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Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

#61

Post by brandall10 »

clubm8 wrote: post #22
brandall10 wrote: post #16

"Everyone I met in this predicament, it was due to severe mental illness (like, schitzophrenia, etc) or a severe substance abuse issue." I understand your situation can be incredibly stressful, but have you been evaluated by a mental health professional? I see quite a few disconnected thoughts here that I'm having trouble making sense of. In addition notions of being persecuted, discarded, etc, esp. linked to taking…

>I understand your situation can be incredibly stressful, but have you been evaluated by a mental health professional? Yes -- part of the issue was here was that the local health care monopoly doesn't really have a vested interest in helping, since the candidate I got elected immediately went through >t might be the case that getting a handle on this, esp. if it comes to a medical intervention, might be a good first…

This is hard to follow, even reading between the lines. People can't see inside your head to understand the context behind these thoughts. Communication like this will scare off future employers and social contacts. More the incoherency than the tone of being depressed or negative (which also aren't great, but this is worse). Caffeine does not cause this.

If you don't address this your situation will not improve. You must acknowledge something is not right with your mental state - that it is cognitive and not a mood disorder - and focus on getting the help you need. Please speak with a social worker if you feel you've gotten insufficient medical care to this point.

I wish you well.

Re: Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

#62

Post by barrysteve »

clubm8 wrote: post #50
drycobbler wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely want to extend help. If your interviewers see that your speech and thoughts are unusual, you won’t get a job. If you get a job, you won’t be able to keep it. If your goal is to get a job and be housed, seeking mental help treatment can help you succeed in that goal.

>If your goal is to get a job and be housed, seeking mental help treatment can help you succeed in that goal. I have spoken to these places prior -- they did not do as they promised, it's why we replaced the myor. I'd prefer to leave Pittsburgh if folks are going to insist I "get treatment" that consists of... listing off traumas to some woman who bills for speaking to me then goes off to spend it on things I never w…

Idk what everyone is saying. What you have written makes sense to me. They appear as if they don't want to be associated with you, something like that could be a little cruel..

I'd go to a Church that fits your beliefs and access their help.

It's worth noting that the culture changed, roughly in 2010ish. Anybody following sequential, ordered, rules, today, is being dragged down by it.

Your work to stop bad behaviour, is relatable to me, but the culture has dumped it.

Nobody said any of this, they just did it and then distanced themselves from everyone else.

Again I find what you're saying relatable, but that won't save you. Don't chase relationships (or social connections), people will choose family, friends and church over randoms, even known randoms.

It's basically the opposite culturally, of the world we grew up in.

You've done well to kick bad habits and stay sober while homeless. The upside is that you don't have anyone to pull you down... keep every last cent you make and get some 'housing' you can keep to yourself, like a car or a motorhome.

Memories will drag you down, into the depths, like an emotional vortex. Better memories can be painful.

Re: Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

#63

Post by barrysteve »

Nextgrid wrote: post #55
clubm8 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If your goal is to get a job and be housed, seeking mental help treatment can help you succeed in that goal. I have spoken to these places prior -- they did not do as they promised, it's why we replaced the myor. I'd prefer to leave Pittsburgh if folks are going to insist I "get treatment" that consists of... listing off traumas to some woman who bills for speaking to me then goes off to spend it on things I never w…

> I have spoken to these places prior -- they did not do as they promised, it's why we replaced the myor. Sounds like you definitely made a name for yourself and even though the underlying morals of your activism might be good this doesn't lessen the impact on your local community so it might be that you are effectively "persona non grata" there? > I'm on the autisti spectrum, I can do an interview. I second what the…

His 'threat' is a desire for empathy and a call to action for intervention.

He can see the breakdown coming, it's self awareness and a fair warning of his feelings (to himself and others).

That's how it used to be.

Re: Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

#64

Post by pcthrowaway »

clubm8 wrote: post #42
Nzen wrote: post #15

I can't speak from personal experience, but Jessica Kent has a video [0] describing how she was able to rebuild her life post-prison. It's not quite the same, but ex-convicts in the US definitely have to work against stigma to eke out a living and shelter. I'll be frank, though, there is definitely a lot of luck. [0] https://youtu.be/4y0EoVooPIg?si=PzXw3DsNa_mp5dpH&t=26 10 min, time is after the preamble.

I have never been convicted of a crime. Maybe I should do crime, then get the sympathy criminals get? I'm not sure I follow your logic.

You seem to be in a somewhat reactionary state right now, so it might help if the parallels are made a bit more clear.

People getting out of prison:

* Have an employment gap in their work history

* Are overcoming stigma that makes it difficult for them to get most kinds of jobs

* Have to overcome the catch-22 of trying to find a decent place to sleep while also trying to find money to afford such a place

* Don't generally have a ton of connections for entering the non-criminal workforce

* Often don't have property or other assets coming out of prison

While you don't have a criminal record, and therefore may have to overcome different types of stigma, it sounds like you share all of these. It does sound like you have a place to stay at the moment, and some assets (a laptop?), so in some ways you may be even be able to skip a step or two of the advice that might be in that video.

Re: Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

#65

Post by strangesmells02 »

clubm8 wrote: post #38
strangesmells02 wrote: post #18

> I'm currently in a hotel that lacks basic anemities like a functioning shower, paid monthly by family How does a hotel not have a shower? You sound depressed and you need to get numb and stoic and practical and focus on survival. Be grateful for minor successes and when people help you but dont indulge in all these negative emotions your expressing in your post...they are delusional. All that matters to you right n…

>How does a hotel not have a shower? The staff keep refusing to clean, and it lacks the safety bar and a few ther things. >You need food. Look around for soup kitchens, food banks, church food lines, apply for food stamps. The last time I tried to use those systems, they had IT errors... IT errors I could have solved, but people kept insisting I was mentally ill... because I had no job. Can you see how this becomes c…

Are you prescibed any medications from doctors in the past?

Either youre trolling or you have some delusional thinking which is a symptom of schizophrenia of some other form of thought disorder.

Re: Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

#68

Post by anakaine »

sshine wrote: post #21
brandall10 wrote: post #16

"Everyone I met in this predicament, it was due to severe mental illness (like, schitzophrenia, etc) or a severe substance abuse issue." I understand your situation can be incredibly stressful, but have you been evaluated by a mental health professional? I see quite a few disconnected thoughts here that I'm having trouble making sense of. In addition notions of being persecuted, discarded, etc, esp. linked to taking…

> if you're doing anything w/ THC I would stop that immediately I would say the same. I don’t get any schizo vibe, though. Only a great deal of feeling victimised. >> am I just a signal in the noise to be discarded when I'm no longer useful? […] Why won't anyone help me? It sounds like you feel abandoned by your family and that this keeps you in such a distressed state that it prevents you from operating. It may be t…

I'm also going to support this.

As a regular interviewer, signs of instability are a pretty big flag when I'm looking to address team fit, culture, and overall cohesion. Certain bits of activism can be looked past, but if it's a piece of core identity I'm going to shy away. Talk of having others fired and prosecuted, similarly. I don't want the drama of having to deal with someone with mental health issues, low self esteem, a victim mentality, and a history of making complaints. For me, that's a risk, even if your history in this space was all justified. Lock that stuff up and do not mention it.

The victim mentality may or may not be swaying your language, so make sure you start to address those thoughts and work through them. Begin with recognising your thoughts of the past and wrongdoing, and say to yourself that the past is the past, I'm going to move on, then turn your thoughts to the future. Plan for a better you. These things are hard and require constant thought.

Your words and post scare me as an employer who has had to turn culture around, and who has more than once built a workplace that people seem to be quite happy with. As others have said, get some medical help, skip the soft drugs too, and work on your mental state. Ask for feedback after interviews, and listen to what is being said and the undertones of what isn't being said. Use it to better your approach next time.

Re: Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

#69

Post by [deleted] »

clubm8 wrote: post #36
drycobbler wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Call the mental health crisis line, please. You don’t need to stop cannabis because it’s bad or you are bad. Stopping cannabis will help you achieve your goal of a stable living situation with stable employment. Please try it.

I'm not on cannabis? I feel like you're telling me to not use things that help. (I regret not keeping the alaprazolam script, but... when you take that drug, you're set up for twice the anxiety when it wears off) I'm angry and frustrated I'm economically precarious, and have folks like you say "call a crisis line" when I tried that prior -- I was forced to rely on my (abusive) family for support. Do you want to exten…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How did you escape homelessness?

#70

Post by anakaine »

barrysteve wrote: post #62
clubm8 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If your goal is to get a job and be housed, seeking mental help treatment can help you succeed in that goal. I have spoken to these places prior -- they did not do as they promised, it's why we replaced the myor. I'd prefer to leave Pittsburgh if folks are going to insist I "get treatment" that consists of... listing off traumas to some woman who bills for speaking to me then goes off to spend it on things I never w…

Idk what everyone is saying. What you have written makes sense to me. They appear as if they don't want to be associated with you, something like that could be a little cruel.. I'd go to a Church that fits your beliefs and access their help. It's worth noting that the culture changed, roughly in 2010ish. Anybody following sequential, ordered, rules, today, is being dragged down by it. Your work to stop bad behaviour,…

Whilst there is certainly value in some churches assistance programs, religion by and large is not set up to actually help people with mental illness, isolation, or self esteem issues. Whilst it's true they can provide some services, there are few actually qualified counsellors, rarely any referrals to agenda free assistance bodies, and certainly no trace of medical help. They give with one hand, and indoctrinate with the other, often perpetuating a different style of dependence. Be wary of this - it can be very hard to put these worms back in the can. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and one must be careful when vulnerable.
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