Mental Health Support Thread (NOT for giving medical advice, or debating)

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Scattercat, Sep 8, 2008.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Adenosine Triphosphate

    Adenosine Triphosphate Member Contributor

    Joined:
    May 24, 2014
    Messages:
    1,251
    Likes Received:
    732
    Location:
    USA
    Started taking Lexapro last summer. My expectations were low, from what I've read about SSRIs, but it seems to be working well. I'm much calmer than I used to be, and it's easier to brush emotions aside, even when they're initially overwhelming. The highs are slightly lower, but the lows are blunted so much that it's not much of a sacrifice.
     
  2. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    That's broadly speaking my experience with them too. It's not perfect and it's maybe not what you want forever but better is still better.
     
  3. Sclavus

    Sclavus Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2017
    Messages:
    744
    Likes Received:
    702
    Location:
    Colorado
    Productivity is cool. Losing huge chunks of memory (hours at a time)...not so cool. I can't remember most of what I've done for most of the last four hours. I mean, I know I read some and wrote some and whatnot, but I can't specifically remember it. I just know my routines. It feels like the last four hours went by in about an hour.

    That's not good.
     
  4. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    Do you mean you lost track of time or do you mean that you could have killed someone in the past few hours and wouldn't know?

    Just... I get a lot of times where I have no idea what I've been doing for significant periods. I sort of know, but not really know, the time just slips through my brain like treacle through a sieve. But that's more because I haven't done anything impactful rather than because I have problems with my memory. When I really focus on something I can just sit there for hours and I wouldn't even notice if you clap your hands beside my head, but after the fact I don't really know exactly what I was doing. Basically, it's not a terrible thing to have memory holes. People think their memories are some perfect record but the worst kind of witness for anything is someone's memory. People just forget shit, especially when it doesn't seem to be a big deal to them.

    However if you ever find a body wrapped in plastic in the boot of your car then, well, feel free to PM me; that's kinda the stuff I'm really good at dealing with :)
     
  5. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    10,462
    Likes Received:
    11,689
    Unless you really blacked out, I'd say it is good - you were in the zone, sounds like?
     
  6. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    Yeah, that's kinda what I thought; the flow-state where you don't think about what you're doing it just kinda comes out of you at the speed of thought. That's definitely what I am always aiming for even if it means that I don't process memories about that time very well.
     
  7. Sclavus

    Sclavus Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2017
    Messages:
    744
    Likes Received:
    702
    Location:
    Colorado
    It's more that I lost track of time and I don't remember specifics. It bothers me because sometimes I lose track of what's important, like sleep or eating or appointments. Whenever I snap out of those states, it's like my brain goes back to a checkpoint, and I don't remember having written pages. I don't like losing track of what I was doing.
     
  8. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    10,462
    Likes Received:
    11,689
    Maybe set an alarm for stuff you really need to make it to, then let yourself relax and enjoy?
     
  9. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    There's a bunch of different things that could potentially be a trait for and I'm not a doctor (although I do have a stethoscope) so I don't want to start telling you where it's coming from. What I can say is that when I do that it's an ADHD trait called hyperfocus; when I can focus on something I just get so into it that I don't even notice what's happening around me and when the bubble bursts it's hard to remember what I've spent so much time doing. I can read it back but a lot of the time I feel that I don't remember writing this stuff. It's why (I think anyway) sometimes you'll see me write huge posts into threads, spend three or four hours writing about something that for whatever reason really clicks with me then never post in the thread again or answer people's comments because I don't really have a clear idea of what I wrote and going back to check makes me feel very anxious.
     
  10. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    I need a new job. I spend the majority of my waking hours seeped in negative emotions because I hate my workplace so much, and spend my non-work time just keeping anxiety and depression at bay.

    But I keep hitting the same roadblock with job searching - I'm not old enough. Not that I don't have enough experience, just that I'm not old enough. Ridiculous, I know, but consistent feedback. And there's sod all I can do about that, except maybe paint myself in wrinkles for interviews....

    I don't know where to go from here. I won't take a more junior position with its associated pay cut, and people want me to be 40 and a man to hire me for the position and salary I'm already in.
     
  11. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2016
    Messages:
    22,566
    Likes Received:
    25,882
    Location:
    East devon/somerset border
    its also illegal to discriminate on the basis of age
     
  12. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    It's illegal to discriminate pretty much generally; you think that stops people if they have a specific kind of person in mind?

    Trust me man; there's only so many interviews I can go to and hear that I was absolutely great, really well qualified, interviewed amazingly and didn't get the job because they gave it to someone who doesn't have a pony tail.
     
    Tenderiser likes this.
  13. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2016
    Messages:
    22,566
    Likes Received:
    25,882
    Location:
    East devon/somerset border
    In the UK the equality act has what it calls protected characteristics , age, gender, orientation, race, religion and disability .... so not giving someone a job on the grounds of those is unlawful ..... not giving them ajob because they have a pony tail on the otherhand isnt
     
  14. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    So why won't they tell me to my face that's why? Even when I ask? What are they afraid of if that's an acceptable reason?
     
  15. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2012
    Messages:
    6,631
    Likes Received:
    10,135
    Location:
    Yorkshire
    upload_2017-12-12_20-25-5.jpeg 'Another interview, I walked out the door. maybe this time they truly understood my vision of progressive internet marketing solution & sales? I muttered these words, needed to splash water on my face.'
    [​IMG]'In the mirror I saw what they saw, the patch of scalp disguised by my creative hair band. Virtually I smelled the new job in my hands.'
     
    Cave Troll and Tenderiser like this.
  16. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    This is the look I need to go for next time.
     
    matwoolf likes this.
  17. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    Fortunately my hair is long and luscious. My problem is too much not too little :p
     
    matwoolf likes this.
  18. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2016
    Messages:
    22,566
    Likes Received:
    25,882
    Location:
    East devon/somerset border
    If they won't tell you to your face how do you know that's the reason ... may be the other candidate was just better
     
  19. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    I've heard the exact same feedback from every interview I've been to in five years. The same exact feedback. I always came second, somehow. Even when they didn't award the job to anyone and posted the advert again; somehow I still came second. And despite having an excellent resume and interviewing extremely well somehow I'm always second, not third, not fifth, I'm never last. And yet I never get the job. For five straight years.

    Perhaps there are other factors that should be considered. But they are lying to me about something and won't budge an inch on telling me what it is. And the fact they don't want to tell me does make me feel that it really does have to be something they are ashamed to say.
     
  20. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2016
    Messages:
    22,566
    Likes Received:
    25,882
    Location:
    East devon/somerset border
    strikes me that its probably not your pony tail .... not to be harsh but may be they don't like you ?

    To be too awkward to bring up its got to be something embarrassing to raise , assuming you don't have really bad BO or something, the next most likely option is personality.

    I know from a hiring managers perspective its really difficult to ring someone and say "you were a good candidate on paper, but the thing is you came across as a bit of a cock and we don't want to work with you ... those are the feedback calls where you wind up hiding behind platitudes about "there were many good candidates but on this occasion you weren't quite the right fit"
     
  21. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2012
    Messages:
    6,631
    Likes Received:
    10,135
    Location:
    Yorkshire
    Well, five years becomes a factor.

    Could you not do something easy in the meantime? Out of work in September, you apply to be a temporary postman for November, or buy steel boots & head down the industrial agency. Surely it's better for the writing?
     
  22. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2012
    Messages:
    6,631
    Likes Received:
    10,135
    Location:
    Yorkshire
    No, you call the guy and speak honestly and sincerely.

    'Bit of a cock' is not appropriate for your salary. I know, I know what you mean - or meant...
     
  23. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    I have a job dude. A job that doesn't pay well that I badly want out of but I need to pay my bills and I need to not have a gaping hole in my resume. It's bad enough looking for work when I am coming right out of another one, it'll look way worse if I just quit with nothing to go to.
     
  24. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2015
    Messages:
    2,398
    Likes Received:
    2,026
    All I can say is that people generally like me. I work on a daily basis with MDs and CEOs; they like me. They stand around and talk with me, even though I don't wear a suit to a shoot. I go to lunch with them and we laugh together. Essentially; if I come across as an asshole then everyone I've ever met is lying to me.
     
  25. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 1, 2008
    Messages:
    23,826
    Likes Received:
    20,815
    Location:
    El Tembloroso Caribe
    With 2018 about to roll in (already has for some of us) I would like to take this moment to reiterate the natural limitations of a venue such as ours. Remember that above all things we are a writing forum. That will always be the default and the meter by which any questionable or problematic situations are measured. Always. Mental health is a serious matter and one that should be handled by a mental health professional. No member of this forum’s volunteer staff is in any way, shape, or form a vetted provider of mental health services, nor will I allow the staff to be forced into handling mental health issues of the forum citizenry. It would be deeply unethical, and flat-out dangerous. If/When I see such a situation arising, I will delete it because this is a completely innapropriate venue to receive that kind of help.

    If you feel you are in need of mental health services, please speak to a professional provider of said services.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice