[quote=Russell][quote=lostkitty]partypup needs to head over to http://www.itulip.com and read the article…
“Are You A Doomer?”
Every time I read partypup’s posts I think of that article.
This whole thread finally explains her paranoia. Mass layoff happening in her own company – she must have sensed it coming… No one is ever “safe”. That is why one saves for a rainy day. True that 40% of some people’s savings is now gone in the stock market – true that some others lost 100% with Madoff and the like… but the world will not implode. Goodness abounds. People share – people get creative – people survive.[/quote]
Hello Lostkitty,
This is what I have been thinking from day one.
Note: This is not an indictment, diagnosis or intended to be cruel…and she could be right.
In Freudian psychoanalytic theory, defence mechanisms or defense mechanisms (see -ce/-se) are psychological strategies brought into play by various entities to cope with reality and to maintain self-image. Healthy persons normally use different defences throughout life. An ego defence mechanism becomes pathological only when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behavior such that the physical and/or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. The purpose of the Ego Defence Mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety, social sanctions or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope.[1]
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Russell: I know you’re not trying to be cruel, and I sense that you are coming from an honest and well-meaning place. I know that what I am saying clearly disturbs and upsets people, but I’ve never been one to sugar coat things, and I think in this instance – if I am right, and I truly believe I am – it does more good than harm to share my thoughts with people so they can at least consider and prepare for what’s coming.
For the record, I think Freud was a misogynist and a quack, but to each his own.
Based on some of these posts, it sounds like people think I am holed up in a cave with an AK-47, piles of Krugerrands and a handful of MREs. In reality, I live in a bedroom community in Los Angeles and run my own department at a major media company. I travel and have hobbies, as I’m sure many of you do. And I’m always anxious to try new restaurants and love hanging out with my friends. I never miss an episode of “Fringe” (no jokes, please), and I’m looking forward to my 25th high school reunion in May. I have the normal defense mechanisms and psychological strategies that any well-adjusted professional would have that would allow them to be promoted to senior management. Up until a few years ago, I had bought the American Dream, hook, line and sinker, and had accumulated a few pieces of property which I had been hoping would form the basis of my retirement.
But I’m not a fool Russell. And when I saw the writing on the wall, I responded accordingly.
I don’t think that’s pathological. I think it’s only common sense.
Look at it this way: one of us is very right or very wrong. We are going to find out shortly which one of us that is.
