neverknowsbest

I thought French root too-- but pronounced like doux. Plush Linux

Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I really miss having places people would congregate, a common hangout spot, specifically because you didn't have 24/7 tabs on where all your friends were. Wherever it was-- a bar or park or wherever, you could always breeze by and find a few people there. Now everybody's so divided, pinging "favourite" folks to hang out (I'm guilty of it too)... but it takes away that window to get to know some peripheral friend that you might get "stuck" with at the park with and find out they've got loads of neat stories or fun ideas or whatever.

And I truly hate people looking at their phones during parties. If you're that bored just go start another conversation with somebody else, christallmighty :\

Other replies were a little salty, and I can only say from personal experience------- but the awareness that you're out of it takes away some of the sanctuary of being high... especially if you're even moderately comfortable (in life, in mind, etc). Feels like you didn't come by it honest, and ruins it some.

On the other hand, if you're stuck in a shithole with a metric tonne of inner demons, it's pretty much tops.

Contentment, opiates. Happiness... like that innocent 'AHHHHH TOMORROW'S CHRISTMAS!' joy, I'd say MDMA instead

It's probably to keep him on top of washing the shirts. More clothes = more temptation to just wear something else and let the laundry pile up.

ICQ + the friendly/outgoing/carefree attitude of those times

Beseen chat as well, same era.

And Palace Chat, though it was horrible even back then the memories make me laugh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Palace_(computer_program)

If you've got a free hour-or-so sometime this BBC documentary is pretty engaging and describes the opiate timeline regarding use and legal status: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3M1QPoeNMU

Seconded; I'm a casual browser but when a topic grabs my attention it's great to see there's been multiple well-trafficked threads and have links mentioned to backtrack to alternate discussions

Not surprised. They're really pushing their new online lotto options and such recently, may as well make those advertising dollars work extra hard by simultaneously censoring the competition.

(just from personal experience, not a doctor. But below is what people have done that really improved my quality of life through depressive episodes)

#1 is take care of yourself--- you, the support-giver, should come first; if you start to get frustrated with caring for the person with depression they'll sense it and then close off 100%.

#2 bring them out to do things. Not necessary to be over the top happy, just seeing somebody motivated to do stuff, and willing to take the time to drag me along.... was great. The world always seemed a lot less bleak at the end of those days. The activity itself didn't matter at all, so no need to plan anything grandiose.

#3 after days that you've done something, touch base really quick the next day. Just a "had fun last night" text or call first thing, doesn't have to take much time. Just to stop the back-slide of the depressive mind's tendency to pick apart significant events and turn them vile and negative

#4 Don't _worry_ because that's a negative emotion (easier said than done when it comes to somebody you care for, I know), because it can cause a lot of feelings of guilt and burden in the depressed person. Show care with positive support like frequent check-in's, random visits with food and sundries, etc.

#5 Again, I can't say this enough: take care of _yourself_. Do not burn yourself out trying to be a 'be all end all' care giver. If you have to step away for a week, that's better than showing up miserable and resentful. And it will happen--- it's only natural to feel tired/hopeless/unappreciated/'done' sometimes, especially if you're supporting somebody with a very long depression that has nasty/antisocial outward mood side effects (like lashing out, transient paranoia, antisocial resistance to aid, and such).

I don't know if that'll be helpful at all, but you had no other replies and I've been the person receiving care/support before. I know it isn't easy, but it is _always_ appreciated.

A lot of overdoses also stem from folks who were forced or coerced into rehab before being fully prepared, then relapse, taking their old dose without realizing that their tolerance has already gone down during treatment. Hopefully those cases would decrease with legalization and the removal of the "hard drug" stigma.

Regarding the increase in RX deaths, I'd like to see those stats too-- though it's probably too hairy to really break down, I'd also like to see that expanded which prescription opiate, as well as circumstance (fully recreational/no clear injury, minor injury, during hospitalization, or continuing/long term care).

Exactly. If somebody wants to sell their physical sexual skills, it should be just as easy to find a place of employment as somebody wanting to sell their mental deductive skills.

Extremely angry, to the point that I can't actually have persuasive conversations about it with the pro-DARE crowd because their perspective boggles me so.

This quote sticks out as to the why of the dissenters, but doesn't levy them much sympathy:

"the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy"

Amphetamines are also the basis of most ADD medications.

... I think OP was using those examples because they're the stereotypical horror story drugs, but their analogues are everywhere.

Agreed. An opiate OD can be reversed if caught in time. NSAID ODs box your liver.

The worst luck is experiencing side effects/personality change from the meds, but not being able to notice them _because_ of the medication.

the dx doesn't always match the rx, illicit or licit. seems logical that anxiety = not stimulants...

but it depends on the underlying cause of the anxiety, sometimes uppers is just what the doctor called for

Same experience here; while attempting to isolate the factors that made for low days in order to avoid them, I instead experienced a significant increase in low days-- probably because I had to actually assess my mood.

A neutral mood, open to becoming either "good" or "bad" if not closely inspected, would invariably be categorized as "bad", and once labelled, remain that way for the rest of the day (or into the next day/sleep if recorded at night).

I've found stepping back every month or so to reflect on positive things is helpful, but doing anything with too much granularity has only encouraged self depreciating and neurotic thoughts.

They didn't address the confounding variable that these disorders are caused by dopaminergic issues, which are present even before becoming floridly psychotic. High levels of dopamine = low levels of arousal, so the slight elevation caused by tobacco smoking is probably pretty appealing.

Only first person experience, here, but I can say antipsychotics (which are dopamine-receptor antagonists... hence the "thorazine shuffle") cause these bouts of sedation that are made much less uncomfortable by simply having a smoke.

This is my experience too- the overlap isn`t that pronounced at all. All the pot smokers I know don`t smoke cigarettes, don`t like cigarettes, and while they`ll light up a joint in their own home, ask cigarette smokers to do their tobacco smoking outdoors

'lended + from' is new to me, only heard 'lended + to' in the past...

One I noticed in popular use a few years ago (Canada): the word "itch" as a verb, i.e.: "I itched it" "he was itching himself"

Sounds odd to me.

People also approach you way more in open office layouts, probably because of "in sight, in mind".

Little things that they usually wouldn't pester you for, it pops into their head and turns into a five minute conversation that completely obliterates any thread of concentration from before the interruption.

Also, I fully agree re: desk passing, it's so difficult to ignore this... particularly because if you _do_ manage to get in the zone and not notice the office traffic, there's inevitably somebody who comes to stand just a little behind you and to the side, hovering there waiting for your attention. It's startling when you notice them.

There's definitely a personality aspect to how folks perceive lonely vs not lonely that's completely independent of how many people are actually around you. I'm the opposite of you- I can see good friends and go out every day of the week, but the moment I'm not currently engaged: lonely

Agreed, 100%. Any shared space takes care of so many challenges that come with remote work: socializing, a unique non-relaxation oriented place to "be on", as well as the expectation to be seen. Depending on your personality, it can be super easy to disappear and fall into work avoidance rather than proactiveness when there's no face time/expectation.

Canada was like this in the 80ies through early 90ies as well -- if it was a rotary phone, it always pulse dialed. But a bunch of the push button models had the switch so you could do either. Tonal dialing was so much quicker!

TLDR; be extremely cautious of anhedonia

I started on Bupropion (Wellbutrin) a few years ago because I was feeling low + irritable, and thought meds might have a positive impact. The general groupthink at the time was that taking SS(n)RIs was a solid "not super serious" option for tackling anxiety and depression... that you could just "try it out". Initially I didn`t feel any difference. A little stomach upset, but nothing especially positive or negative. People around me said they`d noticed my mood was uplifted, so I thought "what the heck, may as well continue on with it". Over the months I found myself slipping further and further away from goals, connections, and general "get up and go". But because I still experienced ups and downs (some days were still great, I wasn't completely flat), I just thought I had to "make some positive life changes". To put that in perspective, my life wasn't/isn't anything to complain about: good friends, supportive family, understanding job with good pay, and I'm in good health/fit and work out regularly. But it FELT like nothing was "clicking", that everything I did was meaningless. It really felt like nothing was ever enough, and I would become frustrated that there was no reward in anything I liked doing. Small things could ruin an otherwise great day because my bar was so low. It felt like I was running on empty, in regards to fulfillment. I asked my doctor (who had superscribed me the Bupropion in the first place) if it was safe for me to continue on with it. He said "there was no harm", and suggested it was a benign drug. I took that to heart and continued to believe that my issues with motivation were due to an increasingly severe bout of depression or personal failing. It was only when I confessed to my partner that I had difficulty finding reasons to continue on with life that I started to consider it might not be ME/my brain causing the issue. It wasn't just a bad day that would make me contemplate ending it anymore, it was normal days, days which were nothing special. "Well, this is unimpressive... may as well just end it" was becoming a very blasé everyday thought, and yet I was so detached that I didn't think that was odd, and had no hesitation revealing it. My partner was horrified, naturally, and started looking up the side-effects of Bup. It'd been so long since I'd been on it, that it wasn't an immediately obvious cause and effect, but that was definitely the source of the anhedonia. Within two weeks of ceasing the meds, I feel more and more connected to the world, finding everyday things fulfilling again. It's no longer like scrabbling at little moments of joy: I can actually just sit back and feel good, without a constant barrage of interesting/pleasurable things. Looking back, it's obvious I was having issues, but seeing them from within the very specific brand of null emotion Bupropion created, was impossible. I can still clearly remember that feeling of "everything is pointless" and thinking right after "I better just try harder to find a point" rather than assessing that there might have been something wrong. The fact I could still have really good days/fun times threw me for a real loop. At any rate, that was rambly (side effect #2 = less sharp cognitively, and I'm still regaining my acuity) but hopefully I got the feeling across of losing yourself in the meds.