Monday, March 27, 2006

Primal Scream Therapy

Last Saturday I woke up in a foul mood for no good reason - this probably figured into my wife's decision to go shopping and leave me alone that day. After lounging around in my bath robe for a while in dire need of a shower and shave my outlook didn't improve - downing a cup of espresso didn't help either. This was all feeding into a general state of self loathing compounded by a total lack of motivation to do anything productive. Why? Just the usual mind games and frustration with work issues tantamount to middle aged apathy and whining, or am I being too harsh? This poor state of mind did lead to an interesting outburst though. At the peak of this angst I got up and started walking around the house swearing at the top of my lungs (my apologies to anyone with Tourette's syndrome). This was my version of primal scream therapy, and it actually worked. The forceful release of negative energy followed by disgust and shame at my childish behavior snapped me out of the funk. By the time my wife got home I was showered, shaved, and literally beaming with a new resolve to take on the day. Now I don't want anyone to think that my performance really had anything to do with proper Primal Therapy as shouting or screaming isn't necessarily part of the therapy. Professional primal therapists apparently undergo significant training, and patients are treated in a protected environment. The "Self-primalling" that I tried could actually be dangerous according to the pros. Oh well, it felt damn good at the time, and no I don't need a straitjacket - just a little anger management on occasion. I was going to recommend that others give this a shot, but after some research I now realize that it would be wrong to advocate self-primalling :-). How about just pounding on a pillow?

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I should try that.