Remote Diagnosis Disorder (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Remote Diagnosis Disorder

[Holistic Star]

Shhhh - don't anyone mention the irony of Steve diagnosing people he's never met who criticise him as suffering from RDD!

[SimonaRich]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

Shhhh - don't anyone mention the irony of Steve diagnosing people he's never met who criticise him as suffering from RDD!

LOL!!!

[Holistic Star]

I said don't mention it!!!

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

Shhhh - don't anyone mention the irony of Steve diagnosing people he's never met who criticise him as suffering from RDD!

I never said I wasn't afflicted by it too.

This post is going to save me a lot of time down the road.

[Momorune]

If I didn't diagnose you as having a specific disease, then I don't have RDD? Phew!

Just kidding.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Momorune

If I didn't diagnose you as having a specific disease, then I don't have RDD? Phew!

Just kidding.

No, but it could mean you have ADD instead.

When it comes to the DSM, everyone gets a label!

[Scorpio]

Feedback:

If someone didn't follow the forums they may not get what this post is really about; that people are always remote diagnosing you with something. When the post finished I strongly got this feeling of, "Wow, some readers are going to be left confused by this one."

As far as I remember you've really only mentioned RDD in your message board threads. You may want to break from the faux-seriousness of the piece at the end explain what it's all about and how this always happens to you.

A list of the disorders you've been diagnosed as having would also be entertaining!

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Scorpio

A list of the disorders you've been diagnosed as having would also be entertaining!

It would be faster to just refer you to the DSM-IV.

[Steve Pavlina]

FYI this isn't about what goes on in the forums. That's only a tiny subset of the big picture.

Think of any celebrity you've never met, and consider whether or not you think they have a peronality disorder.

Tom Cruise? Howard Stern? George Bush? William Shatner? etc.

If your relationship with such people exists entirely in your mind, then who are you really diagnosing?

[Holistic Star]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

It would be faster to just refer you to the DSM-IV.

I have no idea what that stands for. What does it mean?

[Andreas]

You mean that this disorder hasn't been cured yet?

Are you saying that... *gasp* it could be occurring on this very forum?


I'd better be careful.

[Scorpio]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

FYI this isn't about what goes on in the forums. That's only a tiny subset of the big picture.

Okay that makes sense. When I read the title of the piece I had the frame of, "Steve is making a jokey post to respond to the fresh wave of diagnoses he's gotten in response to the polyamory articles."

[firefly]

Holistic Star, DSM IV is the fourth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association. (wikipedia)

[Holistic Star]

Originally Posted by firefly

Holistic Star, DSM IV is the fourth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association. (wikipedia)

Thank you!

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Scorpio

Okay that makes sense. When I read the title of the piece I had the frame of, "Steve is making a jokey post to respond to the fresh wave of diagnoses he's gotten in response to the polyamory articles."

Actually I've had a post like this on my "to blog" list for at least a year, but this seemed like a good time to write it.

Perhaps someday a cure may be found for my various personality disorders. I'm so sick and tired of being happy, fulfilled, and in love with life. I just want to be normal. Please help me!

[beautyscientist]

I suffer from Compulsive Disorder of Obsessiveness. (CDO)

It is a bit like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) but I prefer it because the acronym has the letters in alphabetical order.

[Steve Pavlina]

Lol. StevePavlina.com now ranks #1 on Google for Remote Diagnosis Disorder. Google indexed that PDQ.

Prepare for a flood of web surfers coming here for help with their RDD afflictions.

And just in case there's any doubt, my tongue and my cheek are inseparable.

[cacheborn]

I think I have RDD.
But wait, isn't that paradoxical?

[Jonathan Browne]

Hey steve. Im curious. Why is that you seem to rank really high on google for cetain keywords but you only have a pr ranking of 3. Youd think by now with the amount of backlinks you must have you'd have a higher pr ranking.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Perhaps someday a cure may be found for my various personality disorders. I'm so sick and tired of being happy, fulfilled, and in love with life. I just want to be normal. Please help me!

Oh that's easy. I'm sure the RDD-people will be glad to help you. You can find them in the recent polyamorous threads.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Browne

Hey steve. Im curious. Why is that you seem to rank really high on google for cetain keywords but you only have a pr ranking of 3. Youd think by now with the amount of backlinks you must have you'd have a higher pr ranking.

Honestly I don't pay much attention to what Google does with its internal ranking system. I focus more on HVO (Human Visitor Optimization) than on SEO. Trying to second-guess Google will just drive you batty... or worse... turn you into an SEO consultant.

[Jake Birkett]

haha, very funny post Steve, so many people here do seem to suffer from it (wait...did I just exhibit the symptoms?).

In fact I was discussing a similar thing last night with my partner. About how if someone talks about the negative aspects of someone else and seems a little too into it, are they are really seeing something of themselves in that other person or are fearful they may become like that other person in some way? Even if the observations appear to be true it can be another form of projection.

Actually if you get angry at someone else's behavior I think it could be for one or more of several reasons:

- You see something of yourself in that person that you do not like (you may not be seeing it consciously of course)
- Something in them reminds of you of something a parent or sibling used to do (and maybe still does) that makes you feel bad.
- You have set yourself up with some form of inflexible life values and you can't stand it when other people don't follow the same values. This is basically an inability to let other people get on with their own lives in their own way whilst you get on with yours in your way. (I suffer from this, lol! Crap, actually I probably suffer from all of these points which is why I'm able to identify them.)
- Their behaviour has a direct effect on your life which is unpleasant. Is there a way to handle it without getting angry, or at least turning the anger into something productive?

There's probably loads more but those are some main ones I can think of.

On a related note often I think people criticise other people (without anger, in fact with a kind of eagerness) because it allows them to internally say "and I'm not like that" thus it's a pure ego thing, which is a bit sad. I'm certainly guilty of that (more so in the past thank goodness) and I may even be doing it now ;-)

[RT Wolf]

Steve, ever tried having a battery of psych tests done? How about a psychotherapist evaluation?

I'd love ot see the results.

[Victor Vikingr]

Uh-oh... I think I've got RDD!

Well, I've not quite diagnosed, but I have criticized people I've never met.

[Andrea de Michaelis]

Steve, I can imagine the email response you get. I'm not controversial (not for a new age magazine anyway) and I get lots of email response. No one wants to hear they are projecting their own insecurity, rage or disgust with self. Kudos for stirring it up within them and making them look at it. They'll thank you next lifetime.

[cacheborn]

I think I've got RDD!

Victor,
If you think you have got RDD, then you haven't got it 'cos you are diagnosing it through RDD. But then, since you are diagnosing it through RDD, that means you have got it.

[moonlite]

Originally Posted by Jake Birkett

haha, very funny post Steve, so many people here do seem to suffer from it (wait...did I just exhibit the symptoms?).

In fact I was discussing a similar thing last night with my partner. About how if someone talks about the negative aspects of someone else and seems a little too into it, are they are really seeing something of themselves in that other person or are fearful they may become like that other person in some way? Even if the observations appear to be true it can be another form of projection.

Actually if you get angry at someone else's behavior I think it could be for one or more of several reasons:

- You see something of yourself in that person that you do not like (you may not be seeing it consciously of course)
- Something in them reminds of you of something a parent or sibling used to do (and maybe still does) that makes you feel bad.
- You have set yourself up with some form of inflexible life values and you can't stand it when other people don't follow the same values. This is basically an inability to let other people get on with their own lives in their own way whilst you get on with yours in your way. (I suffer from this, lol! Crap, actually I probably suffer from all of these points which is why I'm able to identify them.)
- Their behaviour has a direct effect on your life which is unpleasant. Is there a way to handle it without getting angry, or at least turning the anger into something productive?

There's probably loads more but those are some main ones I can think of.

On a related note often I think people criticise other people (without anger, in fact with a kind of eagerness) because it allows them to internally say "and I'm not like that" thus it's a pure ego thing, which is a bit sad. I'm certainly guilty of that (more so in the past thank goodness) and I may even be doing it now ;-)

Well, I wonder what's really wrong with criticizing other people? When someone openly describes his life, his relationship with his wife and so on - he then put himself in the spotlight and as an actor in a play he shouldn't be surprised that not every review is full of praise. Any other attitude seems to me rather inconsequential.

Also - it's a oversimplification and generalization that every critique stems from projective mechanisms or anger. I, for example - don't care at all what Steve does with his life. I know that I will have no impact on him or on his devoted fans. There is some group of people who are interested in his writings but without idealization and with a great dose of distance to his world view. But again - they have their own doubts and there is no point in convincing convinced.

Without writing a word on this forum I know that I'm not like him. Well, at least not exactly. I bet there are some similarities as you can find some similarities between any two people in this world. Yes, we all are the One and our differences are pure illusions. There are certain things in what he writes which resonate with me and others who seem just empty. I know that I have a contact only with his image, his own creation of himself and I perceive it through lenses of my own convictions. So what? I couldn't care less if the image is accurate and I don't feel guilty of any misinterpretation. It's a game, isn't it? And the stake is Growth, Expanding Consciousness. So any insight gained counts and the guilt-ridden attempts to suppress freedom of expression is counterproductive.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by moonlite

Well, I wonder what's really wrong with criticizing other people? .

Hey, don't they teach you in therapist school that you can criticize people's thoughts and actions, but not the person personally?

[yossarian]

Originally Posted by Angela

Hey, don't they teach you in therapist school that you can criticize people's thoughts and actions, but not the person personally?

Depends what type of therapist!

A lot of therapists believe there comes a time when you must take an ethical stand and show that you wholly disapprove of the way they are and the way they are comfortable being.

Especially when talking about psychopaths or when diagnosing someone with "evil" which is a real diagnosis that some schools of therapists make.

It's a very diverse field!

The humanist school teaches that therapists should hold unconditional positive regard for everyone though, and this school is basically the nicest of the bunch.