Thanks for raising this important topic. I see definite value in tactics 1 and 2. Tactic 3 sounds useful in principle but in practice I’ve found it ineffectual. I have mixed feelings about tactic 4. I’ve found that rock bottom rituals which look destructive on the surface can actually be good relative to the other realistic alternatives available. But certainly it’s possible to carry such things too far and fall into habits which prolong the period of emotional nihilism as a result.
One tactic which I’ve found useful and which you don’t mention is that of reaching out to old acquaintances who one hasn’t talked to for a long time. This can have the effect of reminding oneself of what one used to be like before falling into the period of emotional nihilism. Of course, one has to take care to pick out old acquaintances who are unlikely to exacerbate the issue—much better people who one accidentally fell out of touch with than people who one parted with on bad terms.
Thanks for raising this important topic. I see definite value in tactics 1 and 2. Tactic 3 sounds useful in principle but in practice I’ve found it ineffectual. I have mixed feelings about tactic 4. I’ve found that rock bottom rituals which look destructive on the surface can actually be good relative to the other realistic alternatives available. But certainly it’s possible to carry such things too far and fall into habits which prolong the period of emotional nihilism as a result.
One tactic which I’ve found useful and which you don’t mention is that of reaching out to old acquaintances who one hasn’t talked to for a long time. This can have the effect of reminding oneself of what one used to be like before falling into the period of emotional nihilism. Of course, one has to take care to pick out old acquaintances who are unlikely to exacerbate the issue—much better people who one accidentally fell out of touch with than people who one parted with on bad terms.