested a substance best enjoyed at home. (That was a long time ago. I confine my vices to ones that aren't likely to kill anybody.)



"There are no stupid questions. But there are a lot of inquisitive people who are stupid."

~ Anti-motivational office poster at Despair.com

I printed that poster out for one of the women I work with, Sher. I have to cover the phones for her some days fielding calls from bank tellers & corporate customers of the bank I work for and I think she deserves a large sheet of solid gold with that etched across it for having to deal with their questions all day.

 

[minsue]

I used to have bouts of nihilism when I was driving at speed at night, just imagining pulling the car across into the oncoming traffic, just because I could.

I now have to travel regularly down a very steep hill, which requires braking all the way down a narrow and windy road. I have been so tempted to just let the brake go and freewheel down to the next corner. I could reach 40mph before going over the edge.

The nihilistic and depressed Earl

Right there with you, Earl

 

[minsue]

The closest I can say that I get to that is when I get Vertigo looking out over the edge of a tall structure. I know that I have my balance, but I feel so off balance. But this is totally unrelated to the supposed suicidal tendencies associated with mood modifiers. I'm just scared of heights. Which is funny, because bridges don't bother me, even looking down....

Not quite the same, I don't think, though I do enjoy a good bout of vertigo. (They're rare for me, so I actually do enjoy them when they come.)

 

[TheEarl]

Not quite the same, I don't think, though I do enjoy a good bout of vertigo. (They're rare for me, so I actually do enjoy them when they come.)

Try bungee-jumping. Seriously. I didn't have vertigo until I tried that. Did four jumps and am now distinctly unkeen on high places, when I didn't have a problem with them before.

The Earl

 

[carsonshepherd]

You mean it isn't. Asking from a strictly, repeat strictly, giving end of course.

Isn't normal?

Maybe not for some people.

Answering from a strictly, and I repeat, strictly either way end of course.

 

[minsue]

Try bungee-jumping. Seriously. I didn't have vertigo until I tried that. Did four jumps and am now distinctly unkeen on high places, when I didn't have a problem with them before.

The Earl

*shudder*

That'll never happen, my friend. My one big phobia is falling. This is NOT the same as fear of heights, dammit.

I adore heights. I'm one of those idiots that you'll see at the Grand Canyon right up there where there's no fence, toes hanging over the edge, bending over at the waist to look down.

I love heights, but I can't jump off of anything over about 2 feet tall. Just thinking about it makes my palms sweat and my stomach know up.

 

[cantdog]

Okay, so you didn't find many nice, normal people. Is that so bad?

I just get irked at bridges because so many of them don't let you see much. I mean, here you are, up in the air in the open. You ought to have a river view, dammit. What are they covering it all up for?

I can, however, relate to the oncoming traffic thing. Just as often I have the thought that nothing ever prevents the person over there from just crossing into your lane. That we drive all the time with a simple, unexamined faith that won't happen. Could I possibly deal if she did it now? How about now?

I've also thought how cruelly effective it would be to just aim at that one, to shake them up and maybe even cause them to get off the damn cellphone.

Not that it would work.

I think nihilistic musings are pretty ordinary, with shereads's caveat that you really ought not be battling an urge to act on them.

 

[minsue]

Thank you all

I feel much better now. (No, really, I do)