Hey everyone,
Been working on a compilation of some recovery stories and encouraging words I’ve come across so far:
drive.google.com
It’s probably not the cleanest or most comprehensive list, so if anyone has a better one or has additional stories (particularly from thread 6 which was deleted before my time or thread 1 which I cannot seem to find for some reason) hit me up or feel free to add.
So strangely, I’ve read a lot things like on BL like, “the reason you don’t see too many success stories...”. This is perplexing to me because I found like 100 in a quick run through. The ratio of success to fail actually seems pretty extraordinarily high. I’m a member of the forum on healing-anxiety.com and there is virtually no difference. Like any anxiety disorder, there are always people who get stuck in the cycle for years or decades because they are unable to change their thought patterns. In fact, it might be more likely for LTCers to recover because most folks likely didn’t have the severe anxious tendencies and habits before their condition started.
Couple more thoughts on this...
1. For those of you in the future who are just discovering Bluelight, I wouldn’t even bother reading anything else posted on here other than the recovery stories. Listen to what the folks who got better are saying and tune out the rest of the noise. The only other thing you’ll find is a million different theories and tons of anxious energy to fill your already skittish mind with more scary thoughts. This is just my opinion, and I know you’re going to do it anyway, but I at least wanted to mention this.
2. I’ve seen this estimate a lot, and I tend to agree, that something like 95% of posters on here recover (usually within 2-3 years at the max). Yeah this is one of the worst things one could endure, but think about that for a second? There are some pretty horrendous afflictions with a much lower recovery rate. Everything about this is always put in such dark terms (understandably), but in a sense, the first thing someone new to this needs to be presented with is the “good news”. If you put in the work, stay patient, and let your nervous system calm, you’re practically guaranteed to get your life (or close to) back.
3. Think about how many people lurk, recover, and never post? I’d be willing to bet there are more lurkers than active members by a large margin. Anecdotal, but just in my short time with this affliction, I’ve already talked to a bunch of recovered folks on Reddit that don’t even know this place exists or barely came here. One guy who recovered in 8 months said he came here once or twice and they triggered panic attacks so he never came again and was 100% recovered on the shorter end of the typical timeframe.
4. It’s probably just the absolute most nervous people that sign up and end up regulars here. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was create a BL account, but I have such a hatred for this condition I’ll do whatever it takes to get myself and as many people as I can out of this hell. Has anyone ever read what they say to people with anxiety disorders? Stay off of the forums! So again, most of the folks here forever and not getting better are just like the ones you’ll find on anxiety forums for years.
That said, I do still see the tremendous potential this place could have. I’m in a group chat on Reddit where the guys were incredibly encouraging to one another. I joined late but I could go back through the old thread and watch how they all improved over the months because they helped each other and had a positive mindset. I think if the tone were to change to overwhelmingly positive vs negative it would do wonders to helping people instead of mostly just freaking them out.
Been working on a compilation of some recovery stories and encouraging words I’ve come across so far:
LTC Recovery Stories - Google Drive
drive.google.com
It’s probably not the cleanest or most comprehensive list, so if anyone has a better one or has additional stories (particularly from thread 6 which was deleted before my time or thread 1 which I cannot seem to find for some reason) hit me up or feel free to add.
So strangely, I’ve read a lot things like on BL like, “the reason you don’t see too many success stories...”. This is perplexing to me because I found like 100 in a quick run through. The ratio of success to fail actually seems pretty extraordinarily high. I’m a member of the forum on healing-anxiety.com and there is virtually no difference. Like any anxiety disorder, there are always people who get stuck in the cycle for years or decades because they are unable to change their thought patterns. In fact, it might be more likely for LTCers to recover because most folks likely didn’t have the severe anxious tendencies and habits before their condition started.
Couple more thoughts on this...
1. For those of you in the future who are just discovering Bluelight, I wouldn’t even bother reading anything else posted on here other than the recovery stories. Listen to what the folks who got better are saying and tune out the rest of the noise. The only other thing you’ll find is a million different theories and tons of anxious energy to fill your already skittish mind with more scary thoughts. This is just my opinion, and I know you’re going to do it anyway, but I at least wanted to mention this.
2. I’ve seen this estimate a lot, and I tend to agree, that something like 95% of posters on here recover (usually within 2-3 years at the max). Yeah this is one of the worst things one could endure, but think about that for a second? There are some pretty horrendous afflictions with a much lower recovery rate. Everything about this is always put in such dark terms (understandably), but in a sense, the first thing someone new to this needs to be presented with is the “good news”. If you put in the work, stay patient, and let your nervous system calm, you’re practically guaranteed to get your life (or close to) back.
3. Think about how many people lurk, recover, and never post? I’d be willing to bet there are more lurkers than active members by a large margin. Anecdotal, but just in my short time with this affliction, I’ve already talked to a bunch of recovered folks on Reddit that don’t even know this place exists or barely came here. One guy who recovered in 8 months said he came here once or twice and they triggered panic attacks so he never came again and was 100% recovered on the shorter end of the typical timeframe.
4. It’s probably just the absolute most nervous people that sign up and end up regulars here. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was create a BL account, but I have such a hatred for this condition I’ll do whatever it takes to get myself and as many people as I can out of this hell. Has anyone ever read what they say to people with anxiety disorders? Stay off of the forums! So again, most of the folks here forever and not getting better are just like the ones you’ll find on anxiety forums for years.
That said, I do still see the tremendous potential this place could have. I’m in a group chat on Reddit where the guys were incredibly encouraging to one another. I joined late but I could go back through the old thread and watch how they all improved over the months because they helped each other and had a positive mindset. I think if the tone were to change to overwhelmingly positive vs negative it would do wonders to helping people instead of mostly just freaking them out.
