Discussion how can i avoid being radicalized?

[pyx]

i dont have the energy to explain but lets assume that i was about to fall into radical, violent thoughts. how to deal with this?

 

[Downdraft]

Asking it is a big step to keep one in check. :)

Don't start from conclusions and reach them by carefully analyzing different data. One source alone is worthless, go for multiple. Don't participate in some communities since they get radicalized very easily. Don't assume the only reason why the other side exists is solely out of malice, unless they start doxxing others for idiotic reasons. Understand there are usually multiple ways to solve the same problem.

Delete Twitter specially. And social media in general boosts this problem.

 

[pyx]

Asking it is a big step to keep one in check. :)

Don't start from conclusions and reach them by carefully analyzing different data. One source alone is worthless, go for multiple. Don't participate in some communities since they get radicalized very easily. Don't assume the only reason why the other side exists is solely out of malice, unless they start doxxing others for idiotic reasons. Understand there are usually multiple ways to solve the same problem.

Delete Twitter specially. And social media in general boosts this problem.

i do not use social media, nor do i engage in echo-chambers. but i find too many parallels in their thoughts and mine, which i actively suppress each day. i've tried thinking rationally, and i just don't think i can anymore. so i am looking for ways to manage and cope with these feelings of antipathy in me

 

[daley]

Everything is more complicated than it appears.

Each channel has their own point of view. Like @Downdraft said, view multiple sources.
Try to look at opposing sources. Finding good opposing sources might itself be a challenge.

 

[Downdraft]

i do not use social media, nor do i engage in echo-chambers. but i find too many parallels in their thoughts and mine, which i actively suppress each day. i've tried thinking rationally, and i just don't think i can anymore. so i am looking for ways to manage and cope with these feelings of antipathy in me

Same.

But I found this to be effective. And if you feel triggered for something just take a break from anywhere. Avoid the problem instead of dwelling on it.

The bitterness won't go completely away, but it can be reduced. This steps can prevent one from being consumed by it. Hope some of it helps. :)

 

[Holu]

This might be terrible advice, but as someone with harm ocd and sadistic tendencies(I get aroused from causing pain) I found that eventually you just fall into violent thoughts and that's okay. Occasionally I'll have a strong desire to act on them, but I essentially never act. I have a handful of calming and mindfulness techniques I use, but mostly if shit gets weird I just kinda try to sleep and fantasized about causing violence, and that usually works. Worth mentioning that these constant intrusive thoughts use to bother me as a little kid but it hasn't for years.

That said I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying, since the word radical was used, which implies you only have desire to commit violence for ideological purposes. In the situation this is what you meant, then maybe my advice still applies. The thing I will say is that it's best to probably avoid other radical people, or at least the more extreme ones. I think it's okay to wish harm and be hateful on others so long as your not actively inspiring or causing harm to them.

 

[pyx]

That said I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying, since the word radical was used, which implies you only have desire to commit violence for ideological purposes. In the situation this is what you meant, then maybe my advice still applies. The thing I will say is that it's best to probably avoid other radical people, or at least the more extreme ones. I think it's okay to wish harm and be hateful on others so long as your not actively inspiring or causing harm to them.

i suppose. i'm currently coping with it by self-isolating, so that the only one subject to my violent thoughts is myself. sometimes i lose sleep over how inhuman i am. i'd like to channel my violence into improvement, somehow. but the sort of antipathy which i feel resists all forms of pleasure, so in my mind my actions feel like a crusade of sorts, where i don't derive pleasure so much as relief

 

[SketchTurner]

Is it related to moods, like being drawn in to them or hard to resist during certain moods or periods? Or is it just a general thing you have an issue with?

 

[pyx]

Is it related to moods, like being drawn in to them or hard to resist during certain moods or periods? Or is it just a general thing you have an issue with?

its a constant, but sometimes when i feel really emotional i find it far harder to resist. it is a compulsion, but that arises only because i am constantly embittered and angry. or at least only recently has it become really noticeable

 

[SketchTurner]

its a constant, but sometimes when i feel really emotional i find it far harder to resist. it is a compulsion, but that arises only because i am constantly embittered and angry. or at least only recently has it become really noticeable

When I get in a specific irritated and really painful mood I have fantasies about self righteous violence, which isn't too abnormal apparently. In those moods I sometimes can't resist we could say radicalised things I would consider unthinkable in my normal moods, and I struggle so much to resist engaging in the pleasure of it. Doing the run of the mill therapy techniques of watching for emotions and bodily sensations that lead to the thoughts, that there is something underlying that one is engaging in these to soothe or escape. To know this is temptation because it feels so good. Taking the step to know this is anger.
It's unpleasant to see yourself that way, as one of these people who cannot resist the anger and hatred because it feels good, but if you haven't done anything in practice or action it's a clear cut-off-point. But I guess reframing it, and being able to look at yourself and say, "I'm doing this because of X" is a little more useful than just the disappointment in yourself.
I have more frequent mood swings so it isn't as constant as you're having, and maybe it's a good example how one can go from a nice compassionate person which I try to be and then an angry, violent, addicted to abusive violence just because of mood. These things can dominate us sadly.
I don't know what else to say really, I dislike that element of myself.

 

[Rust]

Do you think you would regret acting on the violent thoughts?

I only ask because there's a clarity that is usually only obtained after committing the act. Not staying you should act on your thoughts. It might just be useful to think of the consequences of things you can't undo.

Also, sometimes it could just be information overload. It can be useful to take a step back and focus on something else while you process your thoughts.

 

[trs]

i do not use social media, nor do i engage in echo-chambers. but i find too many parallels in their thoughts and mine, which i actively suppress each day. i've tried thinking rationally, and i just don't think i can anymore. so i am looking for ways to manage and cope with these feelings of antipathy in me

It sounds like you would be helped by dialectical behavioral therapy (dbt) or cognitive behavioral therapy (cbt), find a therapeutic modality that works for you. (almost everyone has violent thoughts now and then or at some point in their life; it usually represents suppressed anger, so confront the anger therapeutically and it will loose it's control over you).

 

[pyx]

Do you think you would regret acting on the violent thoughts?

i'm not sure. they aren't directed towards anyone specific. i usually direct the thoughts intentionally toward myself, which ends in me committing to radical actions, such as self-isolating and starving myself in my room. if i committed intentional acts of violence i think i would regret it, although i'm only saying that right now since i don't feel particularly violent at the moment. i'm sure i would think differently when truly aggravated

 

[pyx]

It sounds like you would be helped by dialectical behavioral therapy (dbt) or cognitive behavioral therapy (cbt), find a therapeutic modality that works for you. (almost everyone has violent thoughts now and then or at some point in their life; it usually represents suppressed anger, so confront the anger therapeutically and it will loose it's control over you).

does it need to be dialectic or can it be introspective? i'd rather not interact with therapists again.

Everything is more complicated than it appears.

Each channel has their own point of view. Like @Downdraft said, view multiple sources.
Try to look at opposing sources. Finding good opposing sources might itself be a challenge.

i am beginning to be unable to restrain myself from radical views, despite understanding that problems are two-fold, that my antipathy is myopia. it's incredibly hard when my feelings begin to bleed into my rationalization of things. i am simply unable to judicatively decide what is right, especially when i know quite clearly that cruelty is a constant in all facets of life. cruelty bred from indifference, if you will