Mental Health Thread

Do you fear death, dying, etc.?

  • Yes

    Votes: 12 23.5%

  • No

    Votes: 20 39.2%

  • Trying my best to not think about it

    Votes: 15 29.4%

  • Never really thought about it and I'm unable to come up with an answer on a spot

    Votes: 4 7.8%
  • Total voters
    51
Perun said:
I had immense problems in Maths at school, far too early and fundamental to be explained by laziness. Yet, I first heard the term "dyscalculia" when I was 32. I'm not saying I have it, but given that Maths and sciences were sometimes very obviously borderlining torture to me and that my Maths teacher once told me in resignation that I completely misunderstood what mathematical values represent, I find it scandalous that I was never even tested for it.
Yes, I was a lazy student, but nobody ever came up with the idea of checking if my lack of motivation came from any sort of intellectual deficiency or asking me why I started crying when I had to do a division problem.
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I knew about my accident and brain damage all my life, but wasn't told about the side effects until I was older as well. Turns out a lot can be explained, from my poor eyesight, my difficulty with math to my "anger issues".

My parents didn't want me to use it as a crutch, so they kept it from me. That's nice I guess, but they didn't help me either. I just grew up thinking I was an idiot.
 
Perun said:
I have, but there's no need for it now. It doesn't impair what I'm doing now.
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I'm surprised you say this considering you like to suggest professional help even to build Legos. You may think there is no need, but it's always helpful to, stealing your line, seeing a doctor.
 
Perun said:
I had immense problems in Maths at school, far too early and fundamental to be explained by laziness. Yet, I first heard the term "dyscalculia" when I was 32. I'm not saying I have it, but given that Maths and sciences were sometimes very obviously borderlining torture to me and that my Maths teacher once told me in resignation that I completely misunderstood what mathematical values represent, I find it scandalous that I was never even tested for it.
Yes, I was a lazy student, but nobody ever came up with the idea of checking if my lack of motivation came from any sort of intellectual deficiency or asking me why I started crying when I had to do a division problem.
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Got analogue watch? Case closed.
:ninja:
 
Onhell said:
I'm surprised you say this considering you like to suggest professional help even to build Legos.
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Wow. I know this is supposed to be a joke, but. Wow.

Onhell said:
You may think there is no need, but it's always helpful to, stealing your line, seeing a doctor.
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As I said, this hasn't impaired me since I graduated from school. It doesn't limit my possibilities in my life the way I want to live it. I'd be curious to have it diagnosed, but since I do not suffer any disadvantages from it, it would not be covered by my healthcare plan.

Magnus said:
Got analogue watch? Case closed.
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Yes, and it actually takes me longer than a normal person to read it.
 
Perun said:
I had immense problems in Maths at school, far too early and fundamental to be explained by laziness. Yet, I first heard the term "dyscalculia" when I was 32. I'm not saying I have it, but given that Maths and sciences were sometimes very obviously borderlining torture to me and that my Maths teacher once told me in resignation that I completely misunderstood what mathematical values represent, I find it scandalous that I was never even tested for it.
Yes, I was a lazy student, but nobody ever came up with the idea of checking if my lack of motivation came from any sort of intellectual deficiency or asking me why I started crying when I had to do a division problem.
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Einstein's maths teacher once called him a "lazy dog". Einstein himself said he couldn't be bothered because the teaching profession made everything boring for him (well, that's a polite version of what he said ...)
 
Perun said:
I have, but there's no need for it now. It doesn't impair what I'm doing now.
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As your friend, I recommend it, simply because you don't know what situation you'll be dealing with in the future where numbers might cause an issue. Without knowing the exact specifics of your difficulties, I can't give an exact example, but numbers tend to pop up all over the place in every job. I use spreadsheets every day. A diagnosis will help you get assistance from a place of employment and prevents them from using it against you as discrimination.
 
I went to electronics tech. high school. I failed main language exam on matura. Therefore I was bound to fail entire high school exit exam. The teacher said the paper was worst p.o.s she seen in a long time. Quoting : but because you scored maximum on all other exams (which included bloody english) it would be stupid for me to throw you. And then she gave me a better than pass grade, so I can finish high school with an overall A (5) mark. That was unexpected.


Fast forward 6 years or so, and I submitted my final college thesis without any official proofreading or editing, all by my own. First I asked can I do it in English, then they said I can but it extends the procedure, read it's a hassle don't do it. So I didn't, I wrote the thing in Croatian and in the end it wasn't that hard.


So Perun and others, maybe you need a problem that's relevant to you IRL, not some generic abstract school stuff, and then the maths or languages become little easier. You introduce stuff to kids in wrong place at a wrong time over wrong examples and you fuck up the main concept in their head and make the subject matter appaling to them.
 
I second LC's advice. Your response highlights two issues in mental health. When people feel fine they don't go, but will go to a physician for yearly check ups (or should at any rate). "I'm fine" or "I'm over it" is not a reason to not go. The other is health insurance. Psych care can be fairly expensive and how are people supposed to take it seriously if their insurance doesn't? How can they, "go see a doctor," if they can't afford it to begin with and their insurance doesn't consider it part of basic Healthcare?

Ive decided to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. Like you, I've learned to overcome my main foe. In my case, depression. When I was 14 I was a bottle of sleeping pills away from killing myself. I didn't. When I was 23 I was so depressed I didn't leave my apartment for 3 months except to work. The fact I had minimal contact with people at work helped. I failed that semester at the university and they almost withdrew my financial aid. Those have been my lowest points. Now I get over it within hours or at most a day. I'm fine.

But depression is not my only issue as much as I can pass for "normal". I decided to go to the university's counseling center. Since I'm a professor it's free. I'm VERY lucky and plan to take full advantage. I went last week and after a 20 minute interview the psicologist said, "we have a lot to work with here." I'm currently on a waiting list to get assigned to a specific therapist, but I'm excited.

I hope you consider it and find something that works both financially and personally.
 
LooseCannon said:
A diagnosis will help you get assistance from a place of employment and prevents them from using it against you as discrimination.
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This is a valid point.
Zare said:
So Perun and others, maybe you need a problem that's relevant to you IRL, not some generic abstract school stuff, and then the maths or languages become little easier. You introduce stuff to kids in wrong place at a wrong time over wrong examples and you fuck up the main concept in their head and make the subject matter appaling to them.
Click to expand...
I can relate to this! In school I couldn't do maths at all, and I left with a CSE grade 3 which is roughly equivalent to a GCSE grade E - one grade above a fail (although even this was apparently a surprise as I wasn't expected to pass at all). I retook it in college the next year (because they made me) and got a D. But when I decided I wanted to do physics at university I knew I'd have to get on top of the maths so I went back to college one evening a week. The lecturer was the same guy who had been there before, and he even remembered me (and my calculator, because I was still using the same one!) But in the intervening 8 years I had had two jobs, one in which I had to run a manual payroll for about 30 employees and the other in which I had to maintain a paper cashbook and count a lot of money. Bottom line is I had simply got used to dealing with figures on a day-to-day basis, and sort of "made friends" with them. Coming back to GSCE maths after that wasn't nearly so intimidating. I breezed it and got a B.

I think I'd just got off the a bad start - my school maths teacher basically terrified me (he was not at all approachable if you didn't understand something) and the lecturer at college was just dull, gave the impression that he just didn't give a toss. But the difference was that when I went back for the third attempt I was no longer relying on him to teach me: I did it all on my own terms :)
 
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While this talks to the difficulty of finding help in the U.S, I'm sure it is similar to other countries:

 
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