don’t. be angry. show your anger. let it out in productive, constructive ways to support those who can’t

well maybe, but Saint Nicholas, who Santa is (loosely) based on, is real (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas)

Because we have to acknowledge the systemic privilege of white people. I’m so very white. I have my problems and my concerns, but none of them are for my looks. Black people do not have that luxury.

Yeah it’s not about that. It’s about culture, history, systemic racism, discrimination, found family, community…

This “I don’t see colour” argument is an old blind argument that ignores all of the above.

I never said that. You know that your comment is in bad faith. If you don’t tell people your old name then they cannot have any comments about it

dude, calm down. maybe it’s you? I changed my name while staying in the same job. 400 people had to learn my new name. i work in a school, so i told all the kids and the teachers. i go to a dance party every week, i’ve known the people there for years. one day i was like “hey this is my name now”. i didn’t cut ties with a single person and nobody has ever attacked me. maybe you’re just a terrible person?

As a guy who just changed his name: this last sentence just is unnecessary.

There’s more than one. I saw one of them lately, she’s doing good. We talked and hugged. That felt good, a little closure.

Mostly I don’t know since I am so bad with people and they stay the fuck away from me which, good for them.

There’s some I really grieve for. The things I couldn’t do. The things I was too bad at.

I hope all of them are better than I am.

Holy shit today was the worst day for me, too. I constantly changed rooms forgetting why I went there. All the time.

Well there’s hope that it incentivices the American people to revolt or revolution. So…yay?

Just take the T

Yeah as the others have written, the withdrawal off venlafaxin is rough. If I could change one thing in my life it would be to taper it off for half a year or more. I took it out too quickly I think and dealt with the symptoms of withdrawal for months.

Bupropion for me was the first antidepressants that seemed to really work while still making me feel human. Lots of bad stuff didn’t happen. Now I’m slowly getting rid of it. It’s gonna take me months this time… Good luck with it. Everyone’s experience is gonna be different.

I know your point. Access to professional help is a privilege that few have.

I think next best thing is socialising. There’s probably groups in your area (see social media for that, meetup, Facebook, forums) that meet up and talk. I highly recommend in-person meetings. Also I tried giving my body some help with food. Carbs give you some serotonin.

Damn that’s a strong text. Thank you for that. That really moved me

The more I aged, the more “hopes and dreams” I gave up on. I guess that’s the normal human experience. You might want to be a pro in sports or a dancer or a famous doctor…but then you grow out of the age where reaching those is possible (dancing goes first…).

Other than that, I’ve given up on so many hopes, only to then later get back to them. Like the hope of connecting to people, or to make art, to teach,…those and more are things I gave up on and later readopted.

So give up hope, but it might just come back :)

Thank you. Those are some actionable tips for me.

This really stuck in my head today and I’m still processing your message. Thank you so much for taking the time to write it, it means a lot.

Hey that means a lot. Oceans and landmasses are in the way, but I appreciate you.

So the number. Out of 50, 30 are just my colleagues. I didn’t all invite them individually, a few I did, but mostly I gave a group invite. It’s quite usual for the colleagues to hang out together, go to stuff together. So that leaves 20 people I invited by hand.

Thanks. Those are good points. I’m 40. I’ve been to therapy. And it’s not like I can just go, there’s no spots, no therapists, no waiting lists. I have a social therapist who’s okay, I guess. I’m on bupropion, but after about 2,5-3 years, I finally want to get off it. I hate being on antidepressants so long, I’ve had bad experiences with taking them too long.

The hard thing about learning these mental patterns and tools as a person with ADD seems to me, like I have to learn them again and again and again…

I’ve been diagnosed about 2-3 years ago only…

I’m glad it worked out for you so far. Good luck out there

Thanks for the insights. I don’t think I can say I had fun or similar, when I didn’t. I had anxiety the whole night and felt incredibly awkward and ashamed.