Mental Wealth • Hacker News Board

Re: Mental Wealth

#81

Post by bergstromm466 » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:28 PM UTC

skrebbel wrote: post #78

onion2k wrote: post #33

I find articles like this one where 100% of the onus for coping with mental health problems is put on the individual quite annoying. There's nothing in the article about getting help from other people, or how to cope with problems that you can't fix easily. It's kind of a toxic attitude because it makes others believe people with mental health issues just aren't trying hard enough and completely ignores individual ci…

> If fixing your mental health was simple But the article isn't about fixing your mental health, it's about investing in it. Your comment is like getting angry that a blog post that goes "take care of yourself, eat fruit every day!" is "putting 100% of the onus for dealing with obesity on the individual".

Your comment is just you being a word nazi. The words 'investing' and 'fixing' are similar enough for it to not be an issue. Are you trying to impose your definitions of these words on others?

Re: Mental Wealth

#82

Post by austincheney » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:29 PM UTC

noelwelsh wrote: post #76

austincheney wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Politicians think that riots are the problem and if they stop the riots with force the problem goes away. But riots are just a symptom of a sick system. No the system and other systemic or social problems are just a excuse. Riots, at least those in recent events are an example of contagious social behavior. That is evidenced by the fact that the blamed issues have been known problems for longer than two weeks with…

Trying to find a single explanation for the motivations of a large group of people will lead to overly simplistic explanations. In the case of the protests I expect people are turning out for at least a few different reasons: * this is an issue they are concerned about, and now there seems to be sufficient attention on it to actually cause change; * this is an issue they are concerned about, and they have nothing els…

I hear what you are saying but it seems insufficient. You are suppling a carefully considered highly cognitive set of decisions as answers to qualify non-cognitive group convergence. For example anger/dissent and group convergence are completely orthogonal. This is probably a form of conservatism, which is logical considerations as evidence to qualify behaviors after the fact.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism_(belief_revisio...

Re: Mental Wealth

#83

Post by jgilias » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:34 PM UTC

Quite a nice article.

However, I'd absolutely change the order of things to pay attention to. The first one of the mentioned ones should be 'Stress Management'.

If you get this one right, you'll have better sleep, more time (and willingness) for exercise, as well as less of a need for any substances to get you through the day.

Also, he doesn't mention metacognition at all. Paying attention to one own's thought processes is a big part of staying sane in the long term.

Re: Mental Wealth

#84

Post by CrazyStat » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:35 PM UTC

CaptArmchair wrote: post #66

austincheney wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually the article right at the beginning asks the reader not to equivocate mental health with mental illness and heath, or rather wholistic well-being, is actually almost entirely the proactive responsibility of the individual. The basic starting point is fitness which applies to mental health conditioning just as it does to physical exercise. To be fair to your point though the article does say we should shift ou…

I'm always wary of anyone leveraging concepts such as "investing in mental wealth" or "focussing on self improvement" in order to pander 5 bullet methodologies. Even more so when the author interjects a plug, both shameless as well as irrelevant, for their own book - Beyond Coffee - in their argument. The fallacy hidden in the article is that each of us is completely in control over our physical and mental well-being…

> The fallacy hidden in the article is that each of us is completely in control over our physical and mental well-being. That your well being isn't an inevitability but a choice. If it's a choice, then this implies that making the right choices is 100% your own responsibility.

This is nonsense. The author makes no such argument, you're just projecting it onto him.

"Here are some things you can do to proactively manage your mental health, rather than ignoring it until you have a crisis" is in no way putting 100% of the responsibility on the individual.

Re: Mental Wealth

#85

Post by bonoboTP » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:43 PM UTC

I think there are some more

- fresh air and sunlight (high CO2 indoors is detrimental to cognition and sun is needed for the circadian rythm and vitamin D and other stuff)

- social contact (appropriate to personality), so friends, family and romantic relationships to the extent and intensity that one's personality needs them

- career success and stable finances: makes one feel useful and takes away a lot of stress and frees up mental energy to think about all the other things mentioned in the article

- winding down sometimes, unplugging from phones, TV etc. One way is meditation, but can also be just sitting with a cup of tea thinking about nothing particular

- learning and trying new things, new foods, new languages, new books or genres

- challenging oneself and overcoming discomfort, physically such as cold showers, or mentally such as public speaking or whatever seems scary/hard

I think the overall idea is a scaffolding of routine and stable structure in life punctuated with deliberate, planned and conscious reaches out of the comfort zone. Like yeah waking up every day is great and much better than a whacky schedule. What's probably even better is having exceptions and whacking up your sleep for one or two weeks per year for a festival or a hike or a few days of intense creative work.

The point is to return to the default every time, but religiously sticking to a rigid routine where you cancel and refuse anything that may conflict with it is only to be recommended to people with really low change tolerance like certain autists. Even they should play with their own limits even if those limits are at a different place.

Re: Mental Wealth

#86

Post by AlexanderZ » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:45 PM UTC

bondarchuk wrote: post #65

AlexanderZ wrote: post #49

I've been working on an app that allows me to send messages to my past and future selves, as well as posting today's thoughts (for reading by my future self). I had initially created it over a weekend as a fun side project, but it turned out to be a great tool for self reflection. An ios beta is coming out next week, fill out this form if you'd like to try it out: https://forms.gle/C9KebsV2u64Wqvc56

How do you manage to send messages to your past selves?

Every day of your life gets its own page so you can post a comment there.

Usually people write to their past selves regarding some regrets in order to ease the pain. Simply putting your thoughts out of the mind and onto the screen helps. And treating your past self as another person helps, too.

Also people write to their future selves to encourage/overcome the fear of the unknown.

Re: Mental Wealth

#87

Post by CrazyStat » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:48 PM UTC

CrazyStat wrote: post #84

CaptArmchair wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm always wary of anyone leveraging concepts such as "investing in mental wealth" or "focussing on self improvement" in order to pander 5 bullet methodologies. Even more so when the author interjects a plug, both shameless as well as irrelevant, for their own book - Beyond Coffee - in their argument. The fallacy hidden in the article is that each of us is completely in control over our physical and mental well-being…

> The fallacy hidden in the article is that each of us is completely in control over our physical and mental well-being. That your well being isn't an inevitability but a choice. If it's a choice, then this implies that making the right choices is 100% your own responsibility. This is nonsense. The author makes no such argument, you're just projecting it onto him. "Here are some things you can do to proactively manag…

I was in an accident many years ago that split my chin and chipped or cracked about a dozen of my teeth, resulting in over $10k of dental work since. But when my dentist advises me to proactively manage my dental health by brushing and flossing daily I don't accuse her of fallaciously implying that I am in complete control of my dental wellbeing.

Re: Mental Wealth

#88

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:50 PM UTC

cousin_it wrote: post #72

jordwest wrote: post #3

In this article the author covers a few areas to consider in managing mental health: Sleep, Diet, Exercise, Stress Management, Exogenous Compounds (from coffee to melatonin to Prozac, and anything in between) These are certainly important factors, and I think we need to look much more broadly at underlying factors than just these (or just drugs). I've been reading about mental health issues for years with my own ups…

> In the book he describes the ways modern life has disconnected us from a lot of what humans find meaningful, and given that it's not surprising that rates of depression and anxiety have skyrocketed. Yeah. See Yvain's excellent review of "Empire of the Summer Moon": All of the white people who joined Indian tribes loved it and refused to go back to white civilization. All the Indians who joined white civilization ha…

[deleted]

Re: Mental Wealth

#89

Post by TuringNYC » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:53 PM UTC

agent008t wrote: post #9

jordwest wrote: post #3

In this article the author covers a few areas to consider in managing mental health: Sleep, Diet, Exercise, Stress Management, Exogenous Compounds (from coffee to melatonin to Prozac, and anything in between) These are certainly important factors, and I think we need to look much more broadly at underlying factors than just these (or just drugs). I've been reading about mental health issues for years with my own ups…

Could you please give some examples of the changes you have made?

I'm not the OP, but I made many changes I'd love to share. They have been very simple -- trade off salary for time. And trade that time for health.

I took a somewhat lower salary so I can have a lower commute. My commute currently is 5min drive (never), 20min metro, 60min walk, or 15min leisurely cycling. I usually choose the walk or bike, unless it is raining. I have not driven even once to work in 2.5yrs.

Similarly, i "traded" money for beauty -- an apartment on the bike trail. I'm paying about $150/mo more but my daily commute is now 95% through the forest on a bike trail. The commute has almost no traffic. I either think, listen to audiobooks, or catch up with my mom on the phone during commutes. Sometimes I try to just relax with the goal of Shinrin-yoku https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_therapy

I realize this isnt possible for everyone. It may not even be possible for me long-term -- how often do you get an office and apartment along a wooded bike trail? In my case, I did take a hit on level/salary to achieve this (temporarily?) I was previously a startup CTO and usually get headhunter messages for CTO jobs (20-30 person companies) and FAANG jobs, etc. I generally cant explain it but I'm just taking a breather for myself. I still work hard now, but my daily time on the trails are sacrosanct.

It seems like another world given previous jobs (trading floor in NYC, management consultant with global travel, startup CTO with overseas sales/operations.) But I'm so happy I tried this out and continue to keep with it, despite the many seemingly better opportunities out there.

The sad thing is these geographical situations are not usually available with the types of jobs i'd like, or I'd try to have both! Before, I could have done the same thing, say, at Central Park or Hyde Park -- but -- lets be honest and ask whether it happens or not? It rarely did for me outside weekends. Now, I "force" myself to do this twice a day.

Re: Mental Wealth

#90

Post by missingrib » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 1:57 PM UTC

Cro_on wrote: post #55

jordwest wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm working on pretty much all of the suggestions from the book so I'd highly recommend giving it a read if you can. Some big ones are moving closer to nature, spending more time with a close group of friends (at least pre-lockdown), looking back into my past for things I'd avoided thinking or talking about. Also meditation was for me a pretty good mood improver, but it's more recently helped me uncover some painful…

>looking back into my past for things I'd avoided thinking or talking about For a long time I had many small and (apparently) inconsequential triggers which brought up past anxieties, or memories of the awkward and the nervous. Previously, I would remember such event and feel a brief stab of shame, etc. and then throw the memory back into the recesses of the mind to come back again whenever it felt like tormenting me…

I find this to be a very frequent occurrence for me. What exactly did you do with those thoughts that made you feel better? Oftentimes I find that even if I face the thoughts head on it just leads to more shame.