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Mental Illness and Startups

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41–50 of 64 posts

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#41

Post by raisenBran »

I would have to agree with much of what the author says. There are many reasons to be an entrepreneur and to work for a startup. One of them is doing what you want when you want as long as you can make a living out of it.

A 9-5 job is to routine for me. Doing basically the same thing day in and day out. I need to get up and be active, and I want to do it when I want to.

I feel like I contribute to society with a 9-5 job, but I don't feel like I make change in society; however, I feel like I make positive change in entrepreneurialism. Even though I am only 19, this doesn't matter in a startup as long as you get things done.

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#42

Post by NathanKP »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #18
MartinCron wrote: post #7

While I don't disagree with this statement: There are people who think that depression means 'feeling low', and that if you try hard enough, you can 'snap out of it'. These people are idiots. It's not a matter of being strong enough or dedicated enough. For me, like most people with depressive illnesses, there will be times when I just plain can't. In my worst states I can barely remember what a for loop does, let al…

Coping mechanisms like that one definitely help -- especially if they get put to use early on in a depressive cycle. A high level of self-awareness, acknowledgement of depression (or other mental illness), certain hobbies, "sunshine therapy", all help to mitigate depression and other mental illnesses. Still, though, there are severe forms of depression that can become invulnerable to all the self-help approaches.

This post really spoke to me because I deal with the same feelings as the article writer, and I too consider programming to be a therapeutic experience. However, it can also be a bit of an escape mechanism, making it a pyrrhic victory.

In code if something is wrong or not working right you know it can be fixed. Sometimes the fix is not easy, and requires lots of work, and research, and testing but after nearly ten years of coding experience I know that if something is wrong I can fix it. There is no problem in code which can't be solved. (Obviously excluding some things like the traveling salesman problem, etc.)

Real life isn't like that, because many factors are out of your control. You can not debug a relationship, or undo a mistake like you can roll back a code update.

At times I find myself retreating to the dependable, stable world of coding, in which changes can be implemented easily and quickly, and where mistakes are easily discovered and corrected. That's isn't necessarily a healthy thing though.

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#43

Post by [deleted] »

mikecane wrote: post #17
JasonMoyMN79 wrote: post #4

If you are depressed, why don't you just go out and do something really awesome? You have nothing to lose, right? So why not do something adventurous? Sell all your shit, move to Europe or South America, and go start a revolution.

That's just not how it works. The simplest thing -- getting out of bed, showering -- seems impossible and just pointless. Everything seems pointless.

[deleted]

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#44

Post by Alex3917 »

tokenadult wrote: post #27
Alex3917 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol makes mental illnesses vastly worse. (As, apparently, do most psychiatric drugs in the long run.)

As, apparently, do most psychiatric drugs in the long run. I have to disagree with this statement and ask you to provide better sources than just the result of some Google search. The evidence gathered with citations to peer-reviewed literature in one of the definitive medical textbooks on the issue, http://www.amazon.com/Manic-Depressive-Illness-Disorders-Rec... strongly suggests that lithium for bipolar mood disord…

For what it's worth, there's actually a lot of super interesting stuff in the book that you wouldn't get from just the reviews. Definitely worth reading.

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#45

Post by endergen »

tokenadult wrote: post #27
Alex3917 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol makes mental illnesses vastly worse. (As, apparently, do most psychiatric drugs in the long run.)

As, apparently, do most psychiatric drugs in the long run. I have to disagree with this statement and ask you to provide better sources than just the result of some Google search. The evidence gathered with citations to peer-reviewed literature in one of the definitive medical textbooks on the issue, http://www.amazon.com/Manic-Depressive-Illness-Disorders-Rec... strongly suggests that lithium for bipolar mood disord…

Self medicated anything is generally bad. That definitely goes for psychedelics.

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#46

Post by mog_man »

JasonMoyMN79 wrote: post #4

If you are depressed, why don't you just go out and do something really awesome? You have nothing to lose, right? So why not do something adventurous? Sell all your shit, move to Europe or South America, and go start a revolution.

"just go out and do something" is the hardest when you are truly depressed. Even when you do, any sense of "awesomeness" fade so so fast.

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#47

Post by india »

MartinCron wrote: post #7

While I don't disagree with this statement: There are people who think that depression means 'feeling low', and that if you try hard enough, you can 'snap out of it'. These people are idiots. It's not a matter of being strong enough or dedicated enough. For me, like most people with depressive illnesses, there will be times when I just plain can't. In my worst states I can barely remember what a for loop does, let al…

Depression is at the end of the day not a single illness. It's like cancer in that. Just like there are all kinds of cancer and what worked for yours might not work for others, so it is with depression. Behavioral activation might have been effective for you and you might have been able to snap out of it, most cases of depression don't have that luxory.

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#48

Post by BasDirks »

I was once depressed. Now I have life by the balls. How? (this is purely anecdotal and should not be taken as advice).

  Take Meds. It's no solution, but it's the beginning of a solution.
  Quit school. 
  Go to the Italian country-side and *become a man*, Italian style (it involved a lot of wine and pasta).
  Work Mike Rowe-style jobs (like learning how to build an entire house in France).
  Refuse to do any more stupid shit (for others) in your life.
  Stop feeling guilty about anything. (Doesn't mean you lose your conscience).
  Do what you love, do what you love, do what you love.

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#49

Post by danenania »

JasonMoyMN79 wrote: post #4

If you are depressed, why don't you just go out and do something really awesome? You have nothing to lose, right? So why not do something adventurous? Sell all your shit, move to Europe or South America, and go start a revolution.

Apparently you are getting downvoted, but I think this is some of the better advice in the thread. Breaking out of a stale routine and establishing new life patterns is a great way to also establish new thought patterns. It won't necessarily cure depression on its own, but it can help a lot.

Re: Mental Illness and Startups

#50

Post by technotony »

BasDirks wrote: post #48

I was once depressed. Now I have life by the balls. How? (this is purely anecdotal and should not be taken as advice). Take Meds. It's no solution, but it's the beginning of a solution. Quit school. Go to the Italian country-side and *become a man*, Italian style (it involved a lot of wine and pasta). Work Mike Rowe-style jobs (like learning how to build an entire house in France). Refuse to do any more stupid shit (…

How do you figure out what you love?
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