helpful – Mental Health is Health

My best friend and I talked on the porch with masks and social distancing for the last almost three hours. She is the type of friend who you cannot see for 6 months and then pick up and connect just where you left off last.

It was wonderful to know more about how she’s been doing and helpful to feel that I might be of help just listening to some of the things that have been occupying her life — like caring for her teenage son who has had some mental concerns and being a teacher in this time of distance learning and covid-19. The teachers right now in the States are having a time of it.

Talking also helped me put my own problems into better perspective. The challenges of my life seem to largely revolve around my anxiety even when the actual problems themselves are not that dire. Talking to my friend helped me gain some insight into my own peculiar need to always have something to worry about when that is not necessarily helpful or needed.

My friend is also an avid exercise person. I gave her permission to get on my case for not exercising on a regular basis. I asked her to reach out to her son and to her ex-husband and let them know that she respects the work they are putting in daily to overcome anxiety and other related challenges.

Once again, I am reminded how thankful I am for the relationships in my life. It makes me want to invest more time in developing more meaningful relationships across the board. Even when the conversation moves to serious topics, it is good to know we are not alone and that we can do our best to put on each others’ shoes and walk a mile or two.

** This post deals with paranoid thoughts and experiencing them**

We have all been told that paranoid thoughts do not have any value whatsoever. They are thoughts not grounded in reality and therefore something to forget or ignore or get past as well as we are able.

I have been prone to paranoid thoughts off and on since the onset of my bipolar illness in 1984 / 1985. Most times this paranoid thought is confusing, upsetting and painful. However, I am wondering whether to write a blog post that talks about the potential that there may be a small or very small kernel of truth in paranoid thought however hidden or misshapen particularly when paranoid thoughts from several people about the same topic are considered at one time.

For example consider that someone is paranoid about the water quality in the town where he lives and reports that to police. In that same week, police get reports from 5 different people that there has been a suspicious character near the water works for that town and 2 to 3 neighboring towns. These reports each taken by themselves these might be examples of paranoid thought but taken together might hint that there is a potential risk with the water supply in a nearby town.

The key is that there would need to be some independent entity that is recording the paranoid thoughts from individuals and looking for trends in them, then verifying whether the trends are grounded in reality or not.

Does this type of suggestion of trending paranoid thoughts interest you or cause you anxiety? I would like to write more about this potential hidden kernel of truth in paranoid thought but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable in any way. I also do not wish to glorify paranoid thoughts in any way since most of what paranoid thought is is confusing and upsetting. I am looking for your feedback as to whether this type of discussion would be helpful to you or not?