>>>>>>>>>You can tell I'm not much of a Freudian.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Me either. Personally, I think that Freud made it too easy for people to blame their problems on someone else. "If I have problems, it is all because of the way my parent toilet trained me." What a bunch of crap! At a certain age, I should become self-conscious and if I do not like the way my life is, then I need to take responsilbility for it and take steps to change it. If I don't take control of my own life and make the changes that I can, that in itself is a choice.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I agree with you wholeheartedly about taking personal responsibility and not blaming one's problems on others. I also think, though, that when it comes to psychological or behavioral issues there is another, and larger, reason Freud has fallen out of favor. More and more of these issues are being linked to biochemical causes which can be addressed with medication. Not necessarily solved -- I don't believe in magic bullets -- but at least mitigated. This may sound like just another version of "It's not my fault" but there is a lot of research in this direction. I thought my doctor put it pretty well. When we talked about my alcoholism she said yes, it's going to take willpower, but willpower alone probably won't be enough.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Very good point. Depression - i.e. a genuine chemical imbalance - is very different from a disfunctional outlook on life. Any good therapist will address the first before even attempting to get at the second.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Oh sure. Blame your chemicals.
>>>>>
>>>>>I mostly blame the lack of them. Remember Reality is for people who can't handle drugs. ?
>>>>
>>>>Actually, I do, but for the life of me I can't remember who said it. Probably Robin Williams who also said, "If you can remember the 60s, you weren't really there."
>>>
>>>He did say, "Cocaine is God's way of telling you you have too much money."
>>
>>Speaking of God's way of imparting information, I have 4 cats, so I actually have proof of the adage that "Cats are God's way of telling you your furniture is too nice."
>
>And dogs are God's way of telling you that your carpet hasn't been crapped on enough.

And your windowsills haven't been gnawed enough, and too few of your magazines have been chewed up.