Sometimes i feel so normal. I am happy and feeling good and wondering why I'm in therapy at all. Its how I felt the last few days.. so upbeat.. nothing can go wrong. There are just a few setbacks.. It makes me wonder when the next down turn will be..

Normal ppl have it good. i'd love to feel this all the time.

Hi EV, glad your feeling good at the moment. I wonder sometimes how "normal" people feel, I talk to my husband as his about as normal as one can get, and he talks about mood swings etc but the difference is he can tolerate his own times of unease, where as I can't.

I don't think theres anyone in this world that doesnt struggle at some point its just some of us weren't give the tools and need that extra help to learn how to deal with.

I see therapy as doing that for me.

[jacq10]

(((((((((((((((((ev))))))))))))))

Normal is interesting. Normal is different for everyone, I guess... different baselines.

Everytime I say "normal" in front of T, he gives me this look, and I say, "I know, I know... what is normal?"

I don't like the word normal because I feel as though it is mean to compare yourself to others. As seeing as though we have different baselines, I guess it's a personal normalcy or something. I don't know. Is normal a day without symptoms? I don't think so. Because for me, it's "normal" to experience a degree of anxiety and emptiness every single day.

I wouldn't necessarily agree with "normal people have it good" because what if normal people are horrifically boring? What if normal people are lame? haha I'm not normal.

OK, now I'm just overanalyzing. Whatever the word means, it doesn't take away from the fact that you said you feel good... and that's the most important part.

[sidony]

I'm glad you're feeling so good!!!

There were times when I thought life was so great I wondered why I needed therapy. During those times I worked on subtle issues in my interactions with people (learned to interact more honestly etc.). And that's helping me a lot. Also, I got really close to my therapist and learned to trust him during that time. And that's great right now because suddenly my life is a mess and I have help when I need it.

Sidony

[purplemoon]

Esthersvirtue,

I am glad you are feeling good. Hang on to it as long as it is there.

[sunrise]

EV, I am glad you are feeling good. Whether it is "normal" or not to feel good is an interesting question and one I do not know the answer to. Does "normal" mean what the "average" person out there is like? Does the "average" person feel "good" and "happy" all the time? I love this sort of question.

As far as what "normal" means, I think of a graph, and know that everyone is not piled up on one datapoint. I think they are spread out all along the graph and that the large middle portion, which may contain almost everyone, would be considered "normal", and there is huge variation within that. Only at the very distant tails on each end would people have slid out of the range of what is "normal."

My therapist said last session that I was "healthy." I'm not sure if this is the same as "normal." He qualified that by saying I did not have a serious personality disorder. Well, okie dokie, that's good to know. I consider "normal" to include having up and down moods, sometimes having anxiety, being depressed or manic on occasion, being either extroverted or introverted, etc.

[Islander]

esthersvirtue-

Glad to hear that you are in a good spot. I hope that good spot continues for you.

Islander

[lauren_helene]

I'm glad you are feeling good too. I know what you mean, sometimes I have days where I think I can handle it all on my own.