Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How is your mental health?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 162 posts

Re: Ask HN: How is your mental health?

#111

Post by AwfulCaptain »

muzani wrote: post #97
whoisjuan wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meditating in the shower is pretty easy IMHO and you can easily go up to 15 min, even for beginners. Meditation is mostly about anchoring your mind to something, most people do it with their breathing because that's what we see in movies and stuff. In the shower, you can use the sound of the water or the feeling of the water on your head to anchor your mind. Since it's something you don't control and there are multip…

15 minutes is a lot of water usage. Bathtubs seem ideal to meditate in.

Still not as much as those Almond trees

Re: Ask HN: How is your mental health?

#112

Post by soneca »

I am building a mood tracker that I plan to transform into a quiet social network that has tracking mental health as one of the objectives.

But... I will actually link you to my competitor. They have a much more polished and stable software now, they are the biggest player in the space of mood tracking and loved by its users: https://daylio.webflow.io/ (They have a generous free plan)

Re: Ask HN: How is your mental health?

#113

Post by RedBeetDeadpool »

eq_sd_ wrote: post #102

Going to weekly therapy is the only way I really track anything. I've been struggling a lot since my ex and I broke up last year. Earlier this year, I started thinking about how my dad treated me growing up and how it was (is) a type of emotional abuse. He's probably narcissistic. I'm sure it's a big factor in why I dated someone like my ex and why I've put up with so much shit in my relationships, friends, work. And…

Sounds like you could use a bit of help. I've had a lot of similar issues as those you mentioned. My advice is: read a lot of books on how to deal with narcissism, and psychopathy. `in sheeps clothing` is one I liked. `beating the work place bully` is another. There might be tons of better sources, but those are the ones I read. Part of the issue is some people will take everything from you if left unchecked, and you can do very little to make them realize they're harming you (think Trump). And even if they realize it, it only stops them that one time. So aggress-ing these people is something that needs to be done often. You have to judge-judy their ass at least a few times every time you have a conversation with them.

Also read about wait vs interrupt culture [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LuXb6CZG4x7pDRBP8/wait-vs-in...]. Generally women are spoken over by men at work. And of the men its the loudest and largest egos that get their voices heard regardless of quality or veracity of words. Most statements are just opinions, and because the dunning-kruger effect grants these people with confidence, they will just speak whatever opinion they have as facts.

You should also really try and meet people you can connect with outside of work, I find having people around helps as a mental shield to all the toxic people in your life. Because work can be competitive, people have tendencies to play the asshole card there far more often than in other aspects of life. It helps with sanity to have a better balance of people. Try meetups/clubs (for coders? for girl coders?, I'm in a book club and I like it), or classes (yoga? dance? martial arts?), or try volunteering (a place where you might find more people with empathy). Or do all of those combined.

Re: Ask HN: How is your mental health?

#114

Post by ghemsley »

shaneprrlt wrote: post #11

Slowly dying from all your first-world problems?

That was pretty insensitive and pretty ignorant of the reality of life for some of us here. This is a mental health thread. Comments like yours aren't needed. The commenter you responded to didn't elaborate beforehand so you just assumed away a whole host of possible valid explanations for why they feel they are dying slowly; way to go. Next time please be more thoughtful if you can?

Re: Ask HN: How is your mental health?

#115

Post by [deleted] »

klodolph wrote: post #18

Therapy is more effective than it has any business being. If you can make it happen, try it. I’m going to start by saying I have a mood disorder, and I don’t understand anxiety disorders because they’re part of a completely different world from mine. Conversations I’ve had with people that have anxiety disorders have reinforced this idea that I really don’t understand anxiety disorders or relate to them. The worst pa…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How is your mental health?

#116

Post by gitgud »

Tracking my mental health is something I've never consciously considered... But there are some things I guess do, which all improve my mental state:

- Improve physical health -> I walk the dog, run, kite surf. Exercise make you feel healthy and better.

- Expressing myself -> Participate in discussions (like this), talk about issues, explain problems to someone. Expressing yourself greatly improves your own mental state.

- Making Things -> creating things (programming, woodworking), work on many side projects, learn/refine skills.

- Trying Comedy -> Not standup, just trying to make people laugh in conversation is rewarding and improves your brain.

- Focusing on Relationships -> Friends, family, partners; can help you improve yourself and remind you your not alone.

Hmmm, it looks like all these concepts are entangled with each other anyway.... (Note to self: express yourself more clearly)

Re: Ask HN: How is your mental health?

#117

Post by throwaway942502 »

Diederich wrote: post #76

I'm going to post something that's not directly on topic, and is perhaps not that interesting in the grand scheme of things. And it is going to ramble a bit. There is a summary at the end. Shortly after 11am Pacific, 12 days ago, on his 74th birthday, my father walked into the backyard of his home of 42 years, sat in a lawn chair, and used a .357 magnum revolver to end his life. He played virtually no role in raising…

I'm very sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Ask HN: How is your mental health?

#120

Post by sturakov »

confidantlake wrote: post #86

I have social anxiety disorder. My mental health has gotten worse since starting a new job with 100% pairing. I don't want to pair every day and I try to bring up that I would like to pair less but it does no good. I say hey I would like to pair less and the response is always "how can we make pairing better"? No one cares that I actually don't want to pair. I have gone from having panic attacks once every few months…

There's no easy solution to what you are facing.

One thing that might be helpful is for you to go to therapy with your wife. When your brain panics at interacting with other people, your perception of others might be skewed. Maybe your therapists meant well and your anxiety got in the way of you continuing with them. Your wife can help provide you with perspective with any therapist you meet. Just a sanity check after a session can help with judging your own thoughts. Separating what is anxiety and what is your own thoughts. Please try to find another therapist, one you connect with.

Also, check the laws with each therapist you meet with. They have strict privacy laws around those sessions.

Post reply on HN