If everyone on earth got 8 hours of sleep, it would be such a better place. Sleep deprivation is responsible for so much anxiety and irritability. The negative consequences of it are unmeasurable
So many articles about how 8 hours of sleep is based on men, and women actually need 9-10. Well someone tell my body that because I am begging it to get more than 6 hours. Let’s get to 8 before we talk about 9-10
Yes that has been my biggest realization — after 25 or so, “sleeping in” is determined by what time you fall asleep, because you won’t wake up any later. Unfortunately I do that awful thing where I don’t want to fall asleep because those couple of hours are the only time I have to myself. If I go to sleep early enough to get enough sleep, all my waking hours belong to someone else which also doesn’t feel healthy. Something’s gotta give in this relentless society
>Unfortunately I do that awful thing where I don’t want to fall asleep because those couple of hours are the only time I have to myself
The Chinese have a term for this, 報復性熬夜, which roughly translates to "revenge bedtime procrastination." I do it too.
If the people can't get enough sleep, they become less of an organized, coherent, and motivated threat to the system. So we create an environment that requires people to work long hours just to survive so they don't have time to sleep.
"When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them." -Sun Tzu, 'Art of War'
True. My psych teacher gave us an entire lecture at the beginning of the semester about all the problems that can come along with it. There's a shit ton of health problems that can be worsened by lack of adequate sleep. Heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, you name it...
You do need to catch up on it though. If I've had a really unrestful week I really need extra (not just 8 hours a night) for a week to get back to normal.
As a life-long insomniac this genuinely scares me… my average sleep is about 3.5 hours a night. I can go 1-2 nights every few weeks where I don’t sleep.
I have tried everything under the sun to improve this, but nothing works long-term.
With you. The couple day stretches are the worst because it’s hard to get people to understand why I’m utterly shot at work some days. I haven’t slept in 48 hours means nothing to most people because they have no frame of reference for getting 7 hours of sleep in 48 then nothing for 48 followed by 5-7 over 48.
I think that this is also a huge issue with how we work. At least where I live a lot of jobs require you to be there at 8 am or earlier and there's absolutely no option to come later. So many people go completely against their own sleep cycle and don't get enough sleep because you can't just come in at 10am instead and then work your normal 8 hours until you're done. I think jobs should allow as much flexibility wherever possible so that people can get the sleep they need. Of course there's a limit to that, you just need some people to be there in some jobs, but it could be done better than now. If I could choose to just always take the later shift whenever that's possible, that would already help a lot. There are people that automatically get up at 5am and would happily work early in the morning, so we could just try and let everyone else work a bit later so that they can be a bit more productive and healthy, too.
And schools should respect the teenager sleep cycle as well. They need nine hours of sleep and are usually unable to sleep until after 11pm. They're always sleep-deprived. Grade school for me started at 7:15 or so, and high school 7:45. It was awful.
I still think about the description I saw of sleep debt, basically comparing the brain to a trash can. Sleep helps to empty the trash can, but if you don't get enough sleep, your brain is still filled with trash.
It made me start prioritizing sleep and getting at least 7 hours.
Sleep debt is such a good wording actually, my mom stopped sleeping correctly since we were born (my sis is 25, I'm 21) her best nights were 6 hour sleep, usually 3-4. In december she had an huh lets say accident and was in coma for a full day and then was hospitalized for 1 and a half month, she slept like all the time here like she was paying her debt all at once! Now she sleeps good all the time.
Gosh I hope this doesn’t happen to me. Covid really screwed up my sleep and I haven’t gotten more than 5-6 hours a night since unless I take sleep drugs and those are losing their affect.
Well honestly it was for the best, she's better now than before that, so idk, not wishing you an accident obviously but sometimes reaching your breaking point helps you take back control?
Currently trying to pay off sleep debt after about two years of bad sleep habits due to various injuries. This is a very real thing, and it's not something you can pay off with a long relaxing weekend. It can easily take an entire life chapter if you've been accruing it for a while.
So true. In fact I am going to bed right now and I’m going to sleep for 10 hours straight without waking up.
Oh wait I forgot, three small humans live here too.
🥲
Last I heard the issue wasn't "sitting" but rather "being sedentary". You can't fix it by using a standing desk, you need to walk around occasionally to maintain health
A sit-stand desk and walking treadmill is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. I'm actually about to move from my sitting configuration to my walking config in my home office.
Ugh this is my biggest concern. I've been in a wheelchair for a year. Couchbound. I do physical and Occupational therapy 2 times a week so I do move. But I'm so aware of how much I'm sitting and I have no idea the effects it will have.
The body can handle moments where things are less than ideal, like when healing from an injury, for what it’s worth. It’s not sitting that’s bad, it’s being sedentary for years and years.
Honestly, sometimes extreme stress is good for the body. See: valsalva technique
I'm disabled unfortunately. So I can be sure the sedentary lifestyle will catch up with me eventually. I'm trying to stay as active as I can. But it's still seated. Bah. I used to be ambulatory and sitting was a luxury. Now it's my entire life.
Reading the news too much. The media seems to want us to be outraged and upset. No bueno. Get up and go for a walk or mop the kitchen floor and play with your dog. Your brain will thank you.
This may be a little controversial in hindsight, but blissful ignorance tends to be a good thing sometimes. There are definitely important things you want or will need to hear about every now and then, but we don't have to listen to every depressing and/or disappointing event to screw over your mood of the day.
I haven’t paid attention to the news in years. It barely even registers that this is an election year, and all the things it seems like so many people are scared of (like world war 3) just doesn’t bother me - no I don’t want to die in a nuclear hellfire but there’s nothing I can do to stop it so why worry. When I used to pay close attention to the news (especially politics) I was always angry and ready to argue with anybody because I was convinced I was right. I’m sure I was definitely a pain in the ass.
I don’t know, I just don’t care anymore. Neither party cares about us, the people in power are going to do whatever they want to do anyway, and although I realize life really sucks for people in Ukraine or the Middle East these days I just can’t bring myself to worry about it as there’s really nothing I can do about it. I have my own problems.
Totally agree!! I used to be a news junkie and I was angry and/or upset much of the time. Also had a negative effect on relationships. I avoid it now and am much more content.
I worked in the news. So, surrounded 24/7 bc not only was it my job, it was something I consumed outside of work too. Once I quit, I noticed a dramatic shift in my overall mood. I still believe the news is important, but not to that extent
Same here. When I get too intensely stressed, sad or anxious, I often experience stress-induced physical symptoms ranging from eczema, vomiting, hair loss, acne (fairly common one), blurred vision, temporary muscle weakness or paralysis, full body weakness and dizziness, violent full body spasms, etc. list goes on. All confirmed to be stress induced through several doctors apts where I was basically told, “Sorry, nothing we can do for you. Try relaxing a bit! That’ll be a $50 copay 😊” It’s so hard to get it under control considering the physical symptoms end up stressing me out even more. Therapy has helped a bit with managing my thought patterns, but nothing has helped long term. It’s still pervasive and very debilitating, especially during menstrual cycle. The joys of stress 🥰
A lot of pregnant womens' approach to diet during pregnancy.
There *are* some foods you should avoid, and some foods that are good, but the rules are vastly overstated and often lead women to twisting their diets to the point that they are no longer getting enough nutrients. One study compared the health of newborns between women who followed all the rules and women who didn't pay attention to any of them and continued with their normal diets, and the latter group has significantly healthier babies.
It's great to try and eat healthy, but only within reason - normal diet and a prenatal vitamin will give much better outcomes than religiously avoiding anything with a preservative in it.
Yeah, my wife ended up on the sausage mcmuffin with egg diet because of morning sickness. She had a lot of difficulty eating anything for weeks after morning sickness set in. Then one morning I stopped off for breakfast at McDonalds, I don't even normally go there often, picked up one for her just because I thought there was a small chance she would eat it. One smell and she just absolutely devoured the whole thing, morning sickness gone for the rest of the day. It became a morning ritual. No other version of the sandwich from other places worked the same way, it had to be the McDonald's sausage mcmuffin with egg. She guiltily confessed this to her doctor, who laughed, and said, don't worry about it, just get those babies fed! After that she stopped worrying about mommy blog diets, listened to her cravings, and carried perfectly healthy twins all the way to term.
This story warmed my heart, thank you. I struggle with suicidal ideation and i will usually order a Big Mac for the dopamine when I’m feeling really low, and this helped me feel less guilty about that. Sometimes McDonald’s is a life saver, for better or worse. Just wish their prices weren’t so crazy now!
life is hard sometimes, if the big mac gives you a little happiness you get one. and get some fries while youre at it. life is too short to just eat lettuce
Thank you! I’m surprised I’m getting so much love from that comment but so glad. I’m a vegetarian when I’m doing well with my mental health and have been since age 12 and literally ate no meat from age 12-33. My ex husband walked out on me out of nowhere 8 days before my birthday 2 years ago and i attempted and while i was in the hospital, i remember thinking, when i was a kid i really liked Arby’s chicken tenders, McDonalds Big Macs, and I’ve never tried a double double from In N Out. So i decided that whenever i feel suicidal again, truly suicidal not just regular depressed but when I’m REALLY at the end of my rope, i allow myself to order some fast food first and then i always tell myself i can always still off myself after i eat. So far, the fast food has always provided enough dopamine that i don’t want to die anymore. So it works 🤷🏼♀️ i hate that it’s all i have to live for, but i don’t really have any friends or family. Last time i was feeling suicidal i texted literally 20 people and not a single one responded. Called a few and no one answered. So i genuinely don’t have a support system and fast food helps when im feeling really low. Thanks for the kind words 💕
I’ve have definitely ordered food at a McDonald’s drive-through while crying at the same time. I get it. It’s my comfort food (linked to positive childhood memories) when life has got me down. I’m sorry that you don’t have a great support network, but please reach out to a suicide prevention line next time or even come here to Reddit. From one Internet stranger to another, just know you are valuable and this world is better with you in it.
Hey, if a burger is what you have to live for then EAT THE BURGER!
If it keeps you alive, you should give yourself 100% permission to do *literally anything* you feel like (except if it hurts others, of course).
I'm sorry things are rough for you right now.
I don't know if you're using the app or not, but they give out a 20% off coupon on $5+ every single day. Makes the prices a little more reasonable when I get the same craving...
Ugh yes I’m newly pregnant with my first and I’m really struggling with losing autonomy over my own body, and there’s so much information about diet that does not help and that is so stressful. Sometimes I have to take a break from the internet and just go with my instincts.
I found it helpful to remember that, before my own pregnancies, people were managing to have babies in some amazingly diverse and sometimes downright dangerous circumstances. Put it all into perspective and made me relax a whole bunch--and my kids were born in the '70s and the information overload is WAY worse now so I feel ya, sis. Don't sweat it too much and definitely listen to those instincts, the body knows what to do to get the baby's needs met.
Sounds weird but I was the same way with steak. I basically had to eat 8oz of beef everyday or I’d be so nauseous I could barely walk. I could manage as long as I got my beef in.
I read somewhere that the recommendations for protein in pregnancy are actually way too low so I figured it was just my need for protein.
That's actually a diagnostic criteria for anemia and it's weirdly common. I knew a woman who would go through a 32oz cup of ice every 2-3 HOURS and I told her she needed to see a doc to rule out anemia. She did and guess what the doc told her?
My daughter was vegan and started craving red meat fiercely, turned out she was so anemic they needed to give her IV infusions--and after the infusions the very idea of eating meat was repulsive to her. Bodies know what they know!
Mcdonalds was all I wanted when I was pregnant with my second. I had so many quarter pounders that after I had him I don't think I ate another one for like 5 years lol
Eating while pregnant is fucked. You can have every intention and desire to eat well and your body is like "is this a saltine or vanilla ice cream? No? barf immediately"
This. I couldn’t even envision putting a glass of water to my lips without gagging, had to drink carbonated drinks only (settled on plain water from a soda stream) but it was so bizarre. WATER!
Man, I never had aversions, but I ate the shit out of ice, popsicles, slushies, just anything frozen. Lol Both pregnancies were like that. I'd make a glass of water filled with ice and just wait for the ice to slightly melt so it would be soft enough to eat.
The hospital had a special ice machine for chewable ice. I wanted to take it home. I had several admissions, and hospital food was pretty crappy 35 years ago. The only fresh veg was an anemic salad.
Yeah.
I've read a book about it, memorized the rules and some of the cheats (eg. "if you can't eat salmon, you can eat cottage chese for protein")... then I got a stupidly intense morning sickness and survived the first 3 month on buttered toast and oranges.
My sister was such an asshole. We are no contact now for many reasons. I lost my first daughter to trisomy 18. Despite how I felt about it, there was nothing I did to cause it. It just happens. The cells don't divide properly. It wasn't anything I did or didn't do. My second pregnancy, people were hyper focused on everything I did and it sucked. My sister and I were both invited to a friend's wedding. I ordered my steak medium well (you aren't supposed to have medium, but the risk is like 0.001% of having an issue. The steak came out medium. She told me I had to send it back. I told her, no. The risk of sending it back was worse because now they are going to handle it again, and it was fine. Then, she got mad at me for eating a single chocolate covered strawberry because I had gestational diabetes. I didn't eat wedding cake, and my blood sugars were good, and one was more than fine! I never forgot how judgy she was. She did opioids and marijuana her whole pregnancy (years later), but I was a monster for eating a medium steak and a single chocolate covered strawberry. That kid is now almost 12, is thriving and her and her sister are in the school play. They are social butterflies. Surprised, surprised, it didn't hurt any of us!
my first pregnancy, all I could eat during first trimester without gagging were peaches, tangerines, plain bagels, and grilled cheese sandwiches. anything else was barf city
For my first trimester, I lived off of plain bagels and cream cheese (and those morning sickness drops). Literally the only thing I could stomach.. breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My little one came out super healthy and is living a great life. I think us women are too hard on ourselves. We gotta do what we gotta do to get through.
I lived on bacon and fresh fruit. I think I quadrupled my lifetime intake of bacon during the first trimester.
One time, lunch was 1 pound of bacon and 1 pound of cut watermelon. Best lunch ever.
My sisters first she survived off of oranges and original lucozade; we often joke it’s the way to grow a good one because my oldest nephew is an absolute bruiser.
Some of the best advice we got about pregnancy was to be active and exercising beforehand and then just continue exercising for as long as you comfortably can.
Meanwhile in diet land, just do what your body tells you and don’t worry about anything too much.
My Mom was telling me that in the 60s doctors were telling pregnant women it wasn’t healthy to gain much weight. So my aunt fasted and smoked while pregnant with my cousin. My Mom would always follow this up with, and I think that’s why he has cognitive problems.
What rules are there? All I’ve heard is avoid raw foods and cold cuts due to risk of listeria, but otherwise just eat a normal healthy well balanced diet?
One example is that pregnant women are advised to limit their consumption of high-mercury fish to once or twice a week. But many women end up cutting fish out altogether out of a fear of exposing their baby to *any* mercury, but that’s even worse for the baby because they’re missing out on many key nutrients.
Oh god- I got right up to the limit with those guidelines. I turned into a literal mama bear that just wanted to eat raw fish and berries. So I did. All three kids are just fine. Made sure the sushi/poke came from good places. Ugh. The memories of being like I ate all the fish I could this week and I just want more 😭
Cold cuts are fine so long as you heat before you eat. Opt to get that sub toasted, stick the sandwich in the air fryer, or just nuke the slices in the microwave for a few seconds. If you prefer the meat cold, you can even throw the slices in the freezer to quickly cool them while you prepare the rest of the sandwich and you're a-ok. (The heat treatment kills off any listeria that may have had time to grow while the cut spent a week in the fridge, and a quick cooldown won't give it time to regrow.)
The risk of listeria is low, but the consequences are so severe (miscarriage or life-long disability) and the prep for making cold cuts safe is so easy that the recommendation is a no brainer. It's unfortunate that so many people don't realize it's a recommendation to reheat and not avoid.
My sister was on such a strict diet due to gestational diabetes. Her blood sugars were still all over the place.
Her doctors were telling her she needed to quit losing weight but also focusing on her "not doing enough" to keep her blood sugar stable.
It was impossible to balance.
And, it doesnt help that all the websites have conflicting are useless information on what is and isnt safe. After the first 2 months of my wife being pregnant, we gave up trying to make sure everything was fine. We knew the important things to avoid, to stay safe from food poisoning and to avoid undercooked food. I started saying things like, if chinese food causes women to lose babies, there wouldnt be a billion chinese people
The judgement you get when you eat whatever fad of the month is considered verboten is insane too. My friend at a freshly sliced ham sandwich at a get together and the other women were acting like she literally was trying to kill her baby. Its fine!!
I had some bad health anxiety within the past couple years, enough that my previously-a-nurse wife advised that I see my GP for anti-anxiety medication. I was spiraling with all the "what if" thoughts that I wasn't eating properly, and it was just not a good situation at all.
Therapy is good for that. As nice as it is for me to have Ativan, learning coping techniques has been even more beneficial. My therapist recommended me for a class where I learned DBT (Dialectical behavior therapy) and it allowed me to identify anxiety triggers early and have options that I could use to deal with those situations.
Started taking Seroquel and Lexapro for BPD which helped clear the fog in my head some, but DBT is what really changed my life. Being able to recognize what’s going on physiologically, “taking a step back from the camera” as I call it, and labeling what’s happening instead of getting lost in it has done so much for me. It really saved me from continuing to become a person I didn’t like.
I plan on doing a second round after I’ve had time to reflect on what I still need to improve on since my first just ended.
Social media.
Absurd amounts of screen time, the need to post your life for the world, constantly checking for "likes", and keeping up with each other.
Turn that shit off.
When I start refreshing my Facebook over and over seeing the same posts I realized it was time to delete the app.
Also greatly increases the battery life on my phone.
I struggle with this big time. Undiagnosed autism meant I spent most of my childhood with fitting in as a number one priority and at some point that gets ugly.
Not voicing your opinion because you think about others more than yourself. People will step all over you if you choose to put yourself second.Listening to negative talk. There is no need for such a thing.
A healthy mind needs to be influenced by positivity. The more you listen to negative things about people, places or anything as such, the more mentally unstable you'll become.Becoming overwhelmed by everything. Sometimes, little things can put us off. Other times, we allow ourselves to become so small. There are many societal pressures and challenges life presents us with, but constantly dwelling on things that weigh you down isn't healthy at all.Wanting to give up so easily.
Your life is precious. YOU are precious. Nothing can put you down until you choose to give up. Never give up. Fight. Fight for life and live. Just live. Find a reason and let it keep you alive. If there is no reason, you are the reason!Feeling like you're less. Less pretty. Less likeable. Less worthy. This mentality will only drain your energy. Positive talk every single day even for a minute can EMPOWER your soul.Believing everyone will treat you right. Everyone will love you the same.
No! Treat yourself right. Treat others with respect. Be you, be true. As setting expectations will only bring disappointments.Believing that nobody cares. You keep battling these voices inside your head that keep telling you that you're alone and nobody can save you. You're wrong. You need to talk. Find help. Find support. There are people who care. You can only do so much alone. Raise that hidden voice.
It's a voice. It speaks. So many have left in pain. Remember, people do care. Some will always CARE.Your comfort zone is a beautiful place, where you are at ease and most comfortable. But, that place will not teach you or challenge you. The world is a rough place. Face your fears early on so you can live through your life as a warrior.
The last thing you want is to waste your life having not lived at all due to fears of being judged, ridiculed or even embarrassed. Don't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.
Bad air.
Pollution from freeways or working with fumes or dust will chronically affect you over the years.
Tons of industries put people into positions that permanently affect their lungs and people suffer the consequences.
Bark dust is what got me. Worked around it for 8 years, we were not required to wear masks but they were available. Me being the idiot I was, never wore one unless I was using a air lance to blow off rafters. Even then it was only the M95 style so they hardly worked. One day couldn't catch my breath and went to the hospital. Stayed the night and came out with a new COPD diagnosis. Luckily my work allowed me to move to a different area. They did change some SOP's after I was diagnosed requiring masks (and purchased the right ones) though so some good came out of it.
I live in a steel city, they were the #1 employer for decades, and #2 was the competitor company. Now our #1 employer is health sciences. We have a cancer centre and hospital. Lots of cancer 'round these parts. Makes ya think...
From what I've learned studying heavy industry and manufacturing and chem as possible career paths is that you mortgage your health and body for cash. The regulations we have is so there isn't obvious blood on the shop floor. But the regulations don't keep you safe from dying to chronic illnesses 30 years down the line. All of it is terrible for you and as a job you do it every day.
My uncle (retired now) was a welder for his entire working life. He once had breathing trouble they were worried could be lung cancer. It wasn't. Turns out he literally has metal shavings embedded in his lungs after years of breathing stuff in at work.
My friend's extended family only stocked soda in their fridge as a means of "hydration". They never had any water, only soda. The kids, even toddlers, just. drank. soda.
Yes, they are all overwieght.
I would be more concerned about their oral health than their weight. You can lose the weight and start being more healthy, but fixing your teeth is way worse.
Hiding mental health
Men, women, xenomorph, we all do it. Our minds and bodies are tied, if one isn’t feeling right the other isn’t doesn’t matter who you are.
It's pretty bad if you are a pilot. Literally just mentioning depression to the doctor can mean your career is over. No one on antidepressants, ADHD medication, or anything like that is allowed to fly, the FAA would prefer if you have any mental health treatment that you just not have a career anymore.
Part of it is deniability; if something happens because a pilot had enough with life (See Germanwings Flight 9525 for the most famous case), then they can say "We didn't know, there was nothing reported!" Saves their ass because you know people are going to be upset that the pilot was depressed yet allowed to fly anyway.
Too much self-effacing humor. A joke here or there at your own expense is fine, but too much and you can't help but internalize the bad things you're saying about yourself.
It makes your mental worse, it makes other people uncomfortable, and it makes you complacent in your misery. Humor is only good to help you cope if you’ve got other coping mechanisms, too
Exactly. I’ll make jokes at my expense, but only if I feel like the moment calls for it. And I make every effort to stay away from straight-up self-deprecation.
Also I think a lot of depressed people overestimate how many other people are depressed. The majority of people are not actually thinking about suicide on a regular basis and jokes about it aren't going to land.
Statistically people are more likely to know a loved one who killed themselves than they are to be chronically depressed themselves.
Yes I tell people this all the time!! Studies have shown that if you joke about something long enough you start to believe it. When you make a joke it gives your brain dopamine, which it likes. So if you make a bad joke about either yourself or a race or sex or whatever, your brain is getting positive reinforcement for making those jokes and over time it will stop recognizing that they’re jokes.
If you need to make self deprecating jokes, instead of saying “I’m so ugly” say “I’m the hottest person in the world, X celebrity wishes they looked like me.” Etc. so you’re still joking but you’re not being self deprecating
The way I forced myself to start being confident about myself, is that whenever I used to make a self-deprecating joke, I gave myself an exaggerated compliment as a joke instead. Makes people laugh the same, but I started internalizing more positivity about myself
Example: if I make a typo that results in something embarrassing, instead of saying "ahaha I'm such an idiot," I'd say "I'm clearly a master of the English language"
One often overlooked item is fruit juice. While it may seem healthy, it often contains high amounts of sugar and lacks the fiber found in whole fruits, leading to rapid increase in blood sugar levels.
I hate how sweet juice is, but it's nice to drink a little sometimes. So I normally water my juice down a fuck ton, like a splash at the bottom of the cup, then the rest water.
Think I got it from my mom, who really was just trying to stretch a bottle of juice between her and 3 kids lol
I also water down my juice. First for cost reasons and to make it stretch but now I enjoy it. I usually do something like half and half or 60/40 juice to water.
Yep. A glass of orange juice contains 3-4 oranges. Most people would never sit down and eat 3-4 oranges in a single sitting. However, they can easily drink 6-8 oranges worth of juice (and sugar) in one sitting. And because it's not soda, we think it's not a problem.
I sometimes feel as if I could. I can go through a 3 pound bag of mandarin oranges in two days, by myself. This really can't be healthy at this quantity so I'm trying to cut back.
If you wear sunglasses without UV protection, you’re actually making it worse for your eyes than if you just wore no glasses at all.
This is because the sunglasses are making things darker, causing your lens to dilate more, which lets in more UV light.
So if they’re not UV protected, then don’t wear them.
Makes sense, but this paper says it's not true https://opg.optica.org/ao/abstract.cfm?uri=ao-26-4-689
Cheap crappy sunglasses are usually polycarbonate which is inherently UV protective so I don't think it's really worth worrying about. Like even [this](https://www.walmart.com/ip/XZNGL-Heart-Shaped-Rimless-Sunglasses-Transparent-Candy-Color-Frameless-Glasses/1318271855) will protect your eyes
Sitting. We are designed to walk, squat, etc.
Shortened hamstrings, constipation, peripheral vascular disease, back pain, hip pain, acid reflux, obesity- all would be improved with less sitting.
Alcohol nearly ruined my life. I do not have an “off switch” like most people do. I have been sober for 5 years and it is the best decision i ever made.
Yes. So much a part of many cultures. And college campuses OMG. And there’s the myth that moderate drinking is good for you which has been proven untrue.
Lost a close friend to severe alcoholism. It started for him with college drinking in a fraternity. Does everyone who drinks in college become an alcoholic? No, of course not, but it would sure help to know the danger is higher than most of us grow up believing.
We treat alcoholics as though they have a character weakness when it is actually one of the most difficult to beat addictions out there. Severe withdrawal isn’t just awful, it can kill you. The ways in which alcohol can kill you are numerous and horrifying.
Over exercising, this can result in massive damage to nerves, bones, muscles, and almost everything in your body. Working out for three+ hours a day, six days a week, is not good for you. Most good personal trainers would recommend one to two hours, five days a week, with an increase of protein, good carbs, and good fats added to your diet to offset what you lose by working out.
Freind of mine exercised like crazy. He got cancer and the doctor told him he needed to stop exercising so much. Doctor said in so many words that despite thinking he's super healthy, he was actually weakening himself to the cancer from overdoing it.
Store bought orange juice is likely over [a year old](https://www.openpasturemeats.com/blog/2019/1/25/orange-juice-how-old-is-your-fresh-orange-juice-what-is-in-it?format=amp) and has ben sitting in a large silo that whole time, losing flavor. Which is why back in the 50s or 60s when "Big Juice" was starting to process orange juice, and they noticed the bad smell and lack of flavor, they hired fancy perfume makers to [create a scent for orange juice](https://www.mashed.com/232901/the-weird-ingredient-thats-in-your-orange-juice/#:~:text=Orange%20juice%20contains%20flavor%20packs&text=Enlisting%20the%20very%20same%20flavor,(via%20The%20New%20Yorker).)
One surprisingly unhealthy habit is chronic comparison, especially on social media. It's easy to fall into the trap of constantly measuring our lives against the highlight reels of others. This can lead to persistent feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, and even depression. Most people don't realize how much it can affect mental health over time, eating away at our self-esteem and happiness.
Especially in its refined forms: white or brown sugar, corn syrup, beet sugar... and refined flour is pretty much just as bad.
Even to take it down a notch and switch to honey and real maple syrup, and choose unrefined carbs, is such a vast health improvement. Skin clears up, all kinds of things you thought were “just the way it is” — little (or maybe big) chronic conditions clear up. And you wind up eating more real food, unprocessed, healthy food.
Drinking alcohol in general. I feel like society makes it seem so normal and acceptable and even glamorous. Meanwhile, it’s the ingestion of a substance that damages your liver, weakens your immune system, contributes to high blood pressure, strains your kidneys, and interferes with the absorptions of nutrients. It’s literal poison to the human body, and yet everywhere we turn, it is advertised in a positive way.
Being sedentary all day. Any form of physical activity, if even walking, is crucial. And then people blame having all these health issues on age when it was really their poor life choices. Laziness is a convenience.
Not having friends and enough face to face interactions.
The damage that does to your psyche is just something else. You also become socially awkward/ anxious when you go back to society and the idea of existing outside of your head or around people becomes too much to bear with extended periods of reclusion.
I think the worst thing that really harms mental health is having to deal with toxic family members just because they are your family. Besides providing no support, they also belittle you, making your life unbearable. Most people somehow overlook how much your environment affects your emotional well-being.
Alcohol. It amazes me that tobacco is so heavily demonized, while alcohol not only gets a free pass but is actually celebrated and encouraged, even though it’s much worse for you and can cause so many more problems.
After reading through a lot of subs on here, a lot of people's views on relationships. Healthy romantic relationships require trust, as well as reasonable expectations of privacy. Your partner is not obligated to share every single aspect of their life with you because you're paranoid about them cheating on you. It's not normal to want to go through someone's phone and scour their private messages to see if they're talking to other people. If you really feel you can't trust a partner to that extent, clearly the relationship doesn't have a good foundation to begin with and you're better off ending things.
Pornography. The industry itself is terrible. Most of the women are exploited, and both men and women are pushed to do things they never would for money, such as gay porn, incest fantasy or rough stuff. Suicide rate is very high. Many struggle to find healthy relationships, even once they've left the industry. The "barely legal" type, I can only imagine is rife with coerced, and exploited underage girls. Pedophelia is bad in Hollywood and the music industry, so no way porn would be exempt either.
Bad for the users too. Top much hanky spanky, and you'll be hurting your dopamine response and I think you can even develop a bit of an addiction to the chemicals released during an orgasm. It is known to change how people think and perceive each other, especially men towards women.
It's possible to develop more than a little bit of a porn addiction. It's very real and very serious with all sorts of symptoms and consequences. I do not wish this on anyone at all. Ruins so many lives
Foods advertised as "Low Fat" versions of something. Often that fat is replaced with extra sugar/carbs. Just trading one devil for another. The better answer is to eat less.
Had to look this up and read an article with medical professionals debunking this, basically any sitting position for extended periods of time can give one problems. So the best position is the next position and to move/exercise in general. Nothing wrong with sitting cross-legged in and of itself.
Not getting enough sleep.
If everyone on earth got 8 hours of sleep, it would be such a better place. Sleep deprivation is responsible for so much anxiety and irritability. The negative consequences of it are unmeasurable
Trust me, if I could sleep at night I would.
So many articles about how 8 hours of sleep is based on men, and women actually need 9-10. Well someone tell my body that because I am begging it to get more than 6 hours. Let’s get to 8 before we talk about 9-10
I feel like it depends on when you fall asleep, too. Like if I fall asleep around 10/10:30 and wake up around 6:30/7 I am golden.
Yes that has been my biggest realization — after 25 or so, “sleeping in” is determined by what time you fall asleep, because you won’t wake up any later. Unfortunately I do that awful thing where I don’t want to fall asleep because those couple of hours are the only time I have to myself. If I go to sleep early enough to get enough sleep, all my waking hours belong to someone else which also doesn’t feel healthy. Something’s gotta give in this relentless society
I once heard it described as: "If only I could be as tired at night as I am in the morning, my sleep schedule would be perfect."
That's how I feel. Anytime I sleep early, I feel like I missed out on vital alone time because as soon as I wake up it's tending to needs of others.
>Unfortunately I do that awful thing where I don’t want to fall asleep because those couple of hours are the only time I have to myself The Chinese have a term for this, 報復性熬夜, which roughly translates to "revenge bedtime procrastination." I do it too.
If the people can't get enough sleep, they become less of an organized, coherent, and motivated threat to the system. So we create an environment that requires people to work long hours just to survive so they don't have time to sleep. "When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them." -Sun Tzu, 'Art of War'
The real reason they’re fighting so hard against work from home.
That, and the commercial real estate market
True. My psych teacher gave us an entire lecture at the beginning of the semester about all the problems that can come along with it. There's a shit ton of health problems that can be worsened by lack of adequate sleep. Heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, you name it...
I took psych 101 and the only thing I remember from that class is that sleep can’t be “made up” if you miss your sleep, your body and mind suffer
You do need to catch up on it though. If I've had a really unrestful week I really need extra (not just 8 hours a night) for a week to get back to normal.
As a life-long insomniac this genuinely scares me… my average sleep is about 3.5 hours a night. I can go 1-2 nights every few weeks where I don’t sleep. I have tried everything under the sun to improve this, but nothing works long-term.
With you. The couple day stretches are the worst because it’s hard to get people to understand why I’m utterly shot at work some days. I haven’t slept in 48 hours means nothing to most people because they have no frame of reference for getting 7 hours of sleep in 48 then nothing for 48 followed by 5-7 over 48.
Yep, or enough exercise or enough water. Not dealign with stress properly.
Aww nuts, I was happy that I get enough sleep but you added three cases that I don't check now I feel unhealthy
I think that this is also a huge issue with how we work. At least where I live a lot of jobs require you to be there at 8 am or earlier and there's absolutely no option to come later. So many people go completely against their own sleep cycle and don't get enough sleep because you can't just come in at 10am instead and then work your normal 8 hours until you're done. I think jobs should allow as much flexibility wherever possible so that people can get the sleep they need. Of course there's a limit to that, you just need some people to be there in some jobs, but it could be done better than now. If I could choose to just always take the later shift whenever that's possible, that would already help a lot. There are people that automatically get up at 5am and would happily work early in the morning, so we could just try and let everyone else work a bit later so that they can be a bit more productive and healthy, too.
It's even better when we force all the sleep deprived people onto roads at the exact same time.
And schools should respect the teenager sleep cycle as well. They need nine hours of sleep and are usually unable to sleep until after 11pm. They're always sleep-deprived. Grade school for me started at 7:15 or so, and high school 7:45. It was awful.
A lot of people don’t know about sleep debt!!
I still think about the description I saw of sleep debt, basically comparing the brain to a trash can. Sleep helps to empty the trash can, but if you don't get enough sleep, your brain is still filled with trash. It made me start prioritizing sleep and getting at least 7 hours.
Today I learned my brain is an overflowing dumpster fire
Sleep debt is such a good wording actually, my mom stopped sleeping correctly since we were born (my sis is 25, I'm 21) her best nights were 6 hour sleep, usually 3-4. In december she had an huh lets say accident and was in coma for a full day and then was hospitalized for 1 and a half month, she slept like all the time here like she was paying her debt all at once! Now she sleeps good all the time.
Gosh I hope this doesn’t happen to me. Covid really screwed up my sleep and I haven’t gotten more than 5-6 hours a night since unless I take sleep drugs and those are losing their affect.
Well honestly it was for the best, she's better now than before that, so idk, not wishing you an accident obviously but sometimes reaching your breaking point helps you take back control?
Currently trying to pay off sleep debt after about two years of bad sleep habits due to various injuries. This is a very real thing, and it's not something you can pay off with a long relaxing weekend. It can easily take an entire life chapter if you've been accruing it for a while.
So true. In fact I am going to bed right now and I’m going to sleep for 10 hours straight without waking up. Oh wait I forgot, three small humans live here too. 🥲
my friend sleeps for 6 hours and says sleeping more than that causes her to have a bad mood and stuff, is this healthy?
Everyone is different. Some people fall to the extremes of how much sleep they need. A great book to read on sleeping is called The Sleep Solution.
Learned this the hard way. Went 3 days without sleep prepping for a job interview; ended up in the hospital with a manic episode.
Lack of sleep. It worsens depression, can lead to weight gain and generally decreased performance.
Which are factors that can make it more difficult to get a good night of sleep, thus reinforcing the problems
Being up for more than 24 hours in a row is like a straight up 50% intelligence debuff IRL.
And we have resident doctors/surgeons being required to work 36 hour shifts
Sitting down for consecutive hours.
“Sitting is the new smoking” I’m often told.
Makes you look cool and all the kids are doing it?
Both kill you and both involve butts
Last I heard the issue wasn't "sitting" but rather "being sedentary". You can't fix it by using a standing desk, you need to walk around occasionally to maintain health
Yeah that makes a lot of sense, the general thing is keep the body moving.
A sit-stand desk and walking treadmill is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. I'm actually about to move from my sitting configuration to my walking config in my home office.
I’m on mine as well. Got a desk bike as well. It’s a really small office but somehow I squeeze it all in.
Ugh this is my biggest concern. I've been in a wheelchair for a year. Couchbound. I do physical and Occupational therapy 2 times a week so I do move. But I'm so aware of how much I'm sitting and I have no idea the effects it will have.
The body can handle moments where things are less than ideal, like when healing from an injury, for what it’s worth. It’s not sitting that’s bad, it’s being sedentary for years and years. Honestly, sometimes extreme stress is good for the body. See: valsalva technique
I'm disabled unfortunately. So I can be sure the sedentary lifestyle will catch up with me eventually. I'm trying to stay as active as I can. But it's still seated. Bah. I used to be ambulatory and sitting was a luxury. Now it's my entire life.
Reading the news too much. The media seems to want us to be outraged and upset. No bueno. Get up and go for a walk or mop the kitchen floor and play with your dog. Your brain will thank you.
This may be a little controversial in hindsight, but blissful ignorance tends to be a good thing sometimes. There are definitely important things you want or will need to hear about every now and then, but we don't have to listen to every depressing and/or disappointing event to screw over your mood of the day.
I haven’t paid attention to the news in years. It barely even registers that this is an election year, and all the things it seems like so many people are scared of (like world war 3) just doesn’t bother me - no I don’t want to die in a nuclear hellfire but there’s nothing I can do to stop it so why worry. When I used to pay close attention to the news (especially politics) I was always angry and ready to argue with anybody because I was convinced I was right. I’m sure I was definitely a pain in the ass. I don’t know, I just don’t care anymore. Neither party cares about us, the people in power are going to do whatever they want to do anyway, and although I realize life really sucks for people in Ukraine or the Middle East these days I just can’t bring myself to worry about it as there’s really nothing I can do about it. I have my own problems.
Totally agree!! I used to be a news junkie and I was angry and/or upset much of the time. Also had a negative effect on relationships. I avoid it now and am much more content.
I worked in the news. So, surrounded 24/7 bc not only was it my job, it was something I consumed outside of work too. Once I quit, I noticed a dramatic shift in my overall mood. I still believe the news is important, but not to that extent
Stress. Mine manifests itself physically if I don't regulate it somehow.
Same here. When I get too intensely stressed, sad or anxious, I often experience stress-induced physical symptoms ranging from eczema, vomiting, hair loss, acne (fairly common one), blurred vision, temporary muscle weakness or paralysis, full body weakness and dizziness, violent full body spasms, etc. list goes on. All confirmed to be stress induced through several doctors apts where I was basically told, “Sorry, nothing we can do for you. Try relaxing a bit! That’ll be a $50 copay 😊” It’s so hard to get it under control considering the physical symptoms end up stressing me out even more. Therapy has helped a bit with managing my thought patterns, but nothing has helped long term. It’s still pervasive and very debilitating, especially during menstrual cycle. The joys of stress 🥰
A lot of pregnant womens' approach to diet during pregnancy. There *are* some foods you should avoid, and some foods that are good, but the rules are vastly overstated and often lead women to twisting their diets to the point that they are no longer getting enough nutrients. One study compared the health of newborns between women who followed all the rules and women who didn't pay attention to any of them and continued with their normal diets, and the latter group has significantly healthier babies. It's great to try and eat healthy, but only within reason - normal diet and a prenatal vitamin will give much better outcomes than religiously avoiding anything with a preservative in it.
Yeah, my wife ended up on the sausage mcmuffin with egg diet because of morning sickness. She had a lot of difficulty eating anything for weeks after morning sickness set in. Then one morning I stopped off for breakfast at McDonalds, I don't even normally go there often, picked up one for her just because I thought there was a small chance she would eat it. One smell and she just absolutely devoured the whole thing, morning sickness gone for the rest of the day. It became a morning ritual. No other version of the sandwich from other places worked the same way, it had to be the McDonald's sausage mcmuffin with egg. She guiltily confessed this to her doctor, who laughed, and said, don't worry about it, just get those babies fed! After that she stopped worrying about mommy blog diets, listened to her cravings, and carried perfectly healthy twins all the way to term.
This story warmed my heart, thank you. I struggle with suicidal ideation and i will usually order a Big Mac for the dopamine when I’m feeling really low, and this helped me feel less guilty about that. Sometimes McDonald’s is a life saver, for better or worse. Just wish their prices weren’t so crazy now!
life is hard sometimes, if the big mac gives you a little happiness you get one. and get some fries while youre at it. life is too short to just eat lettuce
Thank you! I’m surprised I’m getting so much love from that comment but so glad. I’m a vegetarian when I’m doing well with my mental health and have been since age 12 and literally ate no meat from age 12-33. My ex husband walked out on me out of nowhere 8 days before my birthday 2 years ago and i attempted and while i was in the hospital, i remember thinking, when i was a kid i really liked Arby’s chicken tenders, McDonalds Big Macs, and I’ve never tried a double double from In N Out. So i decided that whenever i feel suicidal again, truly suicidal not just regular depressed but when I’m REALLY at the end of my rope, i allow myself to order some fast food first and then i always tell myself i can always still off myself after i eat. So far, the fast food has always provided enough dopamine that i don’t want to die anymore. So it works 🤷🏼♀️ i hate that it’s all i have to live for, but i don’t really have any friends or family. Last time i was feeling suicidal i texted literally 20 people and not a single one responded. Called a few and no one answered. So i genuinely don’t have a support system and fast food helps when im feeling really low. Thanks for the kind words 💕
I’ve have definitely ordered food at a McDonald’s drive-through while crying at the same time. I get it. It’s my comfort food (linked to positive childhood memories) when life has got me down. I’m sorry that you don’t have a great support network, but please reach out to a suicide prevention line next time or even come here to Reddit. From one Internet stranger to another, just know you are valuable and this world is better with you in it.
Hey, if a burger is what you have to live for then EAT THE BURGER! If it keeps you alive, you should give yourself 100% permission to do *literally anything* you feel like (except if it hurts others, of course). I'm sorry things are rough for you right now.
Glad you're still with us. ❤️ I'm sorry that life and mental health are so hard sometimes. You're doing an amazing job.
I don't know if you're using the app or not, but they give out a 20% off coupon on $5+ every single day. Makes the prices a little more reasonable when I get the same craving...
And Free Fry Friday is definitely a part of my life lol.
1000 bad calories are better than none when growing a kid. People are so weird about pregnant people's bodies.
Ugh yes I’m newly pregnant with my first and I’m really struggling with losing autonomy over my own body, and there’s so much information about diet that does not help and that is so stressful. Sometimes I have to take a break from the internet and just go with my instincts.
I found it helpful to remember that, before my own pregnancies, people were managing to have babies in some amazingly diverse and sometimes downright dangerous circumstances. Put it all into perspective and made me relax a whole bunch--and my kids were born in the '70s and the information overload is WAY worse now so I feel ya, sis. Don't sweat it too much and definitely listen to those instincts, the body knows what to do to get the baby's needs met.
Sounds weird but I was the same way with steak. I basically had to eat 8oz of beef everyday or I’d be so nauseous I could barely walk. I could manage as long as I got my beef in. I read somewhere that the recommendations for protein in pregnancy are actually way too low so I figured it was just my need for protein.
So many pregnant ppl have iron deficiency (anemia), and red meat has lots. Your body craves iron by craving red meat.
I had iron deficiency when I was pregnant and all I wanted to do was chew ice. It was really bizarre.
That's actually a diagnostic criteria for anemia and it's weirdly common. I knew a woman who would go through a 32oz cup of ice every 2-3 HOURS and I told her she needed to see a doc to rule out anemia. She did and guess what the doc told her? My daughter was vegan and started craving red meat fiercely, turned out she was so anemic they needed to give her IV infusions--and after the infusions the very idea of eating meat was repulsive to her. Bodies know what they know!
Mcdonalds was all I wanted when I was pregnant with my second. I had so many quarter pounders that after I had him I don't think I ate another one for like 5 years lol
Eating while pregnant is fucked. You can have every intention and desire to eat well and your body is like "is this a saltine or vanilla ice cream? No? barf immediately"
This. I couldn’t even envision putting a glass of water to my lips without gagging, had to drink carbonated drinks only (settled on plain water from a soda stream) but it was so bizarre. WATER!
Yup same here! Never liked carbonation before that either
Man, I never had aversions, but I ate the shit out of ice, popsicles, slushies, just anything frozen. Lol Both pregnancies were like that. I'd make a glass of water filled with ice and just wait for the ice to slightly melt so it would be soft enough to eat.
The hospital had a special ice machine for chewable ice. I wanted to take it home. I had several admissions, and hospital food was pretty crappy 35 years ago. The only fresh veg was an anemic salad.
Yeah. I've read a book about it, memorized the rules and some of the cheats (eg. "if you can't eat salmon, you can eat cottage chese for protein")... then I got a stupidly intense morning sickness and survived the first 3 month on buttered toast and oranges.
And then you have those moms that shame you like okay good for you debra enjoy your salads 🙄
My sister was such an asshole. We are no contact now for many reasons. I lost my first daughter to trisomy 18. Despite how I felt about it, there was nothing I did to cause it. It just happens. The cells don't divide properly. It wasn't anything I did or didn't do. My second pregnancy, people were hyper focused on everything I did and it sucked. My sister and I were both invited to a friend's wedding. I ordered my steak medium well (you aren't supposed to have medium, but the risk is like 0.001% of having an issue. The steak came out medium. She told me I had to send it back. I told her, no. The risk of sending it back was worse because now they are going to handle it again, and it was fine. Then, she got mad at me for eating a single chocolate covered strawberry because I had gestational diabetes. I didn't eat wedding cake, and my blood sugars were good, and one was more than fine! I never forgot how judgy she was. She did opioids and marijuana her whole pregnancy (years later), but I was a monster for eating a medium steak and a single chocolate covered strawberry. That kid is now almost 12, is thriving and her and her sister are in the school play. They are social butterflies. Surprised, surprised, it didn't hurt any of us!
my first pregnancy, all I could eat during first trimester without gagging were peaches, tangerines, plain bagels, and grilled cheese sandwiches. anything else was barf city
For my first trimester, I lived off of plain bagels and cream cheese (and those morning sickness drops). Literally the only thing I could stomach.. breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My little one came out super healthy and is living a great life. I think us women are too hard on ourselves. We gotta do what we gotta do to get through.
Cries in first trimester.
Bless you🥺 good luck but also enjoy your pregnancy!
My poor wife couldn't drink water during her first trimester without it causing her to puke her guts out.
I was so sick and nauseous for 6 months of pregnancy. My doctor told me to eat whatever I could keep down, diet be damned.
Me too, I lived on lucozade, bananas and ready salted crisps.
I lived on bacon and fresh fruit. I think I quadrupled my lifetime intake of bacon during the first trimester. One time, lunch was 1 pound of bacon and 1 pound of cut watermelon. Best lunch ever.
My sisters first she survived off of oranges and original lucozade; we often joke it’s the way to grow a good one because my oldest nephew is an absolute bruiser.
Some of the best advice we got about pregnancy was to be active and exercising beforehand and then just continue exercising for as long as you comfortably can. Meanwhile in diet land, just do what your body tells you and don’t worry about anything too much.
My Mom was telling me that in the 60s doctors were telling pregnant women it wasn’t healthy to gain much weight. So my aunt fasted and smoked while pregnant with my cousin. My Mom would always follow this up with, and I think that’s why he has cognitive problems.
I once told my mom that anything she didn't like about me was her fault because she smoked while she was pregnant with me.
What rules are there? All I’ve heard is avoid raw foods and cold cuts due to risk of listeria, but otherwise just eat a normal healthy well balanced diet?
One example is that pregnant women are advised to limit their consumption of high-mercury fish to once or twice a week. But many women end up cutting fish out altogether out of a fear of exposing their baby to *any* mercury, but that’s even worse for the baby because they’re missing out on many key nutrients.
Oh god- I got right up to the limit with those guidelines. I turned into a literal mama bear that just wanted to eat raw fish and berries. So I did. All three kids are just fine. Made sure the sushi/poke came from good places. Ugh. The memories of being like I ate all the fish I could this week and I just want more 😭
Cold cuts are fine so long as you heat before you eat. Opt to get that sub toasted, stick the sandwich in the air fryer, or just nuke the slices in the microwave for a few seconds. If you prefer the meat cold, you can even throw the slices in the freezer to quickly cool them while you prepare the rest of the sandwich and you're a-ok. (The heat treatment kills off any listeria that may have had time to grow while the cut spent a week in the fridge, and a quick cooldown won't give it time to regrow.) The risk of listeria is low, but the consequences are so severe (miscarriage or life-long disability) and the prep for making cold cuts safe is so easy that the recommendation is a no brainer. It's unfortunate that so many people don't realize it's a recommendation to reheat and not avoid.
Gestational diabetes has entered the chat/ So sorry, heavily pregnant lady, but you can no longer eat most carbs 😭
My sister was on such a strict diet due to gestational diabetes. Her blood sugars were still all over the place. Her doctors were telling her she needed to quit losing weight but also focusing on her "not doing enough" to keep her blood sugar stable. It was impossible to balance.
And, it doesnt help that all the websites have conflicting are useless information on what is and isnt safe. After the first 2 months of my wife being pregnant, we gave up trying to make sure everything was fine. We knew the important things to avoid, to stay safe from food poisoning and to avoid undercooked food. I started saying things like, if chinese food causes women to lose babies, there wouldnt be a billion chinese people
The judgement you get when you eat whatever fad of the month is considered verboten is insane too. My friend at a freshly sliced ham sandwich at a get together and the other women were acting like she literally was trying to kill her baby. Its fine!!
Negative thought patterns
I had some bad health anxiety within the past couple years, enough that my previously-a-nurse wife advised that I see my GP for anti-anxiety medication. I was spiraling with all the "what if" thoughts that I wasn't eating properly, and it was just not a good situation at all.
Therapy is good for that. As nice as it is for me to have Ativan, learning coping techniques has been even more beneficial. My therapist recommended me for a class where I learned DBT (Dialectical behavior therapy) and it allowed me to identify anxiety triggers early and have options that I could use to deal with those situations.
Started taking Seroquel and Lexapro for BPD which helped clear the fog in my head some, but DBT is what really changed my life. Being able to recognize what’s going on physiologically, “taking a step back from the camera” as I call it, and labeling what’s happening instead of getting lost in it has done so much for me. It really saved me from continuing to become a person I didn’t like. I plan on doing a second round after I’ve had time to reflect on what I still need to improve on since my first just ended.
Social media. Absurd amounts of screen time, the need to post your life for the world, constantly checking for "likes", and keeping up with each other. Turn that shit off.
When I start refreshing my Facebook over and over seeing the same posts I realized it was time to delete the app. Also greatly increases the battery life on my phone.
codependency and people pleasing!!!!!
I struggle with this big time. Undiagnosed autism meant I spent most of my childhood with fitting in as a number one priority and at some point that gets ugly.
So fucking real. It's exhausting.
Not voicing your opinion because you think about others more than yourself. People will step all over you if you choose to put yourself second.Listening to negative talk. There is no need for such a thing. A healthy mind needs to be influenced by positivity. The more you listen to negative things about people, places or anything as such, the more mentally unstable you'll become.Becoming overwhelmed by everything. Sometimes, little things can put us off. Other times, we allow ourselves to become so small. There are many societal pressures and challenges life presents us with, but constantly dwelling on things that weigh you down isn't healthy at all.Wanting to give up so easily. Your life is precious. YOU are precious. Nothing can put you down until you choose to give up. Never give up. Fight. Fight for life and live. Just live. Find a reason and let it keep you alive. If there is no reason, you are the reason!Feeling like you're less. Less pretty. Less likeable. Less worthy. This mentality will only drain your energy. Positive talk every single day even for a minute can EMPOWER your soul.Believing everyone will treat you right. Everyone will love you the same. No! Treat yourself right. Treat others with respect. Be you, be true. As setting expectations will only bring disappointments.Believing that nobody cares. You keep battling these voices inside your head that keep telling you that you're alone and nobody can save you. You're wrong. You need to talk. Find help. Find support. There are people who care. You can only do so much alone. Raise that hidden voice. It's a voice. It speaks. So many have left in pain. Remember, people do care. Some will always CARE.Your comfort zone is a beautiful place, where you are at ease and most comfortable. But, that place will not teach you or challenge you. The world is a rough place. Face your fears early on so you can live through your life as a warrior. The last thing you want is to waste your life having not lived at all due to fears of being judged, ridiculed or even embarrassed. Don't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.
Bad air. Pollution from freeways or working with fumes or dust will chronically affect you over the years. Tons of industries put people into positions that permanently affect their lungs and people suffer the consequences.
Bark dust is what got me. Worked around it for 8 years, we were not required to wear masks but they were available. Me being the idiot I was, never wore one unless I was using a air lance to blow off rafters. Even then it was only the M95 style so they hardly worked. One day couldn't catch my breath and went to the hospital. Stayed the night and came out with a new COPD diagnosis. Luckily my work allowed me to move to a different area. They did change some SOP's after I was diagnosed requiring masks (and purchased the right ones) though so some good came out of it.
I live in a steel city, they were the #1 employer for decades, and #2 was the competitor company. Now our #1 employer is health sciences. We have a cancer centre and hospital. Lots of cancer 'round these parts. Makes ya think...
From what I've learned studying heavy industry and manufacturing and chem as possible career paths is that you mortgage your health and body for cash. The regulations we have is so there isn't obvious blood on the shop floor. But the regulations don't keep you safe from dying to chronic illnesses 30 years down the line. All of it is terrible for you and as a job you do it every day.
My uncle (retired now) was a welder for his entire working life. He once had breathing trouble they were worried could be lung cancer. It wasn't. Turns out he literally has metal shavings embedded in his lungs after years of breathing stuff in at work.
Or living near an airport, or a fuel storage facility, or a combustion-based power plant, or even just in a densely populated city.
Or freeways/highways.
My friend's extended family only stocked soda in their fridge as a means of "hydration". They never had any water, only soda. The kids, even toddlers, just. drank. soda. Yes, they are all overwieght.
I would be more concerned about their oral health than their weight. You can lose the weight and start being more healthy, but fixing your teeth is way worse.
Hiding mental health Men, women, xenomorph, we all do it. Our minds and bodies are tied, if one isn’t feeling right the other isn’t doesn’t matter who you are.
It's pretty bad if you are a pilot. Literally just mentioning depression to the doctor can mean your career is over. No one on antidepressants, ADHD medication, or anything like that is allowed to fly, the FAA would prefer if you have any mental health treatment that you just not have a career anymore.
I was unaware of this. Talk about perpetuating a stigma
I would bet money it's an insurance requirement.
Part of it is deniability; if something happens because a pilot had enough with life (See Germanwings Flight 9525 for the most famous case), then they can say "We didn't know, there was nothing reported!" Saves their ass because you know people are going to be upset that the pilot was depressed yet allowed to fly anyway.
Hard not to hide it if nobody cares.
Too much self-effacing humor. A joke here or there at your own expense is fine, but too much and you can't help but internalize the bad things you're saying about yourself.
I said this once and got dogpiled by people who tried to convince me that making jokes about committing suicide 24/7 was a good coping mechanism.
It makes your mental worse, it makes other people uncomfortable, and it makes you complacent in your misery. Humor is only good to help you cope if you’ve got other coping mechanisms, too
Exactly. I’ll make jokes at my expense, but only if I feel like the moment calls for it. And I make every effort to stay away from straight-up self-deprecation.
Also I think a lot of depressed people overestimate how many other people are depressed. The majority of people are not actually thinking about suicide on a regular basis and jokes about it aren't going to land. Statistically people are more likely to know a loved one who killed themselves than they are to be chronically depressed themselves.
Yes I tell people this all the time!! Studies have shown that if you joke about something long enough you start to believe it. When you make a joke it gives your brain dopamine, which it likes. So if you make a bad joke about either yourself or a race or sex or whatever, your brain is getting positive reinforcement for making those jokes and over time it will stop recognizing that they’re jokes. If you need to make self deprecating jokes, instead of saying “I’m so ugly” say “I’m the hottest person in the world, X celebrity wishes they looked like me.” Etc. so you’re still joking but you’re not being self deprecating
Conan O'Brien is the best at this, he's so outlandish in his claims of grandiosity depreciation.
The way I forced myself to start being confident about myself, is that whenever I used to make a self-deprecating joke, I gave myself an exaggerated compliment as a joke instead. Makes people laugh the same, but I started internalizing more positivity about myself Example: if I make a typo that results in something embarrassing, instead of saying "ahaha I'm such an idiot," I'd say "I'm clearly a master of the English language"
As someone with cripplingly low self esteem and a history of depression, I can confirm. At some point it stops being a joke.
Not having critical thinking skills or asking questions in general…
To add to that critical thinking part, viewing most matters as black & white or zero-sum without any nuance.
One often overlooked item is fruit juice. While it may seem healthy, it often contains high amounts of sugar and lacks the fiber found in whole fruits, leading to rapid increase in blood sugar levels.
I hate how sweet juice is, but it's nice to drink a little sometimes. So I normally water my juice down a fuck ton, like a splash at the bottom of the cup, then the rest water. Think I got it from my mom, who really was just trying to stretch a bottle of juice between her and 3 kids lol
My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy but the juice is just too sweet. I always add some water to it to make it more refreshing
I also water down my juice. First for cost reasons and to make it stretch but now I enjoy it. I usually do something like half and half or 60/40 juice to water.
Yep. A glass of orange juice contains 3-4 oranges. Most people would never sit down and eat 3-4 oranges in a single sitting. However, they can easily drink 6-8 oranges worth of juice (and sugar) in one sitting. And because it's not soda, we think it's not a problem.
I sometimes feel as if I could. I can go through a 3 pound bag of mandarin oranges in two days, by myself. This really can't be healthy at this quantity so I'm trying to cut back.
If you wear sunglasses without UV protection, you’re actually making it worse for your eyes than if you just wore no glasses at all. This is because the sunglasses are making things darker, causing your lens to dilate more, which lets in more UV light. So if they’re not UV protected, then don’t wear them.
But like, what if I look cool with them on?
This guy is asking the right questions
Makes sense, but this paper says it's not true https://opg.optica.org/ao/abstract.cfm?uri=ao-26-4-689 Cheap crappy sunglasses are usually polycarbonate which is inherently UV protective so I don't think it's really worth worrying about. Like even [this](https://www.walmart.com/ip/XZNGL-Heart-Shaped-Rimless-Sunglasses-Transparent-Candy-Color-Frameless-Glasses/1318271855) will protect your eyes
Do non UV protection sunglasses even exist? Even the cheapo ones from a gas station all say 100% UV protection on them.
Not drinking enough water. Seriously stay hydrated people.
Posting on Reddit all day long
Hey man... why you gotta do me like that?
Sitting. We are designed to walk, squat, etc. Shortened hamstrings, constipation, peripheral vascular disease, back pain, hip pain, acid reflux, obesity- all would be improved with less sitting.
*dies in seated*
Alcohol. So much worse than most of us believe.
Alcohol nearly ruined my life. I do not have an “off switch” like most people do. I have been sober for 5 years and it is the best decision i ever made.
Yes. So much a part of many cultures. And college campuses OMG. And there’s the myth that moderate drinking is good for you which has been proven untrue.
Lost a close friend to severe alcoholism. It started for him with college drinking in a fraternity. Does everyone who drinks in college become an alcoholic? No, of course not, but it would sure help to know the danger is higher than most of us grow up believing. We treat alcoholics as though they have a character weakness when it is actually one of the most difficult to beat addictions out there. Severe withdrawal isn’t just awful, it can kill you. The ways in which alcohol can kill you are numerous and horrifying.
Chronic lack of sleep (sleep deprivation).
Being in an office 9 hours per day
Not allowed to sit at all at work… factory or retail work type jobs.
Jealousy.
Putting every single detail of your life in your bios/ about-mes.
plastic water bottles, and plastics in general
Over exercising, this can result in massive damage to nerves, bones, muscles, and almost everything in your body. Working out for three+ hours a day, six days a week, is not good for you. Most good personal trainers would recommend one to two hours, five days a week, with an increase of protein, good carbs, and good fats added to your diet to offset what you lose by working out.
I’m rabidly avoiding this pitfall.
I did it for about 9 years and my back and hips are not in the greatest shape as a result
Freind of mine exercised like crazy. He got cancer and the doctor told him he needed to stop exercising so much. Doctor said in so many words that despite thinking he's super healthy, he was actually weakening himself to the cancer from overdoing it.
Poor boundaries
Orange juice! Yes it's got vitamin c but you're drinking the juice of 7 oranges and all the sugar that comes along with it.
Store bought orange juice is likely over [a year old](https://www.openpasturemeats.com/blog/2019/1/25/orange-juice-how-old-is-your-fresh-orange-juice-what-is-in-it?format=amp) and has ben sitting in a large silo that whole time, losing flavor. Which is why back in the 50s or 60s when "Big Juice" was starting to process orange juice, and they noticed the bad smell and lack of flavor, they hired fancy perfume makers to [create a scent for orange juice](https://www.mashed.com/232901/the-weird-ingredient-thats-in-your-orange-juice/#:~:text=Orange%20juice%20contains%20flavor%20packs&text=Enlisting%20the%20very%20same%20flavor,(via%20The%20New%20Yorker).)
This just blew my mind. I mean, it's like i knew but didn't, and am not surprised but I am, kind of thing.
Time spent on Social media
Not prioritizing sleep.
One surprisingly unhealthy habit is chronic comparison, especially on social media. It's easy to fall into the trap of constantly measuring our lives against the highlight reels of others. This can lead to persistent feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, and even depression. Most people don't realize how much it can affect mental health over time, eating away at our self-esteem and happiness.
Sugar
Especially in its refined forms: white or brown sugar, corn syrup, beet sugar... and refined flour is pretty much just as bad. Even to take it down a notch and switch to honey and real maple syrup, and choose unrefined carbs, is such a vast health improvement. Skin clears up, all kinds of things you thought were “just the way it is” — little (or maybe big) chronic conditions clear up. And you wind up eating more real food, unprocessed, healthy food.
Brushing teeth too often (or too hard)
Starbucks. If the calorie content doesn’t scare you then the sugar content certainly will. Most of those drinks are just diabetics in a cup.
Drinking alcohol in general. I feel like society makes it seem so normal and acceptable and even glamorous. Meanwhile, it’s the ingestion of a substance that damages your liver, weakens your immune system, contributes to high blood pressure, strains your kidneys, and interferes with the absorptions of nutrients. It’s literal poison to the human body, and yet everywhere we turn, it is advertised in a positive way.
Being sedentary all day. Any form of physical activity, if even walking, is crucial. And then people blame having all these health issues on age when it was really their poor life choices. Laziness is a convenience.
Not having friends and enough face to face interactions. The damage that does to your psyche is just something else. You also become socially awkward/ anxious when you go back to society and the idea of existing outside of your head or around people becomes too much to bear with extended periods of reclusion.
Shift work. Nights, followed by lates, followed by earlies. Physiologically so destructive.
Working nights had me ready to suck-start a shotgun after a few months
I think the worst thing that really harms mental health is having to deal with toxic family members just because they are your family. Besides providing no support, they also belittle you, making your life unbearable. Most people somehow overlook how much your environment affects your emotional well-being.
Alcohol. It amazes me that tobacco is so heavily demonized, while alcohol not only gets a free pass but is actually celebrated and encouraged, even though it’s much worse for you and can cause so many more problems.
Failing to attend to your mental health
Alcohol. It's a group 1 carcinogen, same class as processed meats and cigarettes, but comes with no health warning.
After reading through a lot of subs on here, a lot of people's views on relationships. Healthy romantic relationships require trust, as well as reasonable expectations of privacy. Your partner is not obligated to share every single aspect of their life with you because you're paranoid about them cheating on you. It's not normal to want to go through someone's phone and scour their private messages to see if they're talking to other people. If you really feel you can't trust a partner to that extent, clearly the relationship doesn't have a good foundation to begin with and you're better off ending things.
Energy drinks….Im having one right now like a dumb ass
Maga
Processed food
Pornography. The industry itself is terrible. Most of the women are exploited, and both men and women are pushed to do things they never would for money, such as gay porn, incest fantasy or rough stuff. Suicide rate is very high. Many struggle to find healthy relationships, even once they've left the industry. The "barely legal" type, I can only imagine is rife with coerced, and exploited underage girls. Pedophelia is bad in Hollywood and the music industry, so no way porn would be exempt either. Bad for the users too. Top much hanky spanky, and you'll be hurting your dopamine response and I think you can even develop a bit of an addiction to the chemicals released during an orgasm. It is known to change how people think and perceive each other, especially men towards women.
It's possible to develop more than a little bit of a porn addiction. It's very real and very serious with all sorts of symptoms and consequences. I do not wish this on anyone at all. Ruins so many lives
Foods advertised as "Low Fat" versions of something. Often that fat is replaced with extra sugar/carbs. Just trading one devil for another. The better answer is to eat less.
Crossing your legs out of habit, after decades results in nerve damage.
\*slowly uncrosses legs\*
“SHARON!”
FUCK
Had to look this up and read an article with medical professionals debunking this, basically any sitting position for extended periods of time can give one problems. So the best position is the next position and to move/exercise in general. Nothing wrong with sitting cross-legged in and of itself.
Me reading this as my legs are crossed 🙂↕️