5 ms·
Might be why I have 10.000 levels of anxiety no matter what I do, even now that I have a good standard of a living in a decent country. I also was confused why
by thiago_fm 8y ago
Might be why I have 10.000 levels of anxiety no matter what I do, even now that I have a good standard of a living in a decent country. I also was confused why they didn't mention "epigenetics".
Going a bit personal, continue at your own patience. I was born in a third-world country of a dad that finished his college at 35, while having a kid, waking up at 5 and sleeping after midnight, that would barely see me, as he had to make meets end for our family. Also it was in a currency inflation period and also my mother couldn't breastfeed me, so they had even more problems. Aaaand I also had a lot of health problems at birth. Shits hard. Not to forget that my uncle died shot in the head, mom died from cancer and 99 other problems.
But to me honest, that made me who I am today. I get much more anxious from my past, rather than some "changes in the company" and #firstworldproblems I have today, this gives me some edge against most of the privileged people I work/live with today. Anxiety isn't bad, it can also be good. It would be great if I could get rid of the one from the past, from the times I ate paper with salt, the struggle I saw from my parents, the times we were unsure of the future... and all the bad memories and images that pop up in my head daily.
My brother for instance was born 12 years after me, when my parents had a house and really lacks the "immediateness" I had all my life and still carry it up to this day. He now can study college but he doesn't even know what he wants to do, meanwhile I remember I was already grabbing life by the balls by the time I was 18. He is much happier though, and I can understand him, not really blaming. It is better that way, I guess. But things only greatly change when under pressure.
Those emotions are there for us, and as long as it doesn't create too many bad side effects, we should accept that they do exist and they are great for us.
- gerbilly 8y agoAnxiety can be an asset for a programming career. A program has way more failure modes than modes where it is working properly. I noticed years ago, that being attuned to danger (anxiety) helps me guard against many potential problems in software that others often miss. But you have to be careful with this approach, it can be like playing with fire. It is very effective, but also can drain you if you over-rely on it.
- kolleykibber 8y agoIt's very true that all the programmers I know who write missing critical code (Ie. who will get blamed when it goes wrong) are all anxious characters. I have personally found that a month or two out a year doing something involving people like hiking or hospitality work definitely lowers the levels.
- edoceo 8y agoI call this asset "Risk Aware" because I don't like how the word Anxiety makes me feel.
- stupidbird 8y agoIf you want to make it sound really cool just call it hyper-vigilance.
- gerbilly 8y agoSure, I call it being "attuned to risk." And, I didn't mention it above, but someone mentioned that anxiety was the least useful response to stress, but I'm not so sure. At the individual level it's difficult to experience the world anxiously, but it benefits the group. Imagine a bunch of monkeys sitting around foraging for food. Some are super chill and don't startle easily, but there will be a few that are anxious and "attuned to danger". Those anxious monkeys will likely be the first to detect danger and alert the rest of the troupe. You could say they are providing a service to the rest of the troupe by offloading the vigilance onto a few individuals.
- mattowen_uk 8y agoI have Generalised Anxiety Disorder, and have suffered several completely debilitating panic attacks[1] during my adult life. I can tell you now, it is NOT an asset, no where close. Without my daily drug regimen, I cannot function normally; the mere thought of anything stressful will completely push me over the edge. What you are calling anxiety is not anxiety, it's merely being hyper-aware, helped along with a small dose of Adrenalin. --- [1] real ones, where you curl up into a ball, shaking, crying and wishing you were dead, whilst simultaneously completely believing you are dying.
- sjg007 8y agoCognitive behavioral therapy really helps with anxiety.
- Qerub 8y agoMeditation and SSRIs too. > Buddha got it exactly right: You need a method for taming the elephant, for changing your mind gradually. Meditation, cognitive therapy, and Prozac are three effective means of doing so. -- Jonathan Haidt, page 43 in The Happiness Hypothesis (recommended!)
- timeseries2018 8y agoYou might have 99 problems, but writing an interesting and insightful Hacker News comment ain't one.
- serioussecurity 8y agoBook rec: The Body Keeps the Score. Bessel van der Kolk has been one of the most important PTSD researchers of the last 40 years, and his work on the embodied aspects of trauma and stress is fantastic.
- thiago_fm 8y agoThanks a lot for your recommendation.
- lbschenkel 8y agoI presume you're from Brazil and lived through the hyperinflation in the 80s-early 90s. I can totally relate, being Brazilian as well and having experienced the same.
- thiago_fm 8y agoYes. It sucked bad time.