Dealing with depression and anxiety

[LittleJerry92]

Well, I actually tried writing down thoughts that are bugging me onto paper before I call it a night..... And it really helps to an extent. I don't even sugar coat my thoughts. I literally just empty out my bad toilet mouth on those slips of paper.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm sorry, but if it's one thing that site has proven, it's how ****ing sheltered this country has become, and I blame this entirely on Obama.

How do you even figure it's Obama's fault? Then again, how do you figure he's somehow made everybody in the country sheltered? I don't see your logic.

If anything, I think social media has played a bigger factor in it than anybody or anything else - I think fuzzygobo said it in another thread that social media has pretty much desensitized people to actual personal interactions with real people in real time; nobody knows how to communicate anymore unless it's through some sort of a screen that can protect them and give them anonymity.

 

[cjd874]

If anything, I think social media has played a bigger factor in it than anybody or anything else - I think fuzzygobo said it in another thread that social media has pretty much desensitized people to actual personal interactions with real people in real time; nobody knows how to communicate anymore unless it's through some sort of a screen that can protect them and give them anonymity.

I agree 100 percent, but at the same time I find it ruefully ironic that we're talking about this particular topic on an online forum. Just saying.

Social media was a big factor in my temporary depression during college. Eventually I got help and made it a point to find friends I could trust online AND offline. I've been trying to have more real-time, face-to-face interactions at a coffee shop or the movies. I met up with a high school friend recently for lunch, and we chatted for nearly four hours about our lives, families, politics, music, and art.

While social media has many benefits, it has plenty of downsides. Look at how many people are talking about "Facebook envy" and "FOMO" these days! That's what social media tends to do. How do we stop it? We can't eliminate it completely, but we can meet up with real people and do fun things together. That's a big start.

 

[LittleJerry92]

How do you even figure it's Obama's fault? Then again, how do you figure he's somehow made everybody in the country sheltered? I don't see your logic.

If anything, I think social media has played a bigger factor in it than anybody or anything else - I think fuzzygobo said it in another thread that social media has pretty much desensitized people to actual personal interactions with real people in real time; nobody knows how to communicate anymore unless it's through some sort of a screen that can protect them and give them anonymity.

You know, I was looking at this comment the day after I posted it and did think I was a bit biased when I said that.

At the time though, I just felt Obama was the reason why so many people nowadays are just so overly sensitive to everything and are just like "I'm offended by this, I'm offended by that! That means I'm right and you're wrong!" Because I've honestly felt like ever since he came in, people just don't know when to shut up about what first world problems bother them.

To an extent though I will say he does have SOME partial issue when it comes to people in general getting so overly dramatic about being for or against gay marriage or being for or against gender neutral bathrooms (the former I'm fine with, the latter I'm not for reasons).

I will at least give him props for finding Bin Laden, health Care and allowing gays to be married. I won't say I'm happy about the gender neutral bathrooms but that's another story.

For awhile I also felt like he was the reason there's so much hate over race and so many riots, but you know, looking at it now, I think it's just people being stupid.

But, yeah, just one of those days where I've just had enough with everything and I don't think about what I say (and like I said above, I'm just right now trying to write down my thoughts on paper just to clear my head).

 

[fuzzygobo]

I think part of the blame of technology is from being thrown on people so fast, people don't have time to get acclimated to it. Technology evolving faster than people can absorb it. It wasn't that long ago when Windows 95 was state-of-the-art, or this wonderful new thing called DIAL-UP, which in about a half hour can transport you to the World Wide Web!
This thirst for the latest app you can put on your phone (and probably never use) comes at a price. It is sad when when you see a family out for dinner, and Mommy, Daddy, Jason and Jennifer are all on their own devices in their own self-absorbed little cocoons. I'm sure the inventors at Verizon and Samsung never intended for this to take place.

And technology can bring out the worst in people. Cyberbullies feel empowered because they have this anonymous cloak, so they could lash out without fear of retaliation or consequences.
One such troll lurked on here for the longest time. Finally he got banned. Stopped polluting here, but simply found other sites to spread his poison.

It's also a paradox how technology promises unlimited freedom. Yes you can access stuff you've never seen before. But at the cost that if you can't get online, or if you lose or break your device, people go through severe withdrawals.
Is this freedom, when technology holds you as a slave? When it makes you so dependent on it you can't function without it?
In some ways it's so addicting, and that is a a dangerous thing.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Actually, my brother in law shed some light on how texting got to be such a big deal. (My brother in law graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology, so he has seen the full evolution of this stuff).

Texting was introduced and promoted by the phone companies, because it only took up 1/15 of the bandwidth a phone call would take. And the phone companies made a higher profit margin on texts. So text wasn't some random accident. The powers that be knew exactly what they were doing.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Honestly, people just need to use their common sense when it comes to social media. Like, if I'm driving, I refuse to pick up the phone. Or if I'm in class or work, I usually put my phone on silent. End of the day, I just don't want to make myself a slave to technology.

 

[D'Snowth]

My phone driving policy has always been this: if you call me while I'm behind the wheel, I will not answer, I will return the call once I'm parked somewhere. In emergency cases (if someone continues to call me repeatedly), then I'll pull over somewhere to answer the call, otherwise, it can wait.

If I'm at a red light and I get a call, I'll answer but ask them to be brief and to the point if they can.

Otherwise, cellphones were banned from schools altogether back in my day. School security would routinely do metal detections and surprise locker inspections just to make sure nobody was sneaking them (or other electronic devices like CD players and such) into school.

 

[LittleJerry92]

My phone driving policy has always been this: if you call me while I'm behind the wheel, I will not answer, I will return the call once I'm parked somewhere. In emergency cases (if someone continues to call me repeatedly), then I'll pull over somewhere to answer the call, otherwise, it can wait.

If I'm at a red light and I get a call, I'll answer but ask them to be brief and to the point if they can.

Otherwise, cellphones were banned from schools altogether back in my day. School security would routinely do metal detections and surprise locker inspections just to make sure nobody was sneaking them (or other electronic devices like CD players and such) into school.

Reminds me of a time when an old friend of mine named Andrew in college (before he sadly ended up bailing after only being in my program for 3 quarters, but he did seem to be getting tired of the school) had a math class with an instructor that would have you give her your phones and not allow hats.
I get that cell phones are a distraction, and I am guilty of looking at my phone in classes I can not stand, but even then, a simple "put the phone away or leave my class" would be a simple answer. Cause at the end of the day it is college, not high school.

Not to mention, not being allowed to wear hats? Come on now....

 

[D'Snowth]

Not to mention, not being allowed to wear hats? Come on now....

Hats were never allowed when I was in school. There were only two exceptions to that rule: medical or religious.