Dr. Hershey, can you explain how euphoria can be a symptom of a mental health condition?

I feel euphoric quite frequently. But I do not have manic-depression or even mania. Gosh, there are times when I wished I could be manic to get things done. LOL.

Euphoria can be a pre-cursor to psycosis when you are sick.

Psychosis? Oh, no! What is that?!?!

I usually get that euphoric feeling during prayer, meditation or just when I am in the state of appreciation and gratitude.

It doesn't just hit me without first thinking joyful or thankful thoughts. I just read a tiny bit about euphoria and how it can strike one after certain triggers like drugs, exercise, sex or other adrenaline-inducing activities like sky-diving. And also how one can feel restless, excitable or hyperactive.

None of those trigger my euphoric feelings. Only love and gratitude.

Can this be a form of psychosis?

Don't worry Lori,

You are well-grounded in setting forth the actions and behaviors you desire then enjoy euphoria as a result.

This is a conscious act.

Psychosis is the inability to distinguish the concrete world from the world of imagination.

When we are about 6 yrs. old we feel we have special powers.

As we mature, we understand cause and effect, and the concrete 3-dimensional world.

I've experienced psychosis several times in my 20's and with bi-polar manic -- it's like euphoria that does not have a built-in regulator -- your mind and your emotions race like a runaway train and you start hearing things, seeing things and doing things that are just not there.

Your euphoria is self-induced and is regulated and healthy.

So, you needn't worry.

You still know where you are, that after your euphoric session, chores need to be done or you can even be euphoric during chores.

You don't think you can fly with your own special powers, or change traffic lights with a thought, or levitate your car.

That's psychosis -- very different.

Dear LORI

Forget the psychosis.I have been living in a form of bliss or controlled euphoria
for many years.Your episodes happen when you are one with your God.
You have then a great connection with your higher power.In christianity it is called
Beatitude,.IN those moments nothing enters your mind except the connection .

Be in peace.

Loong

Lori,
Euphoria, a heightened sense of happiness or well-being, can be a symptom of a few mental health disorders, as well as a symptom of a physical/medical issue.

On a positive note, it can result from experiencing certain spiritual rituals and during meditation (as Loong pointed out).
One can experience euphoria during a great triumph (athlete) or when feeling great love - which is what I believe you are experiencing.

Phew! Thank you all for clearing that up for me.

May you have a day filled with love...and love-induced euphoria!

When I was a child, I used to express love and thanks to God for everything from my soft pillow to my skinned knees. Then, as I was doing so while lying in bed, a sudden and curious thing happened: There was this feeling of effervescent bliss welling from my heart. It was like a bubbling water fountain with living water that washed over me. It was quite astonishing and I have never felt bliss to this degree before or again. It continued for several long minutes. Afterward, I lay there feeling humbled and tearful and so much love for God.

I will always remember that.

Thank you for letting me know that this is not a form of mental illness.

Lori,

You heard it from the Doc !!

And Loong added some very beautiful insight.

You are truly spiritual, and your culture gently allowed you to unfold.

I grew up in a western blue-collar mechanized culture and there was not very much room for such ' foolishness ' so, I was branded mentally ill and ' not normal '.

Much of my spirituality has been aborted and I strive daily to pick up the pieces and strive toward wholeness.

I'm grateful that you are here and so willing to express such a beautiful experience.

I apologize if I caused you any duress.

The trained eye, heart, head and hand of the doctor here is able to distinguish between the two.

-- Burt B.

Oh, Burt! Please do not worry about a thing. I am thankful that you brought up important points so I could understand more clearly what is going on with me.

I always wondered about the "mentally ill" because even as a small child, I saw them as simply perceiving a different dimension than the rest of us who are locked into this physical one. I see that our bodies are physical but our spirits are multi-dimensional. The "mentally ill" have brains that are differently wired, and while that presents adjustment problems for living in this physical world, it allows their minds and spirits to perceive worlds beyond.

I also felt abnormal since I was a child, but now I see that normality is nothing to strive for. Celebrate YOU in all your uniqueness and gifts. Even the painful and difficult ones. They shape you.

When you are freed from this physical plane and no longer carry those "burdens" you will be stronger in spirit for having those experiences.

I hope so Lori.

Thank You for the positive insight of us ' being unusual children '.

Yes.

Pain is there for growth.

Over the years, I came up with a simple insight:

Unless your heart is broken several times over it will not expand and grow.

Pain and suffering is an accelerated growth process.

Thank You for alleviating my fears of offending you.

In many cultures, the ' schizophrenic ' is celebrated and trained to become the next Shaman.

We truly are multidimensional being and exist simultaneously in many dimensions.

Modern day scientists can mathematically explain 8 to 10 of these dimensions.

However, in my understanding, there are 12 or more.

There is a heavy price to pay for ' full enlightenment ' and few have achieved it.

I really don't like very much this physical form, yet that is part of the growth process and I have to keep it as long as Powers higher than myself decide so.

Geeze... I really wish that all of the world's religious traditions can move from the esoteric to the esoteric.

This is happening, but it is a painful growth process.

Oh Well,

I just hope and pray that all of us get to the right place here and now and then there.

It's my prayer for every living being.

-- Burt B.

Dr. Hershey, I didn't mean that we should not try to tend to mental illness. Functionality is the key, don't you think? Many will never be "cured" but they can work with doctors to become functional in life and even better, independent!

Mental illness is like living with other chronic medical conditions, like diabetes. It needs to be managed.

Because of the stigma attached to mental illness, many feel that they are too abnormal to participate in society. Many find it too hard.

Finding treatments and techniques that help to make one feel better is definitely the key.

Sometimes people need some help/support when it becomes overwhelming...and yes, they may not seek it out due to the stigma. However, mental health treatment can remain confidential. A person does not need to reveal all their life's details to their friends and family.

I agree that one would seek treatment for a medical condition, why not seek treatment for a mental health condition....it is sometimes the mental health condition, if left untreated, that can lead to medical issues.

I'm one of those.

I had to withdraw entirely from society.

Ironically, my biological ' brothers ' were the only ones who kept attacking me because I was so dependent upon my parents and live-in Uncle from Europe.

If I was strong enough to leave my family completely and live in another locale -- no one would ever had to know that I was treated for mental illness.

My parents thought that they did something wrong.

It was more genetic, but my brothers kept hammering me and keeping me believing that I was mentally ill, so I gave up.

I'm peaceful, but bitter for a wasted life.

Oh well, stuff happens.

-- Burt B.

I'm so sorry Burt.
Glad you are in a much better mental place now.

I don't feel a sense of stigma - i will talk to anyone about mental illness. I feel like it is my job to help normalize by treating it like any other illness.

I refrain from participating in regular society for a different reason - I find it draining, exhausting...not enjoyable.

Thanks Dr. Hershey !

Yeah, much better now... especially when I can express myself here.

I find it interesting that you consider your life journey a "wasted" life when, in fact, you've been doing a lot of living, a lot of experiencing.

Dear Burt,

A lot of people consider me a :flake:.All my life was lived in anxiety,panic attacks,and until the age of 61,a form of anxiety trying to destroy what I had gained was there every second of my life,I called him my MOMSTER.
Those who never knew what you,Jilly and I went and are going through can sympathise,but cannot really understand what we lived,living.

I Understand you,I have Compassion for the 3 of us.

With brotherly love
Normand/loongdragon

With all due respect, loong, I/we may never truly understand anyone else's plight because everyone has his own perspective and the way he processes everything is his own as well.

I may never understand you or anyone else. I do sympathize and have compassion.

But on the other hand, you do not know what I myself have gone through either.

To Lori,

You are entirely true,and if I have offended you ,my deepest sincere apologies

loong

Thank You Lori

I was never able to support myself in the outside world away from my family.

Because of re-lapses, I had no place to go so I had to stay with my elderly parents until they died.

Not able to support myself let alone a wife and a family.

That's why it feels wasted and barren.

-- Burt B.

I noticed in the other thread, you mentioned that chit-chat bores you after I posted how I was visiting with family and friends...as though chit-chat was a mindless, worthless endeavor. Beneath you. I was going to post that connecting with others is a worthy endeavor to me that involves more depth than chit-chatty "how's the weather?" conversation. Helping others feel remembered, helping them feel significant and loved, wanting them to know you want them in your life is no small matter.

But I am glad you offended me. It gave me cause to reflect. In reality, no one can offend unless one takes offense so I asked myself, "Why did I feel offended? Why must I feel the need to defend or protect myself? It must be my ego."

Ah, the ego. The truth is that there is nothing to defend. I am me. You are you. Both of us are going through life learning what we can. In our own way, our own time. The truth is that I am small and mindless. Just as I also am capable of profound thought. We are at once ALL and NOTHING. This exchange only showed me my own human flaws and weaknesses. I am reminded how I need more humility. For that, I thank you sincerely.

“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky” ~ Buddha

Oh, the above was meant for loong.

As for you, Burt, I think we all get caught up in trying to live up to standards set by society. What worldly accomplishments have we attained? How much money? How grand a house?

In the end, it isn't about social standards at all. But spiritual standards.

I don't mean to venture such odd beliefs, but I sincerely believe that those who are not much in the eyes of society are of far greater worth in the spiritual dimension. They were the souls willing to come down to do the dirty work. It takes great humility, self-sacrifice and suffering while on this earthly plane. Yet, think of the service these souls provide so others can be tried and tested in order to grow!

To me, especially those who have mental challenges must have been the stronger souls. The demons you fight are inside your own head. You carry them with you so they do not go forth into the world to afflict lesser, weaker souls.

I have to tell you this curious dream I just had the other night regarding that. Inner demons. I will post in the Dreams forum.

I'm sorry that you feel your life was wasted and barren, but there are fruits of life and there are fruits of the spirit.

We don't always see the harvest from the seeds we have sown along the way.

It is very difficult to feel as though one has burdened others. Oh, how I am familiar with this!

And yet, you know the wonderful feeling of being of service to others, don't you? It takes a willing yet humble soul to allow others to serve him/her in order to grant them the joy and fulfillment.

There are reasons for all of this, for all of your life's events. You were born with specific conditions in order to live the life you have. It feels hard now. It is supposed to be.

But, my friend, you will be released from it all and then you will remember why you agreed to this path. Because of your sacrifice, those in your life were able to grow--or not. But someone had to give them the opportunity to pass, fail or simply experience.

Thank You loong, that was beautiful.

May you receive also loving compassion from my heart for your plight and for the overcoming of your internal monsters.

Lori,

Life is hard, and unfair no matter who you are or where you come from.

I think the distinction here is that unless you have been hospitalized and/or medicated for something most definitely wrong with you, and all of your family and friends now know that you had a nervous break down -- well, after that you can never be allowed to go through the normal human range of happiness, gladness or sadness.

Now, you just have to ' snap out of it '.

You now have the stigma and your employer, your landlord and every one knows it.

So now if you get angry at your neighbor and you say some curse word and throw your car keys at them without hitting them, you will promptly be taken down and arrested for attempted murder because you have a mental illness.

This literally happened to me.

If you're ' normal ' then -- aw, the guy just had a bad day, no harm, no foul.

You're never allowed again to express a normal human emotion -- ever.

Because of cr@ppy Stephen King movies.

Better catch him now, before he murders someone !

I was just upset.

I wasn't going to hurt anyone.

Try to live like that, and see if it doesn't make you bitter like me, loong, and Jilly.

To illustrate even further - if you had a shouting match with your husband -- public or private, they would take you down like a dog and shoot you with 1500cc's of thorozine in the hind.

Without the stigma, oh, that was just a lover's spat.

If you can ever imagine being stripped of your dignity and humanity that way -- then, maybe, just maybe you can understand a little bit of the disgrace we feel.

-- Burt B.

Well, didn't mean to get in the middle of mudslinging.

Those are pretty posts Lori.

And, yes loong can get a little harsh at times.

But he is sick and hurting.

-- Burt B.

DearBurt,

Bitterness is not part of my vocabulary.Had 9 Burn-outs,between the age of 22 to 30.For me what I lived and living was my karma.
Today I am the happiest guy on this planet.
I pray every nite .tonite my prayers will be for the 3 of us,then for the rest of humanity.

With brotherly love

Loong/Normand

Good Point.

I guess it was my karma too.

Thank You loong, for pointing this out and for your prayers also.

With Brotherly Love,

Burt B.