I agree. I struggle with the same issues and the main reason I smoke a pipe is the relaxing effects. Similar to meditation for me.
Pipe Smoking and Mental Health
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I just wrote and deleted a paragraph. I'll come out with it. Long-time depressive with anxiety. Pipe smoking helps me greatly. Off meds and therapy now. Just trying to live a good life. Best to all. If I have the guts, I'll write more sometime soon. Again, best to all.
Great thread. AWESOME stuff. For me, pipe smoking has been a game changer. Life for everyone is stress. Myself included. But since finding piping it’s been a nice de-escalator. The ritual etc has been great and finding the forum has been a nice bonus as well. Thank you to everyone. Side note. Kudos to those that have been intuitive to reach out and seek help when needed. Bravery is appropriate. Good on ya.
The mechanics of pipe smoking are as calming as smoking to me.
I had to take a hiatus and my pipes are cleaner than ever.
I had to take a hiatus and my pipes are cleaner than ever.
Im going to just go sit and talk to my pipe............
Yup I talk to mine all the time.
I lived in Dallas for 10 years. Found I didn't like the hectic city so much as my younger self thought I would so I left - and that was 22 years ago. If I still lived in an environment like that I might not even be able to calm down enough to light a pipe.
Congrats on med-free and just working on things.
Cheers
Thanks. Still deal with both, but pipe smoking really helps. I am moved and elevated and calmed. Some of my best thoughts occur during smoking sessions. Best to all.
If a light-hearted chat with someone at a bus stop can lift your spirits, then you're clearly not suffering from anything worse than a bad day.
I would like to respectfully respond to this statement and a couple of your other posts:
Unfortunately, lots of people are cynical about psychiatry. Some of them even are psychiatrists. Certainly, like any other profession, there are more and less competent psychiatrists, and all medical specialties are a mix of science and art (really clinical experience). You wisely suggested in other posts that people should not make assertions without evidence. You friend's cynical or facetious opinion of his own profession is anecdotal and should be treated skeptically as a generalization.
Serious psychiatric illnesses are as potentially lethal as coronary artery disease. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death, especially in young people. Discouraging people from getting competent psychiatric treatment for those disorders makes no more sense than discouraging them from consulting a cardiologist or cardiovascular surgeon for coronary artery disease.
To return to the original topic of this thread: I don't think pipe smoking is a treatment for any serious problem but it is relaxing and that's nothing to sneeze at!
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I've hit rock bottom as I guess a lot of us have, but we get over it, that's human nature.
Psychiatrists don't know anything more than anyone else. but maybe have less sympathetic feelings, because they are taught a load of nonsense by interfering busybodies who have also been taught a load of nonsense.
And the oh so self important psychiatrists get sicker and sicker, and have sunk to a level where they don't even realise that they need help.
100% - & shorten lives by 10-25 years according to the WHO.
'Depression' isn't a very helpful word, because sadness, grief, & unhappiness do affect all of us sooner or later. But feeling depressed isn't clinical depression. Indeed, very often anhedonia is a leading symptom.
& that's a very different kettle of fish to my brother's friend who tried to hurl himself from a car going at 70mph because he had a psychotic episode & believed that his family was possessed & about to attack him.
Our understanding of how the brain works & the various ailments that afflict it has a long way to go, for sure, but there have been some amazing advances (in terms of early dementia diagnosis for example).
There is no better antidote for depression than a good friend. We know that the family, the wife, we generally have them there. I am an innocent fool, and I believe in honor and good friendship. Sorry to hear from the guys here who had or have anxiety and depression. May God bless you all and tomorrow be happier than today. About a year ago a first cousin of mine committed suicide. He was a wonderful, hard-working guy with a special sense of humor.
Sorry for your loss, my condolences.
I have nothing new to add here. Just saw the title of the thread pop up again.
“Pipe Smoking and Mental Health.”
And I saw right after I posted a new thread wherein I admit to having a conversation with my pipe.
I feel seen ?
“Pipe Smoking and Mental Health.”
And I saw right after I posted a new thread wherein I admit to having a conversation with my pipe.
I feel seen ?
I was diagnosed as clinically depressed with anxiety. It lasted more than a decade. Meds and therapy DID help: kept me functional and able to work. I would like to draw a distinction: Therapists are about counseling; psychiatrists are about medication. It was not always this way, but it is now. My depression was as real as they come, and I tried everything. I recall once swimming while crying, pounding the water, hoping for relief from the desire to no longer exist.
I am blessedly off meds and off therapy. But I will likely need to be keen and mindful for the rest of my life. I know one thing: I always feel better, more grounded, more appreciative of life, more calm... after I smoke a pipe. Thanks for reading this, and best to all. I'm glad to still be around; I lost my cousin and a dear friend both to suicide. Again, best to all.
I am blessedly off meds and off therapy. But I will likely need to be keen and mindful for the rest of my life. I know one thing: I always feel better, more grounded, more appreciative of life, more calm... after I smoke a pipe. Thanks for reading this, and best to all. I'm glad to still be around; I lost my cousin and a dear friend both to suicide. Again, best to all.
Sorry for your loss, glad you are doing better. Remember there is always hope!
I'm glad you're feeling better, my friend. I think smoking has calmed us all down more than once. And it still helps us to resist better the hard blows that life gives us.