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You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

neilthanedar.com

371–380 of 424 posts

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#371
post #328
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s little reason to avoid prescribing medication alongside other approaches. It’s not that meds are the only option or they should be reserved for the most severe cases, it’s people’s reactions are different and there’s no way to tell without trying them. For some people they really do work wonders and you simply don’t know ahead of time. Not everyone has a support structure they can count on as they fall apart.…

> There’s little reason to avoid prescribing medication alongside other approaches. There absolutely are downsides and risks. There is a reason the SSRIs carry a "blackbox" warning for youths due to increased suicide risks. There's a reason they should only be used under supervision of a doctor and need to be tapered off of. That is not to say they aren't useful and necessary for some/many people but they aren't and…

A very specific edge case: If you ever think you might want to become a pilot, even just to fly small airplanes, the FAA still considers ADHD, depression, social anxiety, and other conditions where you are prescribed medication, to be disqualifying. And this is a "have you ever in your life" question on the medical form. So if you're prescribed ADHD medicine, even as a child, I understand that while it's not impossible, you are going to have a major uphill battle if you ever want to fly airplanes.

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you'll find scientific consensus isn't on your side here. The American Heart Association certainly doesn't agree with your assessment

The American Heart Association has a huge investment in a narrative they've been pushing for 40 years.

Randomized controlled trials show LDL consistently drops with lower saturated fat intake, and randomized controlled trials show LDL strongly correlated with coronary risk. It’s one of the best-established causal relationships in nutrition science.

The American Heart Association’s narrative is based in observed clinical relationship between saturated fat intake, LDL, and coronary events.

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#373
post #328
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s little reason to avoid prescribing medication alongside other approaches. It’s not that meds are the only option or they should be reserved for the most severe cases, it’s people’s reactions are different and there’s no way to tell without trying them. For some people they really do work wonders and you simply don’t know ahead of time. Not everyone has a support structure they can count on as they fall apart.…

> There’s little reason to avoid prescribing medication alongside other approaches. There absolutely are downsides and risks. There is a reason the SSRIs carry a "blackbox" warning for youths due to increased suicide risks. There's a reason they should only be used under supervision of a doctor and need to be tapered off of. That is not to say they aren't useful and necessary for some/many people but they aren't and…

[deleted]

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with treatment resistant depression, it is odd people are against medication. Medication is proven safe and effective for treating depression. Therapy and medication should be used immediately in conjunction because 1. therapy is most effective when paired with medication, and 2. depression is a vicious cycle. The longer someone spends depressed, the more likely they will spiral into deeper depression, iso…

Same for me. Its so odd having an illness, and taking medicine against that illness, and mostly reading an "universal truth" that the medication that helps you is bad someway. As you say, therapy but also getting a better sleep hygiene, better nutrition and exercise is so much easier with medicine.

Note what I actually wrote:

> And while I don’t doubt that there are serious physiological conditions that warrant, even necessitate, medicating, my impression is that the first response to “depression” in general shouldn’t be medication.

It’s very well possible that you, and the person you answered to, are solidly part of the “needs medication” fraction. I do not believe that medication against depression is bad in general.

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was hooked by the first few paragraphs but the immediate switch to focus on work was disappointing. The happiest people I know treat work like the necessary evil to be endured to fulfill all other facets of life.

What were you looking to read about in that spot? Work shouldn't be treated as a "necessary evil". Reconciling the work vs. meaning split is hugely important. Even if it means making less money short term, aligning work and purpose through work like politics and writing can make us way happier long-term.

I don't think that's possible for the vast majority of working people.

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, politics seems the opposite to me. It has the morbid fascination of a train wreck. You can't stop it, you know it's going badly, yet you can't look away. Family and building things are much more positive sources of energy to me.

That’s because you’ve become so accustomed to politics as tribalism and sports-like entertainment that you’ve completely forgotten why we even started the political systems we have today in the first place. Divestment of power, not accumulation. Serving others, not ourselves. You can still embody those things. But it’s better to admit to ourselves that we aren’t selfless enough to do that, than hide behind a learned…

I feel that people who are “into politics” as such typically lean in deeper in on the tribalism/‘sports team resembling’ style of engagement.

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#377
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue "buy my book" posts, especially ones posted by the author, shouldn't make the front page of HN. Especially from YC alum. Is this an ad in disguise?

Agreed. The first half of this post is actually interesting, but the second half quickly transforms into an ad. That disappointed me, because I believe the author has something interesting to say.

There is only a sentence worth of interesting in the entire post, and most of that is the quote at the very beginning. The rest is a massive BS cloud. Everything after the word "vacuum" is hogwash.

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#378
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you'll never have kids Which is also OK. It's financially smart to realize you don't have the resources and not have kids. If {some subset of the government, rich people, people who control the economy} want more people to have kids, which is something I keep hearing from that class of people: They need to collectively figure out how to put more money into the pockets of people. Higher salaries, drastic tax cuts, c…

> Which is also OK. It's financially smart to realize you don't have the resources and not have kids. It's sad to see people so deep in the consumerist rat race that giving life is seen as a cell in their life's financial excel sheet. Weirdly enough people who actually don't have money are the one having the most kids. And people who lived pretty much from 300k years ago until the ~1950s had it worse than you yet the…

> giving life is seen as a cell in their life's financial excel sheet

It is, though. My own food, water, housing, heating, hobbies and things that make me happy, are all cells on that sheet as well. The numbers add up now. Money for kids would absolutely obliterate all the other cells on that sheet, and the numbers wouldn't add up.

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#379
post #363
post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> raising kids is not that expensive Huh? In a world where people have zero job security, could get put on some layoff or 15%-per-year PIP quota any time and lose their income at the whim of some politics 5 levels above, and any random health issue could cost hundreds of thousands due to insurance not paying, I'd say as a self-proclaimed financially literate person, that you'd need to save up a couple million in cash…

2 million? how do you even come up with that number? you are proving my point. food, clothes, school materials, a bike. maybe a computer. also a bed and a few square meters of space in your home. everything else is optional. that doesn't cost 100,000 per year. not even 10,000. sure, with less money you have less to offer or your kids. no or only cheap vacations, no expensive toys. no fancy brand name clothes. no expe…

[deleted]

Re: You’re not burnt out, you’re existentially starving

#380
post #363
post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> raising kids is not that expensive Huh? In a world where people have zero job security, could get put on some layoff or 15%-per-year PIP quota any time and lose their income at the whim of some politics 5 levels above, and any random health issue could cost hundreds of thousands due to insurance not paying, I'd say as a self-proclaimed financially literate person, that you'd need to save up a couple million in cash…

2 million? how do you even come up with that number? you are proving my point. food, clothes, school materials, a bike. maybe a computer. also a bed and a few square meters of space in your home. everything else is optional. that doesn't cost 100,000 per year. not even 10,000. sure, with less money you have less to offer or your kids. no or only cheap vacations, no expensive toys. no fancy brand name clothes. no expe…

Life costs a LOT more than you estimate.

Start with housing. A few more square meters costs ~$1000 more on top of what I pay now, per month.

That's $200K in today's dollars or $500-700K over their childhood (0-18 years) if you include inflation, rent increases over the next 20 years.

If you want to sleep 8 hours a day AND work demands 12-15 hours a day, you absolutely need nannies, add $500K for that.

Because today's work environments demand that many hours a day, you evidently don't have time to cook anymore so you need to buy all your food, add $20K/year for that, or $350K.

Costs add up pretty quick.

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