Posts made by Paris

@tinuviel No. I've lived with folks who were bipolar, and it was so much more than that. x.x

I was pretty debilitated as a kid with the usual OCD behaviors, though I was lucky that many (but not all) of them eased up as I got older and got away from my abusive family. I still deal with the recurring unwanted thoughts and a few things profoundly gross me out and always have, and I do check over and over if I've locked things-- but I have Bot help by, say, watching me lock the door and then trusting her word when she says I did. Stress always aggravates it, so I keep watch on my symptoms.

I would like to take medication for it, but I respond very poorly to most of them, especially anything that causes weight gain. I've always had it, so I have just had to learn how to manage it. Part of what helps is acknowledging that my brain is lying to me, and so not to trust it when it's being dumb about specific things. Taking the time to consciously step back from my distress when something is triggering it has become much more effective, but that has been hard-won. Having a lot of sangfroid has been very helpful, because my reaction when anxious is often go to cold instead of flailing.

Most people have never known I had it, since I'd gotten so good at masking it, and my particular quirks (aside from checking doors and ovens) are mostly internal. It runs in my family, I believe that my mother (undiagnosed but very typical) and brother (I believe diagnosed) and is co-morbid with other things. It, along with really dysfunctional dynamics, has completely damaged my family. Their example has probably helped me manage mine better.

I get annoyed when people treat their color-matching quirks as OCD, but I kind of consider it OC without the D, as a lot of these things run on a spectrum. Categorizing your stuff by color may be a little distressing, but you still don't have a disordered life.

Also, if any of you (god forbid) get cancer, you may be eligible to get the mega booster shots they give you after every infusion to try to keep your immune system numbers up. I got vaccinated against every kind of plague imaginable.

This is similar to the shots they give to bone marrow donors to stimulate cells (it might actually be the same, I don't remember). It was expensive and the bone pain is spectacularly excruciating (I was in much more pain from these than the chemo ever caused-- that was mostly just hair loss, fatigue and severe nausea). But my immune system never got to the point where I had to miss an infusion, and I seemed to not really get anything at all flu-wise for about a year after.

As soon as the effect dropped off, though, I caught every single flu and cold known to man and was sick for six months straight. But I imagine I won't need a booster for anything for at least a decade.

@magee101 There are kids who can't be vaccinated because of medical reasons, and they're at risk from being infected by anti-vaxx kids; also immunocompromised kids and adults, the elderly, etc, are at risk. I was pretty nervous when I went through chemo, though fortunately there's less of an anti-vaxx movement here.

@tempest No, afaik you can only have one archetype.

@auspice It's a shame that your HR is just not dealing with him, because he's exactly the kind of person they're there to deal with.

@lisse24 said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

I've been dismissed by doctors enough times in my life that I really should be used to it by now, but I'm not.

Mostly, I'm angry that I've wasted four months and hundreds of dollars on a guy who is objectively a bad doctor with no interest in listening to me or doing any sort of examination beyond blood work.

I am so sorry that this has happened to you. My experiences were similar in Southern California, but dramatically different in Nevada, so you may if necessary have to move or travel to get access to better doctors. :<

@thenomain There have been a number of authority figures who weren't evil or completely corrupt, though. You can look at people's voting records, how they've treated people, who their enemies are, causes they've championed and did the actual work on, etc.

Ambition is only a problem, imo, if it's coupled with a lack of compassion (and similar emotions).

The shutdown is a serious pain. We're now having to do without a phone plan, and I'm hoping we don't lose anything else.

imgur? you can set galleries private.

@aria Yeah, as a pagan, I've noticed the rise in racism amongst asatruar as well. I will look up bands, though, and thank you!

@aria Sure! Thanks!

I already know about The Hu.

I'm having a hard time getting any RP as well, not for lack of opportunity or partners, but because my health and energy are bad and taking over the aidecare is wearing me out.

I often feel like stuff is passing me by, and it's depressing.

OTOH, it will improve at some point, so I hang around.

Anti-vaxxers made me real nervous when I was immunocompromised.

Ortallus is correct. I also, in addition to all this, suggest meditation. It sounds hokey but it isn't. It actively short-circuits some of the physical and chemical issues with anxiety even if it doesn't cure it.

Bot and I both have anxiety and find that we must actively manage it. That doesn't mean we're cured, it means we take steps to make sure we don't drown.

@magee101 It was super important to me that people new to the hobby and even just new to the game were helped and made to feel welcome. I'm glad that fond memories were made there.

Hanggai - The Vast Grassland

The singer is the big guy with the mohawk. Very atmospheric.

@surreality <3333

Ok, I am off to get some groceries. BBL.

@ganymede Accepting that life is often super shitty for the dumbest reasons imaginable actually kind of helped me mentally, since it completely voids the usual self-recrimination that accompanies being ill. xD