I have such a problem with frustration. It's the core experience of my life. I play competitive Scrabble and i work hard on it but i don't seem to get a good return on my investment. Scrabble is so black and white: you win or you lose. It's not a good hobby for someone with an emotional disorder.

I feel so wretched when i lose. Once after i lost six games in a row i slapped myself across the face hard four times. I love it when i win but my online win-rate is only 55% so about half the time i lose. I keep trying things to get better but nothing works, or it works so slowly i don't notice.

One player said i was having pyrrhic victories which turns out to be victories at excessive cost. A 'wonk' is an overly studious student and that's what i am. There are people who play by their wits and don't study at all who can beat me.

I try and tell myself, well at least i exercise my mind (51, on disability benefits) and pass the time but it's such an unpleasant way to spend my time. Also, it keeps a toehold in the real world as i attend a club every week.

I keep meaning to develop another hobby and i have listening to music but it's so hard to find something that i can do at home that's sedentary and doesn't make a mess or take any room and is free or cheap. I've tried knitting and crochet and playing the guitar and recorder and poetry and creative writing and reading and soap operas and sketching and finger painting and sewing and making collages and learning other languages.

I'm just so dumb!

Does anybody else have problems with frustration and what do you do about it?

[pirilin]

I switched from poker to Candy Crush.
Even if I am in the rare 10% that wins more than loses at poker.
Candy Crush seems a child's game at the begining. Like to level 200.
Then you start realizing that you cannot outsmart the game.
Advantages:
a) You have all the time in the world to make a move.
b) You can play as many times as necessary to complete a level. So you lose battles, not the war.
c) There's a stupid guy, saying stupid things, that you can shout atrocities to. He never complains.
d) You don't develop any animosity against any particular player. If you don't pay attention to the contests.
e) There's something called Candy Crush Cheats that you can go to for guidance in case you're getting frustrated.

I've found the perfect game to relax and tell someone off at the same time.
And believe it or not, it has improved my poker skills.

Frustration used to be among my primary issues, too, but not as much anymore. My medications and therapy seem to have significantly eased it, so I now know that bipolar disorder and stress were its biggest causes.

I've always been a sensitive type person, with the sensitivity showing itself in the form of anger and other types of strife. Learning to desensitize is not easy. CBT has helped. It's late at night for me to brainstorm how I've desensitized, but acceptance of things is part of it.

A couple of days ago my husband took me to the movie theater to see a documentary about Mr. Rogers, the lovely man who brought Americans "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood". I literally cried throughout the whole thing. It was because of all the beautiful things he taught and represented to me as a child. Things I remembered when seeing the documentary, but forgot or almost "lost" as an adult. Peace, acceptance, tolerance, and satisfaction with what we can do and the results. Kind of seeing the good, beauty, and value in our situations, however hard. That sounds like a tall order, I know, but Mr. Rogers makes it an understandable and reachable one. He explains it better than I can.

[Wild Coyote]

Hey there!

Great to hear from you!

(((((( whatever2013 ))))))


WC