How can you actively prevent it from getting worse—like starting now/today?
Developed a short attention span, no clue how to fix it atp.
I have low self-esteem and that’s from just people been shitty to me. I could go on but I don’t want to trauma dump (at least, try to prevent myself from doing it).
That being said, I’m planning to get therapy, go to more social events if I have the energy to do so and maybe next year, try get back to swimming. I stopped around when I was in lockdown in 2020 and I forgot about it since.
My mother has Alzheimer and it’s costing us 15K/mo to care for her. She only has about a year of money left. She is in good physical health but mentally she is a toddler. her care costs are double my take home pay, so if her money runs out before she dies, i am screwed.
Nothing I can do about it. It’s the American healthcare system. Some problems are totally outside of anyone’s person control.
15k/month is a lot. Really a lot.
Have you considered the possibility of medical tourism, to say India? Any particular treatment/procedure that really requires you costly American doctors, and can’t be done elsewhere?
My spoon is too big.
My asshole is bleeding
Anus*
Loneliness is actually destroying my life
Have you ever tried just not being lonely? Huh? You ever think of that? /s
There is nothing to be done. No?
Do you do anything to change that?
one thing i notice abotu ‘lonely’ people is they systematically refuse to change anything in their life.
and this is often from people who are not ‘lonely’ on the outside, but their many relationships are entirely performative. and they have built up their entire life as one big act.
This isn’t an attack as I don’t interpret your comment as being malicious, this is just an observation from an outside observer of this interaction.
You may be right about lonely people and just sharing info you have noted from your own experiences with them in your life but that is a brutal take down of @[email protected] when they are sharing a major problem in their life.
Your comment may hold true for them but we don’t know that so it feels more like an accusation and victim blaming than being helpful.
Hey @[email protected], I’ve been there. It can be rough.
If you don’t have someone to talk to about it have you tried a therapist or other mental health professionals? I find this is one of the most important first steps of any life issue being faced, just talk about it with someone who knows a thing or two about the topic, make it a regular and consistent conversation.
I don’t know your situation but if you need it, this helped me;
Being social and maintaining friendships is a skill that can be worked on, no one can run a marathon on their first attempt, it takes training.
Starting small and working your way up. Saying hello to a stranger in the street or making small talk with a check out clerk at the grocery store is a good place to start. If you struggle with small talk then practice that first and work up from there. If you struggle with social anxiety then breaking through can be hard, some people struggle more than others. Training these skills sets do produce positive results.
*Be kind, honest and fair with all people you interact with. This isn’t a mask to put on, the ideal to strive for is to be those things as a person.
*Talk to people about what they are interested in or doing (learn about them) instead of focusing on talking about yourself.
*Respect others boundaries.
*Regularly check in with those in your social circle/community, don’t wait for them to check in on you.
*Get outside. Don’t just spend time at school/work & home. Find a third place where you can blend in but also be a regular. Cafe, bar, pool hall, library, gym, reading in the park, walk/hike in an area you like… whatever aligns with your interests and feel you could eventually become comfortable existing in that space but it is also a place where you are not required to be social. Eventually becoming comfortable with being in that space lowers anxiety of being there and you start to recognize the regulars and they start to recognize you. That makes socializing easier since you are now comfortable in the space and familiar to others who are regulars as well.
You get back what you give out. Do not expect to connect with everyone and not everyone will reciprocate your attention or interest but if you do it enough you will find those who do. Keep at it and you will find more and more.
Good luck and god speed!
This is an extremely reductive take based on anecdote.
There are a lot of reasons people can feel lonely. Hell you can even feel lonely when you have deep meaningful relationships. Sometimes it’s a result of anxiety or depression, or an abusive relationship.
Of course some people fall into the category you speak of too.
billionares also feel like they are poor and struggling and only that next 10 billion will make them successful.
that doesn’t mean it’s true. it means they are mentally ill.
reality exists outside of our feelings.
and this is often from people who are not ‘lonely’ on the outside, but their many relationships are entirely performative. and they have built up their entire life as one big act.
but their many relationships are entirely performative. and they have built up their entire life as one big act.
Is precisely the part i disagree with if you’re going to generalize the way you did in your first reply. Hence talking about the experience even with honest meaningful deep non-performative relationships.
it means they are mentally ill.
Psychological health indeed impacts it, hence why i brought up depression and anxiety to name just two of many conditions that could contribute.
The wealth disease, on the other hand, is probably generalizable in the way you’re suggesting. I couldn’t really care it someone is sad about being ultra-wealthy. Maybe they should give it up and be a depressed laborer like the rest of us.
I am sad, poor, and stupid. i’m going to college and working an internship that pays halfway decent to fix the latter two. And for the first, well, its just like Meatloaf said: “Don’t be sad, 'cause two out of three aint bad.”
Young, Dumb, Young Dumb and Broke.
Dude. If you got into college you aren’t dumb, and the good job may help your mood (as my husband says, money doesn’t buy happiness but sure removes a lot of the stresses and lacks that cause sadness.)
My best wishes to you, and also to that weird vegan who is in a similar situation. I can’t say things will get better but will say things CAN get better.
I am also sad, poor and stupid. I have no chance of ever escaping this either. hugs I hope you find some relief soon
Justifying staying alive to myself.
Not saying I’m suicidal, but I’m increasingly losing my enthusiasm for living compared to when I was a kid. Used to have all these aspirations for my life and how I’d make a difference, now I’ve just accepted apathetically going through the motions until I die.
Not my story but I want to share - in the US - the girl I’ve been dating for several months recently told me she has been receiving SNAP and Medicade for her disabled daughter. She left an abusive relationship several years ago and has been struggling to keep it together. This month, without SNAP, she asked me for money. I sent her what she needed and I’m sure things will be fine. For her, this is a disaster. She’s emotionally tapped out and feels like she is failing her daughter. They’re going to food pantries but so is every other working poor person right now. She works doing Amazon deliveries which fits with her daughters therapy schedule and allows her to work when able. Ex is out of the picture and does not help, deadbeat stuff.
I just put this out there for some perspective. Many folks are going through hell right now. I wish I had a better solution for her, or for others suffering. I feel so powerless to make any meaningful change in the world. I care for her a lot but I have no idea what to say.
This sounds like an awful situation, and my heart goes out to you both.
I know many people that are struggling right now have found that smoking crack really helps their situation, and this could end up being just what she needs in these trying times.
Housing
I find myself becoming less and less interested in staying in the industry I’m currently working in for the rest of my life. Problem is, I don’t have any other qualifications. So I guess it could start working on acquiring new ones while I’m still young enough to do so, but I’d need both a clear idea on what other career I want to pursue and the motivation to leave my currently pretty comfortable position in life. I have neither.
you don’t. just start learning shit and you will see what sticks and develop new interests.
life doesn’t require a per-conceived path. a lot of people just make shit up as they go. my entire career has been that way.
I was in your position in 2016. Took me until 2021 to make the switch. But all that time I grew to hate my job more and more. In the end I was ready for a psychward. I was intentionally screwing up things out of spite, breaking my worktools every other shift because I threw them across the street and stuff like that.
I went back to school in 2021, but still had to keep doing my old job for the money. It was much easier to do the job with the propect of a better future, I almost started enjoying the job again. But that didn’t last long. Eventually dropped the old job conpletely in 2023 and very happy to do so.
Now I’m finishing up my graduation assignment and I expect to get my bachelor in januari-ish. I’m 35 and starting my career as a software developer. It’s not an easy time to start, but I’ve been networking and gaining valuable experiences so that I actually feel cautiously hopefull to be entering the job market right now. Also because I’ve been doing a related job for the past 3 years that gained me a lot of valuable experience.
TLDR: it’s never to late to learn a new skill, but it’s better to do it sooner than later. You don’t want to stay in a job you hate and suffer the mental consequences of that.
How to make money independently with elderly or another disenfranchised group.
Thinking of doing massage therapy in addition to tech help. Want to be of benefit to peoples lives. But be independent.
Trying word of mouth. But actively marketing self is a hurdle too.
Massage therapy is a god send that should be part of normal Healthcare!
A lot of people I know are struggling and I don’t know how to help them.
They have vaguely asked me for help but they all have difficult problems that I can’t do a whole lot about. I know its not necessarily my responsibility to fix things for them but I tend to have a ‘fix things’ mentality and I get stuck thinking about what I can possibly even do.
they dont’ want help. they just want to complain. and they will actively hate you if you try to help them.
how do I know? because I’ve been there a million times. and life is a lot better when you give up trying to help people who are only interested in being miserable.
the person you should be helping is yourself. invest in yourself, not throwing yoru time and energy away on people who will never give that time and energy back to you. it will leave you miserable and depressed and drained.
Its difficult. Society and community are so fragmented now. People don’t want to ask for help. People don’t want to give unsolicited help.
I’ve got skills and support I can offer. I’m not even asking others for anything. People don’t even want to take the offer to give unconditionally. I’ll give you a lift…they don’t want it. I can help fix things in your house …they don’t want it. Feel free to borrow my tools…they don’t want it. I can look after your kids for a few hours and give you a break, my kids would love to play with them at our house…they understandably feel anxious about that. No problem, come over yourself with your kids on the weekend, we’ll make you lunch, get to know us…they don’t want it. You’re starting in the same career field that I’ve progressed in, I’ve got resources that will help…they don’t want it. I’ll share my Jellyfin server…they don’t want it.
I don’t get it. I just want to connect with people and help them…they don’t want it.
I think people feel weird accepting help now more than they ever have. I’ve kind of stopped offering because my thoughts are more like “eh, they got it” type thing.
It’s really hard to accept help sometimes.
Our family went through the ringer the first half of this year and we had an outpouring of people offering support and help. It’s not that I didn’t need it, I just didn’t think I needed it at the time. Looking back on even 6 months ago, I was pretty dumb for not delegating some things that would have taken a lot off my plate that I didn’t need to deal with at all.
If you’re in a new place around new people, one way I’ve found that works sometimes is just asking someone for help with something really trivial, but not something that could easily be done yourself. Something that could just use another set of hands. It’s kind of an ice breaker and the other person might feel more inclined to be able to ask for some help next time.
Anyway, you seem like good people, I wish you were my neighbor. Don’t let people stop you from continuing to be a good person.
Finances. Coming out of a full year with paid sick leave into a job that’s only half the time and ergo half the money as before (but also less money than sick leave was, had a fulltime job before). But I can’t work more due to health issues. Gotta have to figure out my finances asap to prevent it to get worse. Been there done that, but this time my mental health is reclaining (solo parent while full time working since 15 years) and it feels heavier this time. But I’m gonna get over this 💪
My life is pretty much in limbo right now. I can’t get a job because I don’t have a bank account and I can’t get a bank account because I don’t have an ID and I can’t get an ID because my parents wont get me one. I’ve been asking for a bank account ever since I graduated high school back in 2016 but they just keep telling me “We’ll get you one eventually, we just don’t have time right now” despite the fact that they sit around playing video games all day. What frustrates me even more, is that they let my sister get a bank account and a part time job back when she was still in high school.
Yikes, that’s a long time to be stuck in what sounds like an abusive family dynamic. I’m so sorry.
I’m guessing you’ve looked into any possible alternative routes to an ID?
I have not looked into that, if there are other ways of getting an ID that are legal, I might try them.
Yeah, you should. What country are you in?
I live in the US. I actually checked online for what my state requires to get an ID and I don’t think it’s possible for me to do without my parents. The only things I have access to are my SSN and possibly my birth certificate but I would need to provide several additional documents that I either don’t have access to or have no idea how to provide them. It also seems like there isn’t a way to get one online unless you’ve previously gotten one, which I obviously haven’t.
In the US, there’s Adult Protective Services that might be able to help you.
So you’re in your 20’s, in the states, and have never had a bank account?
I won’t make assumptions about how that happened. I’m Canadian so I don’t know how helpful this will be since our regulations are a bit different, but have you tried just walking into a bank with everything you have and explaining the situation? If they can’t set up an account they should at least be able to point you in the right direction.
In Canada we can get a driver’s learner permit with minimal ID. Birth certificate, SSN and proof of address should be enough. If you can get that you’ll have a government issued photo ID and you’ll be set. Alternatively, we can get a provincial ID with minimum documentation, if you can’t get a driver’s licence. There must be some equivalent in the states.
Another option is to get someone to notorize a document and photo that says you are you. Just call a notary near you and ask how.
I would try going to the bank on my own, but I’m not allowed to leave the house alone because my parents will threaten to call the police on me because they think I’m suicidal.
That also rules out the last thing you said because even if I could get an ID through that method, I still wont be able to get a bank account.
do you have trustworthy friends or relatives that can help you out? this seems shittier than it looks…
can you look up the documentation for it and steal it from you parents? find a way to sneak to the dmv so you can get your id?
It sounds like the root problem is not being able to leave the house.
Do you know anyone who can escort you? Furthermore, “leaving the house while suicidal” isn’t a crime. You’re a legal adult, so unless there are measures in place the cops can’t force you to do anything. Even if they can bring you back, you can probably set some stuff up before they find you.
Somebody important is mean to me and I don’t know why. Nobody seems to know why in that person’s entourage.
Talk to them directly.
Won’t work sadly. It already happened before, got solved by a true miracle (I don’t want to share here what happened, but it was the most impressive “right time, right place and right people” thing I’ve ever heard of). And I wanted to talk (still want to talk btw) but they don’t.
Last time I saw their “normal” self they really appreciated me but that seemed to have changed overnight (literally).
A rational person might talk it through. A mean person will turn up the mean. 0/10, cannot recommend
Yes.
People are optional. All people are optional. Some with believe they are owed a place in your life for one reason or another. Remind them how wrong they are by going no contact or repeatly sending the same messege that you are no longer replying to them. How long or short that reminder is, is up to you.
Perhaps their behavior will change after this reminder, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. People suck.
Mean in the “went no contact (and mean when we do have to have contact for one reason or another) overnight, for seamingly no reason and don’t want to tell me or anyone else what’s wrong” way. Actually they promised me that they were going to tell me what their issue was, but they never did. It is the second time something (exactly) like this happened with this person and the first time they made the same promise, and did only tell me after an important event that can not be reproduced this time.
