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ultramar · Sep 14, 2013, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dub_phantom

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'm scared a bit of hearing about people's manic episodes, when I really think about it I do believe now I've had one. When I first went to college I failed out, I was doing great at first and then I was having so much fun I decided my classes were dumb and I'd go if I had time, lots of drug use, broke up with a long term girlfriend because she was trying to tell me I needed to take it seriously, and cut off all communications with friends and family back home that tried to talk to me about what I was doing. I'm going to be getting out of the navy and going back to school in a couple months, so I think I'm a bit nervous about it - I have a great plan to major in IT, I love computers and I've worked in the field, but when I get in these moods I worry I would be ready to give it all up and switch my major to physics, or drop out and go to culinary school, or something and these are all temporary obsessions.

I'll try setting some boundaries. I like your idea of having two bank accounts and sending a weekly allowance to the one with a prepaid card. And I guess it might be a good idea to see a doctor if I find myself slipping back into that when I'm going back to school? Do they actually help?

It sounds to me that you're trying to figure out who you are and what you want to do. A bit frantically, sometimes impulsively, but a search, nonetheless, for these things. Some people lead what might be considered more 'conventional' lives, settling down, marrying early, staying in the same job for a long time --others search and search, try out different things, figuring out what is the best fit, both in relationships and career and other things.

I would be careful about using pathologizing words such as 'obsession' (maybe they are different, but ultimately passing interests). You say you're very anxious about going back to school -this could be one reason why you're considering other career paths that wouldn't require you to do so.

"Hyper"-sexual? Tons of people go on line for sexual gratification. I really don't think this necessarily means your desire for sex is disordered/pathological.

Drug use can make people pretty impulsive and lead to distorted thinking.

Of course I don't know if you have some sort of disorder or not, but everything you're describing sounds a bit chaotic, but like someone searching -for their identity, for what's a best fit for them. Also anxiety about life's many choices, in terms of relationships and career.

Maybe a good first step would be to see a therapist to explore what you're going through; your life is in flux, you're faced with a lot of big choices/decisions. This may prove to be very helpful. As far as pdocs, to take medications (and this is what they do, prescribe), especially heavy duty ones, when what is going on is not wrecking yourself or your life... They can have such serious short and long-term side effects. Therapy doesn't, it's a good starting point.