Post-Achievement Syndrome
Don’t bother looking it up on medical books — it’s simple enough. My PAS is a period of depression — short and shallow if the achievement was small, long and deep if the achievement was great. Shortly after a personal achievement (such as getting published in the newspaper), I pat myself on the back and treat myself for the day. However, after a good night’s sleep, PAS swiftly kicks in.
That’s where “simple enough” ends and “what the f*ck” begins.
When PAS hits me, the feeling is that of a big lake being emptied of water overnight. How do you empty a big lake overnight? Unthinkable with current technology. How do you empty a rejoicing person of all pleasant thoughts overnight, seemingly without a trigger? Baffling with current human logic.
I’ve spent hours upon hours drilling into my psyche for the answer to this debilitating problem. Debilitating, because virtually all work and lit output grind to a halt. But of course, most of the Freudian psyche is hidden deep in the so-called Freudian iceberg, so no answers have come forth. (Maybe it’s time to get free help from my friend who’s a UP Psych graduate?)
