I have been hearing this word for quite a while now. I am really curious as to what it means. Anyone?
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My personal experience is that it’s a slump in energy and desire. A few months ago I decided to quit stimulants like caffeine and tobacco. More recently I quite pmo and the experiences were very similar. I realised that stimulants, create a vicious circle. I would drink coffee to wake up, then I would drink coffee throughout the day, which would negatively affect my sleep. That would mean I would be even more tired the following day, resulting in me drinking even more coffee. And the cycle escalated until I was completely dependant on caffeine to function. Bear in mind that being alert and awake is regulated by serotonin which also regulates feel good feelings. So poor sleep prevented the the correct regulation of serotonin production. Bottom line is that stimulants like caffeine, tobacco and yes pmo. Are a cheat, they reward your brain with chemicals that’s it’s running out of, so you might seem to be awake, but it’s unnatural… depression anxiety etc will follow. Then when you stop those fake stimulants, your brain is out of natural feel good chemicals and now also isn’t getting any of the fake shit either, and so exhaustion, depression, and lack of motivation drag you down until your brain can top up it’s reserves. There are obvious ways to speed this up… exercise, plenty sleep, good diet etc. But it’s difficult and I’m only starting to feel my enthusiasm for life return to me now, and I’m almost on a month clean time. I’d also be interested in other people’s experiences with flatlining
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thank you paul for your explanation. the same question was running in my mind too… in my first streak may be after 12-13 days I was getting depressed frequently. unfortunately on day 17 I failed. it was quite difficult for me as I relapsed 2/3 times more. For around a week i couldn’t reach even 3 days! but I started again. Day 6 running. Hope I can overcome this time
A very valuable lesson I’ve learnt in trying to change the many destructive habits I’ve formed is this. I seem to remember life through a lense of my current emotion. In other words, when I’m having a really bad day, every memory i have is of bad times. When I’m feeling depressed I often find myself saying “My whole life has been shit”… on the other hand, when I am feeling great, all my memories are of good things are and I think life is amazing and I hardly remember any bad times.
Both of these extremes are inaccurate. I just remind myself that it’s just chemistry, my life isn’t shit, it won’t always feel this way, my chemistry will balance again.
The flatline passes, and when it does, the feeling of making it through and staying true to yourself… that’s a great feeling.
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