My parents are both psychotherapists and old hippies. I grew up in an environment where meditation and the mind were known and discussed. Early stressors came from interactions with my older sister and father (who would yell and generally display instability, which I blamed myself for). I started out with a hypersensitive and overly empathetic temperament. This would later develop into highly obsessive tendencies. The first signs of major instability came with depression in 6th grade. In 8th grade I started smoking pot once a week. This habit eventually developed into once a day, and by 11th grade I had tried most recreational drugs other than major narcotics. Sitting in Physics class, Spring of 2008, I felt a wave of negative emotion come over me that was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I was so agitated I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I am fairly sure that this was triggered by a combination of early stressors, se...
At the intersection of deep meditation, growing up, and mood disorder.