❓ PLP Inquires❓

[Sh75]

.....

 

[Karabare]

My annoyances aren't petty, damn it!

Mostly....Republicans.

<runs>

Sigh.... so fast? Get back here and be nice.

I'll give an example!

I hate.... hate when people go in the Exit and out the Entrance. So dumb. So annoying.

And when people answer the PMs at the top and not the bottom. Sorry guys, that breaks my brain.

Ok now, fr fr...

(Though that was totally fr)

Tardiness.
Untidiness.
Lame excuses.
Broken promises.
Fat shamers.
Fairweather friends.
Public farters.
Judgey McJudgealots.
Periods.

Better?

And 100% with you on the top responders. Fucking heretics.

I share all these annoyances. Is over-quoting annoying?

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

05.12.20

It's Mental Health Month

Have you ever struggled with your mental health or supported someone who has? What things do you turn to when you're trying to give your mental health a boost? Do you feel a stigma around talking about mental health in any capacity?

Bonus Points: Share a song that you find inspiring

 

[Pervy_Sage]

05.12.20

It's Mental Health Month

Have you ever struggled with your mental health or supported someone who has? What things do you turn to when you're trying to give your mental health a boost? Do you feel a stigma around talking about mental health in any capacity?

Bonus Points: Share a song that you find inspiring

I’ve never struggled with mental health before, but as a teacher I have students who deal with it. It’s more common now than any other time I can remember. When I feel my mental a being affected, I turn to creating. It centers me, and I can regain my balance. In my line of work, I don’t feel the stigma as much, because I work with amazing educators and counselors.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

05.12.20

It's Mental Health Month

Have you ever struggled with your mental health or supported someone who has? What things do you turn to when you're trying to give your mental health a boost? Do you feel a stigma around talking about mental health in any capacity?

Bonus Points: Share a song that you find inspiring

Yes, I have acute anxiety and OCD - not the "oh, isn't that nice - he cleans everything" OCD (my house is a mess). More the intrusive, apocalyptic thoughts OCD that gives me frequent nightmares. Currently I'm managing on my own, though I have been on medications before, and might consult with my doc about going that way again. My family and friends know, as do a handful of trusted colleagues. Most of my colleagues don't know, nor do they really need to. I don't really have a song that inspires me, but my wife knows when something's up because I'll watch the movie, "Dazed and Confused" a lot. It just calms me and makes me think of simpler times.

 

[AveryElle]

05.12.20

It's Mental Health Month

Have you ever struggled with your mental health or supported someone who has? What things do you turn to when you're trying to give your mental health a boost? Do you feel a stigma around talking about mental health in any capacity?

Bonus Points: Share a song that you find inspiring

Isn't it also masturbation may??

My mental health: I was a bad kid, and was forced into therapy, but never spoke a word to the therapist in years (I literally just sat there). Outside of eating disorders, I eventually forced myself out of my funk and did pretty well. I openly admit I have anxiety and my "cure" is always being a planner. List making and organizing. Then I became a parent. I had fairly bad birth trauma followed by post partum anxiety. The depression was mild (there, but mild and mostly caused by my complete lack of sleep) but the anxiety was crushing. My heart would race, even if I COULD sleep, I couldn't. By about month 8, I finally got help. I was RXd medicine that, direct quote, "shouldn't cause too much weight gain". By a doctor that now has a national profile. That was her treatment - the concern was weight.

I haven't found that medicine helps at all, I can go weeks without it and weeks with it, I see no difference. I don't find that therapy helps. I did "relationship counseling" a bit back, and while it was helpful, it didn't actually change much. I have no stigma and I try hard to raise an emotionally stable kid (in terms of body image, expressing feelings, not being a perfectionist, ect).

My "escape" is a dark room with loud music and bikes to nowhere. So, now...yeah.

As for the distorted eating...that kicked in and out from college through just before pregnancy. Then I realized my weight was more of a problem for other people than it was for me, and I gave up. I struggle with orthorexia (which yes, is a thing), but body wise, I am what I am and I've come to terms with that and try to be as body neutral as I can.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

It's hard to ask for help when you're the helper.

Amen to this.

 

[inkandiridiumnibs]

05.12.20

It's Mental Health Month

Have you ever struggled with your mental health or supported someone who has? What things do you turn to when you're trying to give your mental health a boost? Do you feel a stigma around talking about mental health in any capacity?

Bonus Points: Share a song that you find inspiring

Yes
Yes
Motorcycle riding was my go to mental health boost. Injuries have made that unsafe to do for the time being, so I really struggle now to find something to help give me focus when there is no focus.

This last one is double edged. I began getting mental health treatment under False Pretenses. My experiences were clouded because I was being told I was going under the belief that it "is for your Mother's depression", but I was too young to understand exactly what I was being asked, nor to understand why I was being asked things. The second time around it was supposed to be for "Family counseling", the first couple sessions of course were with the "Family" then quickly, the only one going to the sessions was me. But I was older, I understood there was something else going on.

Then when I had a positive exposure to mental health assistance as an older adult, I grabbed onto it with both hands and took it for everything I could. I had been recommended a counselor who actively listened to me, would adjust our sessions to work on the issue I was having, or if there wasn't time, would reschedule an additional appt just to work that issue out. He was open and honest with regards to medications. Our first session, he told me "This is going to be a long haul. I am going to prescribe you a medication to get started, but this is going to be a case of trial and error. I need you to be honest with me, and I will be honest with you." And that is exactly how it went. I wish I could find someone here who I felt as comfortable with as I did with him. If he hadn't retired a couple of years ago, I know I would be able to do Video appt with him since that was an option when I was seeing him before.

and for the Bonus points...I guess what has become my comfort song is
White Rabbit originally performed by Jefferson Airplane, but I really get lost in well done Covers, such as this one by Collide https://youtu.be/xReVTadRWp8

 

[AngelicaS1780]

05.12.20
It's Mental Health Month
Have you ever struggled with your mental health or supported someone who has? What things do you turn to when you're trying to give your mental health a boost? Do you feel a stigma around talking about mental health in any capacity?
Bonus Points: Share a song that you find inspiring

Yes and yes. I have been challenged by mental health issues most of my life. I have been hospitalized twice, both times for major depressive disorder with suicidal ideation. I currently take two medications daily and one as needed. Depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder run through several generations on my mother’s side of the family. My mother and her mother both suffer from PTSD as well. My younger sister was hospitalized for severe postpartum depression within a few weeks of having her son. When talking about my experiences, I sometimes hesitate to share about being hospitalized because it feels like there is more of a stigma there, as compared to something like taking medication. I do share it though, because I believe that if more people tell their stories, the less stigma there will be.

Music, exercise, cooking, reading, and writing all help to refocus my thoughts. Exercise especially helps to elevate my mood, but I sometimes struggle to find the motivation. The following song helps me to keep pushing through the tough times.

Get Better - Frank Turner

ETA: Also, Andrew Cotter's videos with his dogs Olive and Mabel make me really happy.

 

[LurkingPhoenix]

05.12.20

It's Mental Health Month

Have you ever struggled with your mental health or supported someone who has? What things do you turn to when you're trying to give your mental health a boost? Do you feel a stigma around talking about mental health in any capacity?

Bonus Points: Share a song that you find inspiring

This one is nerve-wracking, if only because I've never acknowledged my struggles on the boards. I've fought depression off and on since I was a teenager, though it wasn't diagnosed until I was graduating college. I'm almost 100% I had clinical anxiety as a young child toox but that was so long ago that it doesn't matter now.

I spent years going through depressive cycles. I was a cutter. I drank too much.

I finally, as I aged into my late 20s and started a family, started to level out...until last fall. I went through a major depressive cycle and had to acknowledge it. Get medicine for the first time. I lost real-world friends...frIends here. Hurt people.

I'm much more leveled out now...but I'm constantly on the lookout because I've always been able to see the cycles coming. I'm naturally melancholy and introspective, but this isn't nearly the same thing.

Oddly, I don't fear the stigma offline nearly as much as I did here. The real world is shitty...but this place is so judgey and fucking hypocritical at times that when I feel a downward dip, I'm gone from here for a while for my own good.

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

First, I want to thank everyone for posting. I think being open about these things can be so empowering and normalizing for people who feel really alone.

I don't think I've struggled with mental health in the same way many of you have described. I e certainly had had really dark times. 9/11 fucked me up in ways I'm just not coming to trips with, my sister passing away very young, all of this happening right now. But I know it's more situational and not at all the same. I know because I grew up with a very, very mentally I'll mother. Incapacitating depression, suicide attempts, clinical narcissism and a dad doing his best but working nights meant that I was raising myself and a little sister for about 5 years before my mom was able to get help.
My SO is also battle some depression heaped with a fuck ton of anxiety. It's so hard to watch someone fight and to know how to help.
There are resources but when you're smothered by depression/anxiety/etc those things can seem impossibly hard to reach out and grab. I do wish there were more resources for allies. It is hard to be supportive and sometimes, it can be isolating. When I feel that way, I try to reach out, get out, shake it up. (You see my problem at the moment though, right?)
The stigma is real but I think it's getting better. The more people share their experiences, the less the stigma, the greater the understanding.

 

[LurkingPhoenix]

First, I want to thank everyone for posting. I think being open about these things can be so empowering and normalizing for people who feel really alone.

I don't think I've struggled with mental health in the same way many of you have described. I e certainly had had really dark times. 9/11 fucked me up in ways I'm just not coming to trips with, my sister passing away very young, all of this happening right now. But I know it's more situational and not at all the same. I know because I grew up with a very, very mentally I'll mother. Incapacitating depression, suicide attempts, clinical narcissism and a dad doing his best but working nights meant that I was raising myself and a little sister for about 5 years before my mom was able to get help.
My SO is also battle some depression heaped with a fuck ton of anxiety. It's so hard to watch someone fight and to know how to help.
There are resources but when you're smothered by depression/anxiety/etc those things can seem impossibly hard to reach out and grab. I do wish there were more resources for allies. It is hard to be supportive and sometimes, it can be isolating. When I feel that way, I try to reach out, get out, shake it up. (You see my problem at the moment though, right?)
The stigma is real but I think it's getting better. The more people share their experiences, the less the stigma, the greater the understanding.

Has anyone told you today that you're fucking awesome?

Consider that done.

 

[AlpineFresco]

05.12.20

It's Mental Health Month

Have you ever struggled with your mental health or supported someone who has? What things do you turn to when you're trying to give your mental health a boost? Do you feel a stigma around talking about mental health in any capacity?

Bonus Points: Share a song that you find inspiring

Difficult one to answer, because my shit is extremely minor compared with others here, and I don't want to pretend that they're comparable.
That said, yeah, I have. A close family member has been extremely badly affected, and that's something I saw a lot as a teen. Another one is struggling with separate issues now.

Personally, I've had issues with my weight and body image, getting dangerously underweight at one point I often wake with anxiety and can't shake it, and feelings of just not being good enough on pretty much every count are always there (and days like today, feelings of worthlessness are hitting very hard). I put my head down and work, or throw myself into personal projects, to level things out.

Do I feel stigma talking about it? Oh yeah. It's true that guys shy away from that, but it's also true that when we do, there's often deafening silence, especially if we try to talk to other guys (an issue I've seen a friend go through, too) - picking who to talk to is very difficult.

I don't generally have 'inspirational' songs, more ones I can lose myself in.

Very good question, Pulpy. Thank you for putting it out there

 

[parker77]

First, I want to thank everyone for posting. I think being open about these things can be so empowering and normalizing for people who feel really alone.

I don't think I've struggled with mental health in the same way many of you have described. I e certainly had had really dark times. 9/11 fucked me up in ways I'm just not coming to trips with, my sister passing away very young, all of this happening right now. But I know it's more situational and not at all the same. I know because I grew up with a very, very mentally I'll mother. Incapacitating depression, suicide attempts, clinical narcissism and a dad doing his best but working nights meant that I was raising myself and a little sister for about 5 years before my mom was able to get help.
My SO is also battle some depression heaped with a fuck ton of anxiety. It's so hard to watch someone fight and to know how to help.
There are resources but when you're smothered by depression/anxiety/etc those things can seem impossibly hard to reach out and grab. I do wish there were more resources for allies. It is hard to be supportive and sometimes, it can be isolating. When I feel that way, I try to reach out, get out, shake it up. (You see my problem at the moment though, right?)
The stigma is real but I think it's getting better. The more people share their experiences, the less the stigma, the greater the understanding.

you're in an equally difficult position as your SO. sorry that's the case.

here's what i did to recover: 1 - commit to getting better; 2 - find the right meds (enough to stop the re-uptake and ease the anxiety, but not so much to totally deaden emotions); 3 - live in the moment, literally - i would ask myself, "what is the most valuable thing i should be doing right now?" sometimes it was sleep, sometimes it was just get out of bed, sometimes it was workout, sometimes it was to complete a very specific work assignment. breaking life into tiny, manageable moments made it so much easier to make progress. 4 - go talk it out, 'cause when you do that right, you realize the demons aren't real. you created them; you own them; you can manage them.

best wishes for SO's progress and happiness for both of you.

oh, a song - this isn't really a motivating song, but it's fun and uplifting.

The Fighter - Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

you're in an equally difficult position as your SO. sorry that's the case.

here's what i did to recover: 1 - commit to getting better; 2 - find the right meds (enough to stop the re-uptake and ease the anxiety, but not so much to totally deaden emotions); 3 - live in the moment, literally - i would ask myself, "what is the most valuable thing i should be doing right now?" sometimes it was sleep, sometimes it was just get out of bed, sometimes it was workout, sometimes it was to complete a very specific work assignment. breaking life into tiny, manageable moments made it so much easier to make progress. 4 - go talk it out, 'cause when you do that right, you realize the demons aren't real. you created them; you own them; you can manage them.

best wishes for SO's progress and happiness for both of you.

oh, a song - this isn't really a motivating song, but it's fun and uplifting.

The Fighter - Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood

Thank you so much!!

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

 

[AlpineFresco]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

That's another good one! The temptation is to say 'nothing comes naturally' but that's feeding into a false image of myself as just heroically grinding my way to any success I've had. And honestly, most stuff probably falls in the middle.

Learning languages, I have no aptitude for. I've always struggled. But now I have no choice but to learn, so I keep on trying.
My work... I wouldn't say I struggle here, but I do try very hard. I want to keep improving. I don't believe I'm at my peak yet, and if I look back 6 months, and 6 before that, and 6 before that, etc, I can see a trend (not linear, but a trend!) of improvement. And that's because I try.
I try hard at being a good communicator. I fail a lot, I know that. I keep trying, though, because it's important.
Following on from the last question, I try hard at keeping my mood up when I'm flagging or feeling like I'm not worth anything. This is boosted by having people around me who are supportive.

But 'comes naturally', maybe I need to look at that again. Naturally? I'm not sure. But easily, that's different. Cooking, matching flavours, is not hard for me. I had to learn, but I learned (and continue to learn) quickly.
Playing with English comes easily to me. Double-meanings, puns, being able to put together relatively eloquent sentences, that fits here.
Being imaginative, that comes easily.
And, probably being adaptable. I'm not fickle but I am generally open to learning and seeing things from other points of view. I'm happy to ditch what I'm doing for a better way, once it becomes apparent.

 

[Booboobear84]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

Numbers are easy (CPA so shocker), Languages and spelling: I'm hopeless no matter how hard I try. Strangely, I'm pretty good at grammar.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

I have to try really hard at verbal communication. Public speaking is a huge part of my job, and I'm just not naturally good at it. If I try to speak extemporaneously my brain gets hopelessly lost and words just fail me.

I'm naturally good at written communication. If I can write my thoughts down before I say them (or better yet - don't have to say them at all), it goes a lot better for me. People have said I'm a good writer. No one's accused me of being a good speaker.

 

[Fermina_Daza]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

I feel like right now I have to try hard at everything. And that’s part of the problem - I want to be the master of my own destiny, but no one can control everything. So I’ve had to work hard at letting go, being more mindful and present in the now, less consumed with what may be ahead.

Kids and dogs - I don’t know if it’s because deep down I’m a kid at heart with the stupid heart of a dog who loves everyone. But I’ve worked in some capacity with both and just seem to form those relationships quickly. The other day I looked out the front glass door and a dog was just looking on from the patio. I totally would have kept him too but he had a collar and the owner answered.

 

[inkandiridiumnibs]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

I naturally pick up tech, and tech operations. Sometimes to my detriment. My last job for example, it was a simple data entry job. But, by the end of the first week, I had "Fixed" a number of computer and software issues that had been left alone, or needlessly worked around, creating more work. Two weeks later, and my boss drops a manual on my desk and asks me to take a look at some very expensive hardware that "No one in the office has been able to get to work to the level it should." 5 hours later, what I produced, caused them to scrap Six Hundred Man Hours of work and start the project over. Which, ended up being to my detriment. When hired, I made it clear I did not want a Lead or Management position. I just didn't want that kind of stress. I knew what it would do. They kept pushing after that point, trying to get me to take on at least the Lead Project slot for the jobs based around that machine. With the pandemic, it made it possible for them to "shortcut" me into that position, and sure enough, by the end of the first week, I had crushing migraines.

What do I struggle with, lately, it has been anything that takes more than a short attention span. I was a voracious reader. It was common for me to have 4 or 5 ebooks being read at a time. Break, open an app and read, driving, play an audiobook, at an appointment, open another app and read. The last couple months have been a real struggle to just finish one book at a time.

 

[Orchidea73]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

Try hard: Doing things that don't give me pleasure, or I deemed to be boring, but that I need to do.

What comes naturally: Creativity and communication.

 

[Karabare]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

Work hard at focusing on boring things like grad school. Being a decent parent.

What I do for a career comes naturally for me most days but sometimes the uniform is drafty.

 

[AveryElle]

05.15.20

What do you try really hard at? What just comes naturally to you?

Try hard at: being a good parent. Raising an empathetic, emotionally intelligent, socially aware, and boundary respecting male. I’m not naturally patient so this can sometimes take major effort. A decent spouse, partner, sister, and daughter. Communication isn’t everything (if you’re with or related to someone neurodivergent, you know what I mean!). Maintaining some level of fitness while my gyms are closed. Letting shit go. I’m sure there are other things.

What comes naturally: being organized. Knowing when something or someone isn’t my thing (as in, not continuing to try something because I should have a better grasp on it than I do / investing time on people I don’t really like or respect). Being stressed out.

 

[Karabare]

Try hard at: being a good parent. Raising an empathetic, emotionally intelligent, socially aware, and boundary respecting male. I’m not naturally patient so this can sometimes take major effort. A decent spouse, partner, sister, and daughter. Communication isn’t everything (if you’re with or related to someone neurodivergent, you know what I mean!). Maintaining some level of fitness while my gyms are closed. Letting shit go. I’m sure there are other things.

What comes naturally: being organized. Knowing when something or someone isn’t my thing (as in, not continuing to try something because I should have a better grasp on it than I do / investing time on people I don’t really like or respect). Being stressed out.

Well you’re my thing baby. Everything else, be Elsa, let it go