If there's one thing I've noticed about how people have changed since the advent of the internet and cell phone technology, it's how isolated we've become. Sure, it's easier than ever to keep in touch with one another, but most of that contact is now done through screens and brief written messages. It's no longer a necessity to be around actual people most of the day. In fact, I'm alone as I write this post for you guys. Frankly, I'm not sure it's healthy.
The problem, however, is that isolation breeds insanity - I mean, just look at what happened to Tom Hanks in Cast Away. He made it back, but not before making friends with a volleyball, performing major dental surgery with an ice skate and attempting to hang himself with home-made rope. So then, how does one keep from going crazy when faced with frequent or prolonged isolation? After all, the moment you start having hallucinations of Helen Hunt is the moment you know your mind is frakked.
Now, seeing as this is a man's website, I won't bore you with standard, fluffy suggestions like going to talk to a therapist or doing yoga. Assuming you're a man, or one of our lovely female readers, you want to know what a guy might do to cope with a looming case of the batshit-crazies. Well, here are a few ideas to consider, to be taken with a grain of salt, of course.
-Get JUICED: Exercise is key. Breaking a sweat and maintaining a healthy body contributes so much to a positive mental outlook that it's almost unbelievable. I'm sure a lot of you would prefer not to work out to solve your problems, because it's hard, time consuming and difficult to keep up with. If that's you, I have two words for you: shut it. Medical reasons aside, excuses are for pussies. A healthy mind is dependent on your ability to take action.
-Get Out: This, I've found, is a deceptively simple piece of advice. Sure, maybe your WoW guild needs help on a big raid, but when was the last time your eyes got to see the light of day? Between school, work, and all the very entertaining distractions we've got at our disposal these days, how often is it that we take a stroll in the park or literally smell our coffee (or tea, if you're me)? We are creatures of habit, but breaking them once in a while helps reset the mind and allows us to see how important routine is.
-Get Laid: Nothing like a good old-fashioned skin-smackin', ass-slappin', bodily-fluids-flying-everywhere type sexual encounter to get the mind back on track. Perfect example: Tiger Woods. He carries around a lot of tension in his balls. In order to relieve this tension, he puts his balls into as many holes as possible using his club. Perhaps for you, there's only one hole you like best, or one hole available. That's fine. Just be sure to use that hole as much as humanly possible.
-Get Drunk: Alcohol can certainly help keep your mind calm and in control, but only if you follow two important rules. Firstly, don't drink alone, as this can lead to serious side effects up to and including: you being more insane, you acting like a scumbag, and a severe case of crying while eating a poorly constructed sandwich. Secondly, like cold medicine, it's only a temporary aid, not a permanent solution. That said, having a drink with a few buddies after a long day or week of being holed up can really take the edge off - just treat your liver with respect.
What are some other good ways to stave off insanity?
Comments (25)
You're right, I should get out more.
ahhhhh NO
I like to kill kittens.
I do all: Get out, exercise while drinking, then do a post-workout deep dicking some whores. True story, yo.
hahaha i needed this.
LOL @ "Sure, maybe your WoW guild needs help on a big raid"
The last two: oh, HALE naw.
Sometimes getting some sun in the hills is what I do. I try to get away from it all once a week.
I was going to say break something, but that might not be such a good idea.
oh. haha. that means most of us are insane by nature.
am i the only one who lol'd through the whole tiger woods extended metaphor?
No way, we sacrifice face to face communication to mass communicate, and thus we have a better insight on which individual we would sacrifice mass communication to meet face to face. Getting our priorities straight and knowing who our real friends are. Unlike movies where you're stranded on a island you have no contact at all and is cut off from humanity, while the rest of the world changes you're standing still. That isn't the case here, blogging and surfing the net allows us to keep track of how the world is moving and allow us to express our true selves and perspectives that wouldn't be accepted in the public society.
Some examples are racist jokes, pedophilia, other sick porn preferences like hentai and gore, there is no way these things would come up in a normal conversation in real life and not have people flaming your ass for indecency. But on the internet people are all anonymous, protected behind a username, they will EASILY find communities where people can joke about these things without the fear of being judged and will realize the population of people that share such unpublically accepted interests is larger than you can imagine .
getting juiced and getting laid can be the same thing. And if you do that while drunk outside, well, it's a mega winner.
I've never felt stressed much throughout my life. I think it has to do with the amount of time I spend in the gym working out or beating up on one of my trainning partner. So, I'd say, personally, I believe working out and breaking a sweat is the best type of stress reliever.
If the President of the United States of America has enough time to workout, I'm pretty sure everyone else does too. (check Men's Health magazine for the Obama issue)
i try to do all of these, but eventually alcohol always wins and makes me more insane. true story.
Not only do we have to face isolation due to modern culture, but here in the north, we get snowed in a lot. In fact, I'm supposed to be on my winter break from school and have two days off of work for the first time in three weeks...but I can't get the fuck out of my own driveway.
Drinking beer and playing bass always seems to keep the mental instability away.
Photography and LOTS of coffee. And cuddles with my cat.
Obviously if I had any suggestions, I wouldn't be so crazy. And if I had friends to drink with, I wouldn't need to drink so much.
That being said, you should know that I LOLed at the Tiger Woods metaphor.
Aside from getting drunk, I write, watch Family Guy, and I also use a certian "herbal" remedy that helps keep the insanity at bay ;) Oh, and nice job with the Tiger Woods reference. Lmao.
I'm crazy if I go around people. I'm trying to go back to the funny farm.
? 
Social isolation causes me to go through periods of sensory deprivation, but it's better than that.
I don't.
I write on my blog. A lot of the time I find myself hating on this virtual society we have, because even when I am outside, which is pretty often, everyone out there seems kind of closed. It's not acceptable somehow to talk to strangers on the street, even though they may be of a similar age to you and attend the same university. I don't know if this is a result of things getting more isolated.
Anyway, I write, I try to cook things and learn languages, although I haven't really been the most committed to learning Japanese...which is not good at all...even though I may need to know it in the near future.
although i play as rogue in WoW specifically to play solitary, i must say that after reading this i suddenly don't feel so alone in this world, ha ha. because when everybody is facing the same problem, it's not a problem anymore, it's just the 'new standard'.
Boyfriend
Get drunk eh? I'll probably get more insane! LOL. Though, I'd started doing the first two!