The Lonely Stoics

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This Thread is a place for people who subscribe to a lot of the tenets of the philosophy of Stoicism. For those possibly unaware it is a school of Greek philosophy which is not merely intellectual but is highly practical and many will likely be familiar with CBT (Cognitive-Behavioural-Therapy) as a psychotherapeutic and psychological intervention therapy which is rooted in many of the fundamental principles of the Stoic philosophy. In a nutshell stoicism acknowledges that there are things which we cannot change and things which we can. Therefore, there are things within our locus of control and things outside of our locus of control. Stoicism is about improving the meaning of our lives by maximising how we devote our time to the things which are in our locus of control and as a philosophical practice accepting all that is not.

I personally have found stoicism a helpful countermeasure against my own distorted perceptions as a coping reaction to trauma, I found adopting stoic practices and beliefs in my life, albeit gradually has much improved my life and I recently have felt motivated to begin again my quest towards adopting a stoic mindset and lifestyle which is long lasting and sustaining. To this day I still have moments where I react poorly to things, (particularly with anger) but I've found Stoicism and CBT helpful tools for self-regulation for not only my autism diagnosis and all that comes with it but also my experiences with ptsd, ADHD and all non-chronic pain that is inherent to the human experience.

So, to wrap up that long-winded introduction - if you're someone who finds CBT methods for self-regulation or Stoic teachings beneficial in your everyday life please share your own insights and experiences and advice if you have it, this place is a space not to dunk our traumas but to share how we overcome them with the intent of informing and teaching each other through our individual and collective experiences to try to grow and gain strength from them.

I've only come to stoicism recently but I've found a lot of it marries up with my own personal philosophy.

I've always had a natural aversion to any 'teachings' preferring to come to my own conclusions but I'm increasingly finding that an exhausting way to exist. More and more I just want someone to tell me how to be - I haven't been doing that great a job of being me so maybe I should just let someone else drive. The Stoics seem like my kind of guys.

I like the idea of accepting what is out of my control, it relieves me.

I've read Marcus Aurelias' Meditations, that was good and I'd like to do further reading on the subject.

Whenever I've come across CBT though, in my brief dalliances with professional therapy, I've found that I strongly resist it. I'm sure it works for some, but my brain just goes, "yeah, not doing that".