John Green on Mental Illness: ‘There Is Hope’

Over the years, I’ve had a few extended periods in which I lived with very limited control over my thoughts. I assume that everyone has the occasional intrusive thought; that seems fairly normal to me—at least until I pause to consider it: How is it that you can’t control your thoughts, when to at least some extent you are your thoughts? Regardless of whether you want to follow Descartes all the way down his rabbit hole, he was certainly onto something when he concluded, “I think, therefore I am.”

Recently, I had occasion to consider this question with some urgency, as I found myself a passenger in my own consciousness for about a month. I suppose it was a bout of depression, although OCD, depression and anxiety intermingle so thoroughly that it’s hard to sort the one from the other. Regardless, it became impossible to write or to read, and suddenly, I had a newfound appreciation for the phrase “think straight.” It was impossible to think straight because my thinking circled back on itself in a ceaseless spiral.

But then I got better.

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This video helped me tons about basically everything related to OCD concerning intrusive or otherwise out of control thinking. (I think this is the right video)

You’re doing well Minnii. Keep at it.