@youradhere: First off, if you're drunk you might see those things. Second off, mind altering is something that alters the way your mind works even a tiny bit. So actually caffeine is mind altering, so maybe I do know what it feels like somewhat....

Oh, also, when I talk about fear of anything that might cause pain, I mean emotional pain as well.

Emotional pain is even more transient than physical pain. Like a girl? Ask her out. Want a job? Apply for it. Think you know the answer? Raise your hand. You get nowhere in life being afraid of emotional pain.

@CM: If I'm drunk, I don't see unicorns or taste colors. Maybe the room spinning with too much, but that's nausea, so I suppose theoretically a natural process. Alcohol isn't a hallucinogen, so those really should not have those sort of effects.

If you're taking a broad definition of mind-altering, then yes. But you can't compare apples and oranges and lump alcohol with heroin.


Regardless, if you want to expand your experiences, don't think of any drug as the first place to look. I know it seems like one of the few novelties in high school, but the world is so much broader than that. Find something that interests you and pursue it. It's infinitely more rewarding than taking risks for their own sake.

@abge: As I said before, this fear is deeper. Your logic is perfectly correct, but that doesn't change anything. It's really more like a phobia than just a normal fear.

Then, as I said before, pick one thing to overcome. Once you do one thing, it will be easier to do others.

What is something you wanted to do but didn't because of fear?

Yeah, emotional pain you'll actually have to face up to. I guess come up with strategies that help you get over it? I generally refuse to take failure personally, but that also means I'm less personally engaged in my endeavours. You need to find a strategy that works for you, and nobody, let alone someone online, will be able to do that for you.

I'd encourage you to read this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_emotive_behavior_therapy

Whenever I start to feel emotions getting the better of me, I turn to this, and it's had surprisingly good results. Whether it will help you, I don't know; as youradhere say, you need to find what works for you, not for me.

@abge: Nothing in particular lately. Just broad things, like talk to more people, especially girls, and things like that. But when I was younger, there's a few things that I didn't do. Like, I've never climbed a tree. ever. I was too afraid. Also, I don't know how to ride a bike, because when I was learning, I was always scared while riding, so I made myself fall over, and when that hurt, I became scared to ever try it again.

@youradhere: Yes, anything that falls in the broad definition of mind-altering creeps me out and unsettles me. And why can't I lump alcohol with heroin? They're both drugs.

So, why not start with riding a bike? The chances of you seriously hurting yourself are little-to-none. And, it's a practical skill to have. If you practice on grass, you won't really even hurt yourself when you fall.

youradhere....I guess you have a completely different view of "mind altering" than society in general. Just because you are not seeing unicorns does not mean your mind is not altered. Alcohol is an extremely powerful *drug*....it just happens to be legal so we pretend it isn't potent. It alters behavior, sometimes in the extreme. Under it's influence, people do and say things that they would never do or say while sober.

I think you are deluding yourself regarding alcohol. Then again...that's why the alcohol producers spend billions in advertising....to convince you it isn't a dangerous drug....and that if you tip a few Buds down your throat, you *WILL* get the pretty girl...

Because one of them can cause you to overdose and die anytime you take it, and the other one you can control how much you want to "alter your mind". It's like saying ants and kangaroos are the same thing just because they're both animals.

If it creeps you out, don't do it. I would recommend at least trying alcohol (not necessarily to get drunk) at some point, just because it's such a huge part of our culture and culinary traditions, but there's no reason to do something like that if you don't want to.

You know, I once ran and hid behind the fridge after an imperial star destroyer dropped out of hyperspace near my bathroom and chased me down the stairs. That was due to a combination of alcohol, lack of sleep, and an impressive overdose of cold medicine. It was an interesting experience, and not one I'm keen to repeat.

I have been told caffine is mind altering, but can't honestly say I've ever noticed any effect after drinking it. The mind altering affects of beer, on the other hand, I am very familiar with.

First comes an urge to fall asleep

Second is a state of alertness, chattyness, and general happiness with my place in the universe.

In the third stage I become a pool playing God, master of the mulitple cushion pot and the famed aerial shot.

After that it gets a bit hazey... but I've been told it involves a form of dancing

@Krellin: I'm not saying alcohol is harmless. I'm not saying you should drink every day. It's perfectly possible that I have a different definition than society in general.

If you have a different definition than society in general, then your definition is WRONG, by definition. (Pun intended). A definition is a socially understood and agreed upon understanding. If you have a different understanding, you are therefore wrong. Water is wet, by definition. If you suddenly decide that you don't think water is wet because you have your own definition of wet (or water), then you are wrong.

You are wrong about alcohol. Perhaps it is a defense mechanism to justify behavior?

I can accept that my definition of mind-altering is wrong. Perhaps I should have said connotation rather than definition.

I don't use alcohol to justify poor behavior. Unless you mean that I used the beer I had at dinner as an excuse to justify losing ping-pong later, because I may have done that.

@Abge: About the bike-riding, it would be very embarrassing to learn now. I mean, what would you think if you saw a 15 year-old kid outside learning to ride a bike.
About REBT, I notice a bit of a problem with it: who decides what beliefs are "rigid, extreme, unrealistic, illogical and absolutist"? I mean, let's say my therapist is an atheist. I could see him trying to make me stop believeing in God, because he considers that belief to be "rigid, extreme, unrealistic, illogical and absolutist". Or let's say my therapist is someone like Darwyn (the poster here on webdip), and he thinks that my belief that God should always be first is "rigid, extreme, unrealistic, illogical and absolutist", and then he would try to make me stop believing that. Otherwise, the therapy seems good so far.

@yourashere: You can die of too much alcohol too....
Anyway, of course I don't have to try acohol, and I really don't want to, but the thing is, it makes me feel really weird and abnormal, because almost no one else on this planet seems to be creeped out or unsettled at the thought of altering their mind.

@Octavious....I once saw purple jellyfish floating in the sky....but that was due to an *incredible* storm that painted the sky in all shades of red, orange and purple....and a good dose of LSD. It *IS* an experience I wish I could repeat. But alcohol, sleep deprivation and cold medicine sounds....hmmm....un-fun....

And, for what it's worth, I didn't climb a tree until I was 23 years old. I'm not the most graceful of people and I was always worried I'd go tumbling down. Then, I was on a date and she said, let's climb this tree. At that moment, I had a choice: look like an idiot or climb a tree with a cute girl. So, I climbed the tree.

At this point, you really have 3 choices: live your life in fear, seek professional help for your fears (a doctor, not webdip/Y! Answers), or just be a man and learn how to ride a bike. At the end of the day, it's your life and you're responsible for how you live it. None of those choices above are right or wrong--you need to do what's right for you.

@youradhere - I will accept the use of the word "connotation". :)

@CM: You can die after drinking too much alcohol, but you have to drink too much. Heroin you take in any quantity and you can OD. There's a difference in control.

And I don't think that's true at all. I suspect that many people don't view alcohol as mind-altering (hi), even though it does change perception etc etc. Personally, I'm creeped out by seeing things that flat out are not real, so I wouldn't take LSD. You might take it further than other people, but the principle is the same, I suppose.

Also you're a sophomore. It doesn't seem like it, but most of your colleagues are not drinking.

@Octavious

It sounds like you were a few Jolly Ranchers short of Purple Drank : )

@CM

If your therapist sounds like anyone on this forum, you need to find a better therapist. There's a reason people study different professions.

@Krellin: glad that's settled, XD

I don't know why I'm even bothering here, lol internet. I'm going to bed.

@CM

If I saw if 15yo kid learning to ride a bike, I WOULDN'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK. I probably wouldn't even notice. I have my own life that I'm paying attention to. What some kid does as I walk by is of no concern to me.

@abge: If that same thing happened to me, I probably wouldn't climb the tree, mainly because I'm so uncoordinated and weak that I don't think I physically can climb a tree. But that's another problem entirely.
And learning to ride a bike, well, I think I have a phobia of embarrassment as well, so I really don't want to learn that in public. It was embarrasing enough to learn how to swim when I was 9.
I want to get a therapist, but my last therapist got laid off and my mom can't find a new one.

Also, my father learned to ride a bike when he was 50 years old. Trust me, he looked ridiculous and I thought he was going to kill himself, but he wanted to go on rides with the rest of the family, so he just did it, not caring what anyone thought.

@abge: "If your therapist sounds like anyone on this forum, you need to find a better therapist." I was speaking hypothetically.
"If I saw if 15yo kid learning to ride a bike, I WOULDN'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK."
Well, people who know me would probably notice. And then they might make fun of me for it, or something. There is no end to the possible bad, embarrassing, hurtful situations that my mind can come up with.

But, it doesn't matter. Who cares if someone makes fun of you, in the long run, you learned something new and they look like asshats.

I think what you really need is to find a real person you can confide in. Just one person that you can say, "will you help me climb this tree?" That's all I think you really need to get over this.

I have to admit if i saw a 15 yo learning to ride a bike now, I'd probably think good on him. If I saw one learning to ride when I was 15, however, I would have sniggered a tad. Others may well have been less kind.