Comment by tyu on The 99% principle for personal problems · 2023-10-05T09:42:22.067Z · LW · GW

Your definition of "normal adults" is very vague.

Speaking for myself, I would consider myself quite "normal" (whatever that means precisely) and am struggling with anxiety for the last three years. I have made a lot of progress over the years, going from "waking up with anxiety and being anxious the whole day until going to bed" to "occasionally getting axious feelings, when triggered" and a night of bad sleep definitely occasionally worsent my state.

I don't think its about becoming "despairing emotional wrecks", but rather just waking up in a worse state than the day before. This can feel like a setback if you thing in "I have the problem"/"I don't have the problem"-terms and the authors point is that its not really a setback, because the fact that if you feel worse means, that you came from a better state already.