4 ms·
I used to read articles like this and feel like it gave me some excuse for feeling terrible myself. But then I realized that, nah, I have to just take responsib
by tw1010 8y ago
I used to read articles like this and feel like it gave me some excuse for feeling terrible myself. But then I realized that, nah, I have to just take responsibility for this on my own. Exersize and good (carb limited) diet and a good amount of sleep (and all the necessary vitamins), that was the key to me (not thinking my way out of it). (As well as avoiding toxic people and spending most of my evenings reading[1]. I rarely code on my spare time. That comes with career tradeoffs, but I'm ok with making them.) Sure it sucks that it's widespread, and maybe it aught to have been a call to action for me to fix the situation on a larger scale (create a company to tackle mental health), but those thoughts can prematurely add burden on you while you could've much more quickly solved the problem by simply ignoring all the world and its mental health problems and focus on improving your own life.
[1] If you feel like "books are boring" then that's a sign you're not following your bliss. Put down that boring book. There are plenty to go around. You'll read at most maybe 1000 books in your life, and there are without a doubt a thousand books that all make you feel like you can't put it down. If the book you're reading isn't that, eject as soon as possible (before you've sunk even more cost into it) and go out searching for one you think will tickle the interest nodules in your brain to an ecstatic degree.
- projektir 8y agoI think you got it backwards. It's good that this worked for you, but this kind of thinking leads to a race to the bottom where the original cause is continually increased until individuals who can get out of it basically cease to exist. What's important is not whether some individuals can pull out. What's important is the overall effect.
- tw1010 8y agoI totally agree that it's a systemic problem and that society shouldn't ignore it. I'm not trying to shift blame from institution to individuals, it's just that I myself have noticed that thinking too much about how this was a problem in the bigger picture put unnecessary friction in a project that was already challenging enough (going from an unhealthy state to a healthy state). Just because I'm talking about this in public doesn't mean this is how I think the public think about it. Imagine my original comment as advice given in a dimly lit intimate one-on-one conversation, not something I'm shouting from a stage. I want institutions and policymakers to think of it as a systemic problem, but I want individuals to know that the most efficient strategy for they themselves is to ignore all the worlds ills and focus on using their limited energy in a way that is least likely to fail.