My parents came to visit me recently. They asked "How are you?" and I said, "I barely have time to go to the bathroom," and they said, "That's good! When you're not busy, that's when you get into trouble."
The same thing applies to Zac. He's a worker, a doer. As long as he's working and doing, he's good. The worst thing you can do to Zac is put him in his house and tell him not to come out for awhile. Within 24 hours he'd be higher than Icarus.
Zac needs to do work on himself though, and that should take up some time each day. Addiction is predisposition plus personality, and the personality aspect has to be addressed, or he'll go right back to using.
I don't think he's a bonafide narcissist. By that, I mean that external cockiness and bravado is just show. Zac alone hates himself, and all the drugs, sex, etc. is his way of propping up his ego and avoiding dealing with himself. He has to look at himself, however, to make changes so he doesn't use, and that's very hard and very scary. But there's a reward at the end: self-respect and the right quantity and quality of self-love. Once he achieves it, he won't need the approval of others to feel good about himself.
I don't know if some of us ever truly arrive at that place, but we try, and have a kind of temporary satisfaction.
Zac always seemed insecure about himself. And I remember him saying he's a pessimist. Now that I look back, he has always said he thinks his chance at making it in Hollywood is very small. So sad.
"he has always said he thinks his chance at making it in Hollywood is very small."
This was very sensible and mature of him. I don't think he said it because he a pessimist or down on himself, he said it because it's true.
I like to watch old movies and score the cast: Never saw that guy again; never saw her again; saw him in one other thing, I think.... TV and movies is a lousy business that chews up talent and spits it out every day. Almost no one you see on TV tonight or at a movie this weekend will be here in ten years, regardless of talent.
That's an addict for ya. If they're going to get high, they get really, really high.
>"he won't need the approval of others to feel good about himself."
Everyone in the world can worship the ground a person walks on and a person still not feel good about themselves.
In a Good Place:
"Easily become accomplished achievers, generalists who do many different things well: multi-talented. Practical, productive, usually prolific, cross-fertilizing areas of interest."
In a very, very Bad Place:
Finally, their energy and health is completely spent: become claustrophobic and panic-stricken. Often give up on themselves and life: deep depression and despair, self-destructive overdoses, impulsive suicide. Generally corresponds to the Bipolar disorder and Histrionic personality disorder.
all approval is not all equal. a million strangers saying you are amazing without solicitation is nice but doesn't make up for the sought after approval of a particular person.
also I think that he is a people pleaser and when he cannot please someone it cuts more deeply than the reward of pleasing thousands of others. in general, our failures always tend to stick harder than our successes.
I agree with everything you say, in the abstract; but who is the Evil One who is denying him approval?
I can only think of one, whose name might be Zac Efron.
But I remain leery of all this psychological analysis. My theory may be equally valid: He likes to party because he thinks it's fun, not because he's a psychological basket case.
Just so you understand, Kleth, calling a mentally ill person a basket case is akin to calling a gay person "faggot" a lesbian "dyke" and black person "nigger". It is a highly offensive term that represents ignorance of a group of people. Many mentally ill individuals have made great contributions to society, from John Forbes Nash to Abraham Lincoln to Vivian Leigh. In fact, genius and madness are scientifically connected:
IF Zac were suffering from extreme depression, it would not make him a basketcase. While all mentally ill people aren't geniuses, many geniuses suffer from mental illness.
"Just so you understand, Kleth, calling a mentally ill person a basket case is akin to calling a gay person "faggot" a lesbian "dyke" and black person "nigger"."
I did not suggest that Zac is mentally ill, therefore saying that he may not be a "psychological basket case" is not "calling a mentally ill person a basket case".
However, I dispute your assertion of political correctness. I do not agree that calling anyone a basket case is the same as using terms such as faggot or nigger. Also, having psychological difficulties is not the same thing as being mentally ill. Abraham Lincoln had his problems (difficult wife, dead child, civil war) but I would not rank his justifiable depression as a mental illness; he continued to function very well (indeed, he had a better grasp of the situation than most of his generals and cabinet officers). I don't think the Gettysburg Address was written by someone who was mentally ill.
Ha ha. I agree about the genius and mental bit; just look at me.
The same thing applies to Zac. He's a worker, a doer. As long as he's working and doing, he's good. The worst thing you can do to Zac is put him in his house and tell him not to come out for awhile. Within 24 hours he'd be higher than Icarus.
Zac needs to do work on himself though, and that should take up some time each day. Addiction is predisposition plus personality, and the personality aspect has to be addressed, or he'll go right back to using.
I don't think he's a bonafide narcissist. By that, I mean that external cockiness and bravado is just show. Zac alone hates himself, and all the drugs, sex, etc. is his way of propping up his ego and avoiding dealing with himself. He has to look at himself, however, to make changes so he doesn't use, and that's very hard and very scary. But there's a reward at the end: self-respect and the right quantity and quality of self-love. Once he achieves it, he won't need the approval of others to feel good about himself.
I don't know if some of us ever truly arrive at that place, but we try, and have a kind of temporary satisfaction.
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This was very sensible and mature of him. I don't think he said it because he a pessimist or down on himself, he said it because it's true.
I like to watch old movies and score the cast: Never saw that guy again; never saw her again; saw him in one other thing, I think.... TV and movies is a lousy business that chews up talent and spits it out every day. Almost no one you see on TV tonight or at a movie this weekend will be here in ten years, regardless of talent.
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Huh? This guy is swimming in a sea of approval from others, so I don't see where lack of approval comes into the equation.
I agree, he's a worker and needs occupation.
I'm not sure about all the psychology stuff. He may just like to party, and as he says, "I never half-ass anything."
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That's an addict for ya. If they're going to get high, they get really, really high.
>"he won't need the approval of others to feel good about himself."
Everyone in the world can worship the ground a person walks on and a person still not feel good about themselves.
In a Good Place:
"Easily become accomplished achievers, generalists who do many different things well: multi-talented. Practical, productive, usually prolific, cross-fertilizing areas of interest."
In a very, very Bad Place:
Finally, their energy and health is completely spent: become claustrophobic and panic-stricken. Often give up on themselves and life: deep depression and despair, self-destructive overdoses, impulsive suicide. Generally corresponds to the Bipolar disorder and Histrionic personality disorder.
"The Entertainer"
http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/typeseven.asp#.UqEVkGeA3wo
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also I think that he is a people pleaser and when he cannot please someone it cuts more deeply than the reward of pleasing thousands of others. in general, our failures always tend to stick harder than our successes.
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I can only think of one, whose name might be Zac Efron.
But I remain leery of all this psychological analysis. My theory may be equally valid: He likes to party because he thinks it's fun, not because he's a psychological basket case.
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http://m.livescience.com/20713-genius-madness-connected.html
IF Zac were suffering from extreme depression, it would not make him a basketcase. While all mentally ill people aren't geniuses, many geniuses suffer from mental illness.
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I did not suggest that Zac is mentally ill, therefore saying that he may not be a "psychological basket case" is not "calling a mentally ill person a basket case".
However, I dispute your assertion of political correctness. I do not agree that calling anyone a basket case is the same as using terms such as faggot or nigger. Also, having psychological difficulties is not the same thing as being mentally ill. Abraham Lincoln had his problems (difficult wife, dead child, civil war) but I would not rank his justifiable depression as a mental illness; he continued to function very well (indeed, he had a better grasp of the situation than most of his generals and cabinet officers). I don't think the Gettysburg Address was written by someone who was mentally ill.
Ha ha. I agree about the genius and mental bit; just look at me.
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