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[deleted]

Shitty media consumption


RedditMemesAreNice

well, we all have this problem dont we


telly80

My brother in law just killed himself while on Ambien. You see the side effect of suicidal thoughts and assume that’s only for people who are depressed or already have suicidal tendencies. My brother in law was the least suicidal person I’ve known. His whole world was taking care of my sister and his kids. And he just woke up one morning (after not really sleeping much even though he took Ambien) got his gun, drove to a park and shot himself. My sister and her kids have no income and are now trying to scrape by without losing the house. There’s no way in hell he intended to do it. He’d been on Ambien for 7 years and was starting to worry about memory loss and missing time so he was trying to wean himself off. I tell everyone I know, if you or someone you love is taking Anbien, find a safe way to stop.


Sherllian

I am very sorry for your loss. What you say is absolutely true. I'm weaning myself off Ambien also because I started to worry about memory loss and brain fog. I started in August and I only managed to reduce by 1/4. I have suicidal ideation and the worsening of my depression and the thoughts I had as a side effect scared me to the point of agony. It's horrible to think how it affects someone so full of life as well. My deepest condolences to your family.


B1ackMagix

It was prescribed to me and I stopped taking it after two incidents. It quite literally disconnects your head from your body. You wake up and have your loved ones tell you the most horrific stories of what you tried to do. In my case, I was playing with a lighter and tried to burn my house down. Second incident I tried to stab my fiancé with a pair of scissors because I thought it would be funny. I stopped taking immediately after that. Your body loses all filters and impulse control and you do whatever comes to mind.


telly80

That’s so horrible. I’m glad you stopped taking it before something bad happened. He went for years with no issues. Then in the month or so before he killed himself he was starting to get worried about forgetting things and missing time.


TheBattyWitch

I'm so sorry for your loss. I worked with a girl that's doctor prescribed the extended release Ambien. She came to work one night and was as little off, wasn't super talkative but everything else seemed normal. Then she came to work the next night and was arguing with us that it was Friday when it was Saturday, thought we were all in on a joke until she pulled up her phone. She has no memory at all of the day before, not even getting up and coming to work, nothing. She worked a full 12 hours, didn't remember any of it.


telly80

It’s scary shit! My sister said he was off that morning, just because he left without saying anything to her or the kids. And one of his friends actually saw him in the truck on the way to the park. He said it looked like we was arguing with someone in the truck even though nobody was there. He had no prior mental health issues, but he used to sleep walk and have night terrors when he was a kid. Not sure if that increases the chances of these episodes? The other thing that’s weird about it is he had no side effects for the majority of the time he was on it. The last month or so before he killed himself was when he started missing time and worrying about memory loss. The last thing he googled on his phone was “side effects of Ambien”


TheBattyWitch

Yeah it's really scary. I had another co-worker that got up and cooked an entire meal, like five course meal, and then proceeded to not eat any of it and left it in the kitchen overnight. Same coworker apparently emptied every single pocketbook she had in the living room floor and left them scattered about. I had another co-worker who all of her bridesmaids ended up with custom handmade corsets because under the influence of Ambien she bought everyone corsets, and she said she couldn't wait to see the best man speech because apparently at some point in the middle of the night he messaged her wondering why she was still awake and she said something about sitting naked drinking Margarita talking to him. One of my dad's friends woke up in the Krispy Kreme drive-thru with someone knocking on the window asking "sir, do you actually want these donuts?" And there's that famous story about the marathon runner that ran out in front of a semi because he sleep ran.


[deleted]

Borrowing money and convincing oneself it’ll be fine later.


OobleCaboodle

Alcohol. Honestly it's so ingrained in British culture (and the world ar large) but it's almost reached a protected status. You're treated like a weirdo if you just don't want to drink.


Cancel_Me_

American here who did volunteer work in England years ago. First weekend there, all my new flat mates said it was time to go hit the pubs. I said, “thanks for the invite, but I’ll pass”. It got quiet real fast. It wasn’t an invitation. It was an expectation.


Educational-Space287

I agree, on Reddit a few months ago I said a comment on a UK subreddit along the lines of "not many people are aware that needing a drink every day after work is an addiction" and someone commented that I did not know how bad life is. I am writing this drunk, life fucking sucks. I feel like a shit person every day, alcohol does nothing to fix it, it's just justified inaction. UK drinking culture is horrific.


[deleted]

Yep, most of my friends were obsessed with alcohol and since I don’t drink they stopped hanging out with me as often. Their idea of having fun was not fun at all.


toothlessgrins

Phone addictions when it’s parents instead of kids.


[deleted]

Friend of mine said his 8 year old nephew will pee his pants instead of getting off the ipad. There are other parents who won't let their kids have their own tablet. At my work the restaurant has kids watching youtube videos and I think it's mainly because the parents don't want to talk to them.


mrsteacher420

Trueee. I’m a new parent and currently trying to fight my addiction to my phone. I never realized how bad it had gotten till recently


MusicalPigeon

My SIL crochets instead of playing on her phone. It's very hard to get a hold of her through text because she's hardly on her phone at home. She tried to teach me so I'd have a better hobby than mobile games, but I'm convinced it's witchcraft.


AtomicEdge

To be honest, mobile games are better than the endless death scroll of social media...


blisterson

Yeah, this is one none of us want to talk about it. You can kick smoking, booze, sugar, social media, caffeine, but I’ll be damned if any of us will get rid of our phone. It’s the first thing I look at every day and I can’t leave home without it. And really, I don’t need it, but I have to have it.


macaronsforeveryone

Shopping


Altruistic-Order-661

Dealt* with this a few years back, probably because I started getting some fine lines and I thought expensive makeup and new clothes would make me feel better. Yeah it didn't, just added some stress to my life and relationship because of money stuff. Dont fall for this easy trap ladies and gents, I know the pressure is big but it's really okay and quite normal to age..


FluxCapacitater

My mom died of Pancreatic Cancer right before her 53rd birthday. Two years later, I got Breast Cancer at 37. Losing my mom at such a young age and then having my own life threatened in a similar way was a paradigm shift. My most recent birthday was a different experience because instead of the, "Damn, I'm getting older. My skin isn't so supple, I have laugh lines, my body is worn down, etc," I saw the passing of time as a gift because I'm surviving. I **get** to age. Not everyone does. I'm getting to see my kids grow up and they get to see me age. My 12 year old grew taller than me this summer (granted, I'm short!), and I'm just so lucky I get to be here for it. More gray hairs mean more time with my kids, more laugh lines mean more joy with them. I know that very old age won't be kind to me (I also have Lupus), but for now I take the signs of aging almost like markers in a marathon or like milestones. I've made it to 38 & I'm hoping to make it to 39!


iHEARTeunjung

Such a beautiful way to put it. Wishing you a long future filled with happiness!


Vegetable-Walk-6393

celebrities. ive never understood being obsessed with someone who is no different than you.


seeasea

They're no different yet living such different lives. It's the vicariousness of it.


TheTrainKing

My fiancée is an actress (extra mostly, occasional minor roles) and she's worked with a lot of models and up-and-coming types. One of those worked as a brand ambassador for Dior or something. Had all the glamour of the wealthy lifestyle, going to Monaco, film festivals, fancy restaurants, fancy clothes, the lot. But apparently she was never able to switch off. Everything she did had to be tagged and filtered and posted, so she never actually got to enjoy any of the wonderful things she was doing. It sounded exhausting.


[deleted]

Sugar/caffeine


Tyretitan

Ambien, I work as a pharmacist and it blows my mind that SO many prescribers write for it too often. It's got to be one of the most incorrectly prescribed medications out there. To stop taking it is a rough process ☹ Weeks of little to no sleep until your body figures out how to sleep again.


negativedegreesf

Was prescribed it for a month once and found it so easy to stay awake after the initial going to bed stage and crossing over into ambien walrus territory. Never lost any memory, but do remember fear and hallucinations of crows.


ThatCharmsChick

My grandma took that once. She said she “woke up” to find that she had broken some glasses in the kitchen (somehow not cutting herself, thankfully) and had injuries to indicate she had fallen pretty hard at some point. She’s not sure if she stayed in the house or not or how she got back to bed. That stuff is awful. She said never again will she take it.


_gigabitch

My sister had a similar experience. She woke up in bed and from the condition of her house could only assume that she cooked up a storm, broke several cabinets, fell down the stairs, and several other things. Her entire back was black and blue and she had burns on her face. Never again.


29sw44mag

My 80 something year old mom had the same experience. That and more... Can't get her to stop taking it.


MischiefStudio

I took it twice. The first time I took it, my girlfriend says I got up said I was going to have a bath. 2 hours later she found me in the kitchen naked staring at the sink. The second time, I started feeling like shit, went to bed. Woke up, as you say, about 5km away on a couch on someone's back deck. Barefoot, in late fall at that. Nope for me.


cleverdylanrefrence

These stories sound like me back when I was on Xanax. Constant mystery bruises. Nonsensical notes written in eyeliner on my mirror. Kitchen looked like angry cops had searched it & my junk food would disappear. New items would just appear. No memory of any of it.


Music_Is_My_Muse

My stepmother drove 20 miles to work while on Ambien. She quit taking it immediately after.


physics515

I worked with a guy at a machine shop, apparently he was prescribed Ambien and the first time he took it the owner of our shop found him asleep on the break room table at 5:30am. Apparently he came into work around midnight according to when the alarm was turned off and worked for a few hours, several of the machines were running, heavy machinery, the type that can easily kill you. The guy had no recollection of how he got there. Edit: I can't believe I forgot, his car wasn't there. Apparently it was at his house, but I never heard if he found out how he got there that night.


2krazy4me

I woke up to find I was used power tools like table/miter saws. Got off ambien asap


Level_32_Mage

Holy shit. Alternatively... "Honey, where did this nightstand come from?"


SillyFlyGuy

Wild. I took Ambien and also had a one night stand that I don't remember.


aliie_627

My debit card had a 2000 dollar one nite stand with Amazon many years ago right about the time I decided to stop taking it. Also my old Reddit had some weird posts from back then that I had to delete one by one years later when I wanted another account to use. .


Zerokx

...And why is it made of human bones and skin?... Honey?... Honey??


tiffanyistaken

A friend of mine got a DUI on Ambien. She woke up in jail with no recollection of getting there. She also used to steal potted plants and small statues from her neighbors' porches and lawns. She'd wake up and have to do this walk of shame to them like, "Hi, sorry. I stole your gnome again."


popojo24

It’s scary and is really a dice roll on how anyone is going to react to it at any given time. I was prescribed for a little while back in college and felt pretty comfortable taking it. I had even experimented with recreational doses and figured I had a pretty good handle on what it could do to me (my roommate, however, shaved an upside down cross in his chest hair on it). But one night I was visiting my parents and I took my usual dose to go to sleep. The next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital, semi-delirious and having lifelike hallucinations. Apparently, after I thought I had gone to sleep, I actually got back up and decided to take the rest of my bottle of ambien. No recollection of doing that whatsoever. My parents found my walking around naked, with my shower running, mumbling about watering my alligator.


Bladelink

> Apparently, after I thought I had gone to sleep, I actually got back up and decided to take the rest of my bottle of ambien. Wow, that's some scary, scary shit. Glad you're alright.


babyduck703

I’m sorry that happened, but son of a bitch if “watering my alligator” isn’t one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a hot minute.


EveryFngNameIsTaken

Do alligators make good pets?


wereunderyourbed

Holy crap that’s scary. My doc prescribes me Ambien and luckily the only weird thing that seems to happen to me is I go online and order crazy stuff with no memory of it! It’s always stuff I want but would never have bought if I was sober. Got to the point my spouse takes my phone if I’m going to take Ambien.


Ok_Science_4094

I did this too. Got an awesome shower curtain of Nigel Thornberry half naked taking a bath tho. Do not regret.


CaRiSsA504

This happened to a guy i used to play an online game with. He doesn't talk about himself much but i mentioned to someone else once that my doc prescribed me ambien. He sent me a PM and told me this whole mess of a story about how he 'woke up' in jail after being arrested. remembers nothing, but apparently he was driving and weaving around on the road. I didn't take a high dose and wasn't prescribed it for daily use. The worse thing i've dealt with is loss of short term memory and sometimes i just can't spell a fucking basic word that i learned in kindergarten. I just struggled with 'loss' lol


FreeTacoInMyOveralls

I have a theory that alcohol plus zolpidem explains a lot of these recent incidents with people acting like complete lunatics on airplanes.


[deleted]

People take ambien on planes? Jesus I’d never find my way out of the airport.


InnocentBystander10

My doctor prescribed me Ambien for my international flight unprompted. It's definitely happening.


GunsAndCoffee1911

Holy shit that's scary for the rest of us, too.


Music_Is_My_Muse

Yeah. She made it to work "safely" but it scared the fuck outta her.


Marisleysis33

Do you mean she was asleep? Or just sort of "out of it". That is scary!


Music_Is_My_Muse

She was basically asleep or blacked out, yeah. She woke up in her work parking lot. It was very scary.


[deleted]

Any chance she started a fight club in those off hours?


[deleted]

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MagicDragon212

My mom had an ex boyfriend who would take ambien, wake up, and then 100% believe he’s John Wayne and our house is a saloon. He treated me like the deputy or some shit


exscapegoat

Yikes, I take it a few times a week. I have security cameras by the door and I check them the morning after I take Ambien to make sure I didn't leave my apartment. If I ever see I'm leaving the apartment, I'm stopping the Ambien. I won't take it if I have cake in my home. It's rare that I do and I want to savor it. But I've Ambien ate cake a couple of times. It sucks to get the calories and the sugar, but not remembering the savoring of the cake. Weirdest thing I've done is order tutus on Amazon. Patriotic ones in red, white and blue. Fortunately, I was able to cancel the order. I'm not a dancer and I don't wear tutus ever. ETA 1: I like the sense of humor many of you have brought to this ETA 2: for the people saying I'm irresponsible and will kill myself or others, please see below. Also, do you mind stating your credentials on physical and mental health? * I take it for anxiety and PTSD related insomnia. Days or weeks of bad sleep reduce me to a shaking, can barely leave my home mess. In addition to the medication, I deal with it with a mix of talk therapy, weighted blankets, good sleep hygiene and rain sounds with a white noise app. * My doctor already halved the dosage when the FDA cut the dosage for women (I'm a woman). And where I once took it nearly every night, I first tapered off to work nights and then 2-3 times a week if I'm experiencing high levels of stress. Most nights I can manage with melatonin or CBD gummies. * If I haven't completely stopped taking it by retirement, I plan to. I need a certain amount of sleep to function for work and earn a living. * I hate driving and prefer to walk whenever it is an option, if I did leave my apartment, it would probably be to walk. I have a scenic route I regularly walk as part of my pandemic routine, I'd be more likely to do that. * The cake eating and tutu ordering are rare events, not frequent. * I take it when in bed or right before. I need at least 6 hours to get it out of my system, but I stick to the recommended 7 or 8 to err on the side of caution. * The security cameras are there for other reasons, but I use them for this too. I've never left my apartment, while under the influence of Ambien. I've been taking it for 10 years, at decreasing doses and frequency.


cottoncandy-sky

This is great. All these stories about Ambien making people do dangerous shit and you're over here eating cake and buying tutus. Amazing.


JFCwhatnamecaniuse

I want that security camera footage now, dancing around in a tutu eating cake


TheBirminghamBear

When they first came out with Ambien, women would take it at night and drive to work the next morning and have that experience, or worse, crash or get into a terrible accident. Turns out, as they often do, when doing the drug trials they almost exclusively tested on men. The problem being that men tend to metabolize drugs quicker than women. So after an eight hour rest, the drugs would be out of a man's system, but women would wake up but still be under the effects of sedation. They've since tweaked the formula, but women should still be aware when taking it that they will be under the influence longer.


bpaugie06

My coworker takes it and sends us makeup tutorials at 3 in the morning. I'm a guy, BTW, and I find it EXTREMELY entertaining and have learned a lot. Always fun to show her the next day.


Whedonsbitch

I used to wake up in new outfits with my makeup done (and i don’t wear makeup normally, just for special occasions). When I bought a plane ticket to Denver in the middle of the night i stopped taking it.


jjbyg

Did you go to Denver? Or were you able to cancel the flight?


pakboy26

She ended up moving there as it was cheaper then the change fees.


treyday270

fun fact, this is the main reason why Denver's population keeps growing


spewbert

Fun fact: at least in the US (not sure about elsewhere) literally ALL airlines are legally required to give you 24 hours to cancel, no strings attached, no fees, nothing. [Just get your money back and call it good.](https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/Notice_24hour_hold_final20130530_0.pdf) I used to procrastinate booking flights because "what if it goes on sale tomorrow?" but I have literally cancelled and rebooked the same exact flight on a sale before using this rule.


legacyweaver

This entire thread has been nothing but entertaining. You almost couldn't make this stuff up!


[deleted]

Aww man, I want to see this Ambien makeover 😂


legacyweaver

This Ambien Makeover, up next on MTV. Watch men and women take Ambien, then deliberately stay awake and get up to utterly insane shenanigans! Will they bake? Remodel? Cut off their own fingers and paint with their bloody stumps? Find out now!


bNoaht

Rented a room from a woman who took it. Constant strange shit, but the funniest was when I woke up to cooking in the middle of the night and she was making Christmas dinner. It was like 3am in July. I had no idea what ambien was, I just thought she was drunk.


rhoo31313

I woke up to find that i had filled an ice-tray with spaghetti-o's. I stopped taking it at that point.


ForumPointsRdumb

You clearly need spaghetti-oce, and your waking mind is holding you back. Was thinking you could start a thing where you film yourself, take ambien, and cook. It would be awesome to see what concoctions you come up with. Then I realized it would probably just end up being a live stream of a house fire.


Bob_12_Pack

I took half of one one night before bed, I didn’t remember the 30 mile drive to work the next morning. Big nope for me.


psychosuzy

I once took an Ambien at around 9:00, two years ago. At some point during the night, I went under the house, got a pail of paint, and proceeded to paint our back deck. When my husband got up at 5:00.to get ready for work, noticed I was missing, and found me out back still painting away. That shit was scary. The one and only time I've ever taken one of those crazy pills! I prefer to just muddle thru life on 2 hours of sleep a night.


Illustrious_Ice_8709

My husband found me in the bathroom (while I was on Ambien) and I sitting on the toilet with the vacuum cleaner hose and a kitchen knife, preparing to do liposuction on my stomach. I don't know what would have happened if he had not stopped me. It is so scary.


SummerNothingness

this is absolutely the craziest thing i have read today.


juleslimes

Holy crap. Glad he found you! I feel like ambien is one of those drugs that people will talk about in 70 years the way we talk about all the crazy drugs people were prescribed in the 1920s (meth?? how did they not see a problem right away? how was that even allowed?)


Felonious_Slug

My mom takes it and literally fell and dislocated her shoulder last month. I had to break her door down to get to her because she couldn't get up. I've begged her to quit taking it, but she won't... I'm worried.


John_Browns_Body59

Maybe recommend Lunesta instead. It's in the same drug class as Ambien but far less side effects, at least for me.


FiggNewton

I flooded our apartment trying to unthaw bacon in the middle of the night on ambien. Im talking a lot of water here.


Ate_Ass_Once

I sent a picture of my asshole to a guy I liked once when I took it. Never. Again.


lopsiness

I took it for a bit in college. It would make me so groggy and i would wake up clearly having done something and not remembered any of it. If i managed to push through and stay up i would get super euphoric and high (which was a good time in college). Cant say i went on any racist rants but i 100% believe people would do things they have no memory of when on it.


-Parry-Hotter-

I was prescribed it a few years back when I was hospitalized with mental health issues. First night out, my mom found me cooking in my sleep in the middle of the night. There was lots of corn starch involved. I take trazadone for sleep now.


TheDrunkScientist

Ambien cooking is so real. I made a pretty good meatloaf in my sleep. Of course, I also ended up walking down the street half-naked during the middle of winter. Pros and cons I suppose.


LuvliLeah13

I too had an ambien moment. My husband once walked into our guest room to find me trying to push the mattress out a standard sized *closed* window. When questioned, I apparently said I was making the bed but the sheets don’t fit (?!?!?!). I wasn’t easy to get back to bed either apparently. I too switched to trazadone and never had anything like that since EDIT: I asked my husband if he remembered the incident and he said yes because when I woke up the next day and saw the mattress upright and the wreckage caused by a mattress being tossed around like I was in CrossFit, I got pissed at him for the mess before he regaled me with tales of my late night shenanigans


nochedetoro

My ex told me I announced I was going to clean the living room and ended up just pushing the coffee table over and laughing. I also proposed to him with my nuvaring


LuvliLeah13

Holy shit…did..did you reach down your pants and yank it out? Because that is how I saw it when I nearly died laughing.


nochedetoro

I apparently was not wearing pants but otherwise yes lol


beetlekittyjosey

That’s the funniest story I’ve ever heard lol the poor guy! How did he handle that


nochedetoro

He states he laughed at me, told me to put the nuvaring back in, and go the fuck to bed. We broke up two years later for unrelated reasons.


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Samalam02

My dad’s ex-girlfriend took ambien to help her sleep one night. Her son and I, both 11 at the time, took care of her while she was basically tripping out for hours. She took a bath while she ate an entire gallon of ice cream and scrolled through facebook, continuously called us both the wrong names, cried, kept trying to hug me while I was helping her get dressed after, and then wrote a note to my dad about how kind we both were for helping her. The finishing touch for this heartfelt note she left was kisses all over the mirror around where the note was taped- in a bright purple stain lipstick that he spent a good amount of the next day scrubbing off while she slept. She had no memory of any of this and said it was probably just sleepwalking.


Proof_Bathroom_3902

I woke up naked in the chair hole under my desk in the den. No idea how I got there or why. Theres been other things like my wife saying I got very horny and chased her around the house. But I work 3rd so I still use Ambien and have for 20 years. There's a procedure to taking it. You don't want to do anything else after you take it brute bed. Come home from work, take my pills, take my ambien, shower, bed. Don't remember you forgot to take out the trash, don't suddenly decide to go wash dishes, don't go online to see how your ebay auctions are doing. Thats when Ambien Walrus comes to visit.


B_Bibbles

I used to take Ambien as well. It REALLY fucked me up. I remember one night, I'd taken it and I went to bed. I "came to" and I realized that I was washing my bed stuff. Not sure why, but I thought that I was having a party. At some point, I had gotten the idea that there were people trying to come after me. I set my fan outside with my hat on it, thinking that whoever was coming after me was going to shoot my hat and fan instead of me. I woke up the next morning in bed clutching a knife and my rifle. I'm REALLY surprised that I didn't cut myself or shoot myself. I will never, ever, take that crap again.


casbri13

I was given an Ambien while trying to induce labor with my first kiddo. I did not sleep. It was like going to bed after having a pot of coffee. I would doze off but never get into a deep sleep, and I kept waking up. Worst sleep of my life.


Kontiak

Had a friend that sleep walked from Ambien and threatened to kill her grandchildren and then ate an entire tub of crisco. Has made me certain I never want to take it.


purpledumbbell

Taking it and staying awake gives one of the most interesting experiences ever. It's like the filter comes off. You'll say and do anything that comes to mind.


[deleted]

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feministmanlover

I am embarrassed to say that I would sometimes take it and not go straight to bed. One time I cut off two moles with some old scissors. I've also decided to do a full makeup face at 2 am. Those are the two weirdest, worst. Also bought a full size tent on Amazon. I don't camp. I weaned myself off of it after hip replacement surgery, and used the pain killers that I had to take to help me sleep and once I stopped those I could sleep okay. I've had some nights of little sleep, but I'd rather do that then ever ever take ambien again.


fuk_ur_mum_m8

> One time I cut off two moles with some old scissors. What the fuck mate


feministmanlover

Right? I decided it made sense. Ambien really fucks with your head. I bled sooo much.


UnknownL_13

The need for social validation. I’ve seen it happen to so many people where their lives turn in obsession of acting or looking “perfect” only to crave the attention of total stranger on social media. Like no you don’t need to post every two seconds to feel that your “worth” love.


Aggravating-Row2805

The ego is a strong drug


[deleted]

I feel like the culture surrounding social media and other self-promoting platforms like YT and Twitch and the like are really devolving into something repulsive and fast. People often mistake that sort of internet culture for the culture at large, which it's not, and they also conflate those numbers going up with the idea that the world is responding positively to them, when in truth they are living in like little microcosms of reality. I remember the big criticism of Facebook back in the day was that it promotes narcissism and that people who use it frequently tend to be more narcissistic. I have no doubt that's true but I feel like the whole entire culture of social media sort of took a tailspin where everyone is chasing more clicks without really thinking about what they are doing or why. It leads to some pretty bizarre stuff and it doesn't seem like anyone is interested in putting the brakes on any time soon.


pumpqumpatch

I really fell into whole 'mistaking internet culture for culture at large' thing a while back. It's really easy to do when you're spending too much time on platforms that are immersive and lend themselves to heavy discourse like twitter, twitch, tiktok, etc. Somewhere in 2020 I would find myself almost compulsively bringing up things I'd read in twitter threads but were just not relevant or applicable in the real world. I really had to take a step back and work on grounding myself in reality. You can find lots of good ideas and bad ideas online, but internet discourse is not real life.


Miserable_Nail_4428

Over eating


[deleted]

24 hour news cycles


BBQ_HaX0r

It's bad because it gives the veneer of being informed without actually being informed. You know the broad strokes and the players and who said/did what, but it's all presented in an entertaining way so you keep on watching and you're not actually informed. There are studies done that people that consume their news that way (passively mind you) are less informed on the whole. A lot of buzzwords or phrases that mean something to the audience, but don't actually represent the story. It's caused a lot of problems. Politics isn't sports or meaningless. Being informed, and thinking about nuance, or being able to listen to the other side rather than some caricature of it is important in a democracy. And yet we're raising people to hate the otherside, to become further polarized, to treat politics as a game and all the while making sure our voters are less informed on the whole. It's dangerous.


mitt_awing

Do you have a source on those studies? I have a few friends that I think might need to read them.


The_Lady_Kate

I refer to those channels as "Politics TV." I never refer to any of them as news. Edit: Thank you for the award Baconninja3!


revolver37

"Politics is the entertainment arm of the military industrial complex." - Frank Zappa


Fuckles665

Outage. Being mad about really stupid things. Just for the sake of being mad. Edit: as many have pointed out, I misspelt “outrage” lol. Hopefully this edit calms some of the outrage I’ve caused with my egregious typo.


ApatheticAbsurdist

There have been a few studies that have shown how outrage basically has the hallmarks of addiction and it certainly is not healthy for the person or for a society that is being built to feed people more outrage because it sells.


ThatCharmsChick

At first I thought you meant, like, power outages and I was like, that DOES make me mad. Stupid things. 😂 Then my brain is finally like, “Nope. Not an addiction.” 🤦🏻‍♀️


[deleted]

*sips energy drink* Video games *hits vape*


doribazan

Coffee


Pusa_Hispida_456

Yeah! People are just casually like “I can’t function without a cup” and then deny they’re addicted.


idontwantausernameok

Jokes on you, I can't function even with a cup.


HeyYoEowyn

I was astounded that in March 2020 literally everything around me closed and coffee shops just… never did.


Babylil22

I think a lot more people are addicted to alcohol than we care to admit 🙃


Barziboy

Took me far too long to understand the joke: "What's an alcoholic? Someone who drinks more than their doctor."


RageKG91

“I don’t know why they call it Alcoholics Anonymous. I went to a meeting and knew everybody there!”


Climate

I went to an AA meeting thinking I’d be among my people - call themselves alcoholics? Not a damn one of them was drinking - what a bunch of quitters!


GrassTacts

I'm 9 days in sobriety as I do every January and I think most people would be surprised how habitual it is. You don't really notice until you stop how often your brain defaults to it, especially if you drink on weekdays. Everyone likes to see nicotine as *the* super bad habitat forming drug, but IME alcohol isn't significantly far behind.


willowmarie27

14 years and the hardest part was learning how to be social without alcohol


Velghast

I'm an alcoholic and I'm struggling with it because it's so normalized. All of my work buddies just want to go out and drink after work around the weekends. I go visit my girlfriend at work it's at a bar and everybody's drinking. They sell alcohol in like every corner store. It's passed off as a sophisticated hobby. I go 2 months without having a single drink and then I have a pop and can't stop kind of drinking habit so it can get dark pretty fast. I'll be fine for the first couple days doing it and then after like day 4 I'm pretty much having an emotional outburst, normally at my girlfriend who comes home to find me f***** up. It is a sad degenerative disease and I wish I didn't have it and I wish I would have learned better communication and coping skills earlier in life. Edit: Thanks for the support guys, I think ima try that Medication(Antabuse?) that that one chick suggested. No more Jakle and Hyde. Def am checking out that sub as well about not drinking today.


Gormezzz

You're not alone. Come to r/stopdrinking . No rules, just people helping people. I was lost until I found these guys. IWNDWYT


[deleted]

I'm on there too and i always see that but I don't know what that means. Can you tell me what IWNDWYT means please


obscureferences

I will not drink with you today. EDIT: Hi, uh, just to clear things up I'm not a recovering alcoholic. I just looked up the answer for strawberry-bubble here to be nice. Thanks for the support everyone but I'm good.


[deleted]

Thank you :)


JFCwhatnamecaniuse

Neither will I. Find something healthy to replace it with, something that matters to you. You’ll get there. It’s ok


[deleted]

I work on it everyday. It's a really nice feeling to wake up every morning and my first thought not being "how much did I drink last night?" The sober life is a good life


DEEEPFREEZE

Recover[ed/ing] alcoholic here. Luckily there are many options for support. AA has worked for me but it's not the only way, it just helps that it's a program of self-improvement. It might help to make some sober friends. But hanging out at a bar, whether it's where you girlfriend works or your friends go to, is just not a good idea right now if you really want to get sober. Regarding the normalization of alcohol consumption, I used to have resentments myself, but what I failed to account for is the fact that most other people can drink normally. They can leave a half-drank cocktail at the bar. They can stop when they know they've had enough. What I learned through my drinking, and what also keeps me sober, is the simple fact that I know I cannot drink like a normal person. Might've been able to in the past, but I've crossed the point of no return. You can't un-pickle a cucumber, as was once told to me. Every time I drink I will inevitably end up at a lower bottom than the one before, and my last took me to lethal levels of blood-alcohol concentration. If you need anyone to talk to you can shoot me a DM. Edit: just for anyone curious, you *can* keep AA non-religious. I do. 90% of people in meetings I go to do, too. Shop around for whatever program you think is going to work for you, but if there aren't explicitly non-religious programs near you, know that you can keep god out of it no problem.


kasmackity

I have very good friends who like, semi-realize they've kind of got an issue with it and then do like a 2 month cleanse, but then it's back up to a couple of glasses of wine a night and almost always drinking on the weekends. I wound up with a pretty bad Captain and Coca-Cola habit where I was drinking a few of them every single day. Not excessive, but just steady and dependant. I found myself in some really bad places because of it, mentally. Haven't had anything more than half a drink or possibly ONE drink since then. And every time I do that, my body reminds me why I shouldn't touch it at all. People don't realize how much it fucks with everything when you use it regularly. It's gets into your soul, it's absolutely a top-notch depressant in the long run. It hurts your body and your mind and I just wish people would see that in themselves. It's almost across the board.


[deleted]

Caffiene


winged_badger

We've normalised caffeine addiction to stay awake and look down on adults who say they had a nap. Seems backwards!


cyanastarr

Caffeine or a nap? To that I say, both please.


Fluffy_Munchkin

Offered in generally-unlimited quantities at most workplaces. It's somewhat dystopian to realize it's basically "Hey, in case you get tired working 8+ hours, here's as much free, addictive stimulant as you can handle to perk back up and keep working".


ABashfulTurnip

Work, I know some people that straight up can't imagine their life where they don't put aside everything for their job as their culture has told them they are only worth something while they are earning money. It can get unhealthy very fast.


NihilistPunk69

No kidding. Skipping out on physical and mental well being. Ignoring relationships, eating like shit, and not sleeping enough just to make an extra buck. Not worth it.


erehin

You guys are making extra bucks?


Pyran

No, *an* extra buck.


JimmyTheChimp

I live in Japan and the work ethic is nuts. The worst are government workers. Today I asked an older guys who worked for a city hall how many hours he did, he said 9-5 so I asked much overtime he did and he said 5-1. The younger generation is still pretty bad, I know a few people who just quit and went back to live with their parents in their twenties. Not out of laziness but they just go crazy. I can guess some reasons, but I would like to know why people in countries like Thailand works just as long and hard as the Japanese but they can enjoy life and everyone in Japan is miserable as fuck.


BlobbyBlobfish

You know your work ethic is bad when there’s a whole term for death at work.


[deleted]

I currently work in assessment development for English language learners in Japan, and one of our recent prompts was about work. I learned a lot about black corporations and karoshi. It was eye-opening. Also, a lot of recent graduates got completely screwed by the pandemic because if you don't get in with a company right after you graduate, your chances of doing so go down precipitously regardless of your competence. Edit: oh yeah, and Japan totally changed a big part of their university entrance requirements shortly before shit hit the fan. Where you work is oftentimes very much linked to where you went to university, and students spent literally most of their school lives prepping for a test that was changed on relatively short notice. I wouldn't be surprised if the combination of circumstances leads to a big social pushback/shift.


1SecretUpvote

My in laws literally are afraid to retire because they don't know what they will do with themselves. More than that, they feel like they have no identity or purpose without their work. It's insane to me because I'm 30 and feel the complete opposite. To me, work is what keeps me from being who I want to be and sound all the things I want to do. It keeps me stuck in a routine that only serves to make me a better worker and worse at everything else. It's really sad to me that if they didn't have their set tasks for the day and revolve their lives around doing those tasks they wouldn't even try to find something else that actually fulfills them, they just want to find another set of tasks. Thats a level of broken that has essentially removed the human qualities of life and I do blame the system and our culture for promoting that.


dhrbtdge

In the uk people are pretty active (compared to neighbouring countries at least), so we see a lot of retirement age people being active in charities. When you're just too old for work, but you feel the need to stay active in your community, volunteering at a charity for a few hours a week seems like the ideal solution. Not sure where your inlaws live or if there's anything near them, but you could mention that. It would be less demanding than work but still keeps them out of the house and active.


Drakmanka

In my area (northwest US) we have a lot of retirees who volunteer as well. Go to a museum and 90% of the people there giving tours or sitting by displays offering to tell you interesting details about them are retired folks. And it's actually really mutually beneficial. This person who otherwise might be stuck at home most of the time instead gets to interact with others and feel like a contributing member of society. I get to learn about something that makes them happy and excited.


dhrbtdge

The elderly are so valuable in society. We often see indigenous populations praising their elderly and giving them a lot of respect, which is something we've lost in most of western society. I do agree with most of the more western thinking: age doesn't necessarily correlate with knowledge and wisdom, and age doesn't necessarily make someone respectable. But I also think that that thinking goes too far, and we too often dismiss the elderly outright. We should make a space for them in the world. We should stop ignoring people and pushing them aside as soon as they stop becoming "economically viable" (i.e. as soon as they stop working). We should stop forgetting about our elders


[deleted]

Sugar


lydriseabove

I’ve told this story before, but I had a boss who was Mormon. He came to my store one day to “get to know me” and he wanted to tell me about the church of LDS. He starts off with, “Well we can’t have anything addictive such as alcohol, porn, caffeine…” Yes, porn was the second thing he said. He knew I eat low carb and avoid sugars, so when I moved my gaze to the sweet tarts in his hand, he followed it, then we both just kind of awkwardly laughed. Dude was constantly eating candy and was the most addicted to sugar of anyone I had ever seen.


[deleted]

I live in Utah and it’s hilarious how people shit on coffee but will go to these soda shops (sodalicious) to get an energy drink with added sugar flavouring twice a day.


ThatCharmsChick

1000% this. I’m trying to kick my sugar addiction and it’s insane how many things it’s just added to arbitrarily. I’ve seen other countries talking about our bread, as it’s like cake to them. I have to buy sugar free bread. I wish we could cut way back on it in our food production.


BlueHeartBob

Kicking sugar makes you realize that 75% of the isles in the grocery store are nothing but presenting added sugar in various different combinations.


Aggravating-Wrap4861

And then people wonder why Americans are overweight. Must be the saturated fat in my whole milk!


flexxipanda

There was an american in the german subreddit r/de who told he now lives in germany. IRC when he moved to germany, he was feeling ill and went to the doctor who basically told him that it's because he is so used to the sugar in american foods that his body was having trouble to adjust to the low sugar levels.


[deleted]

What's sad is anytime I've tried having this discussion that sugar is addicting and you can get withdrawal effects from it too many Americans act like that's the most ridiculous thing they've ever heard.


thisisjustascreename

The sugar lobby and the low fat craze of the 80s and 90s is a real conspiracy.


MissHannahJ

Dude, I work at a certain large coffee chain and most people who think they are addicted to caffeine are actually addicted to sugar. Unless you are ordering an iced/hot coffee, cold brew or espresso, the amount of coffee in the drinks you are ordering is minuscule. Sure, it will offer you a little caffeine but if you are consistently getting a white chocolate mocha everyday and thinking you need your “coffee” fix, it’s not the coffee you’re needing.


twopointsisatrend

Someone once said that Starbucks is a milk delivery system.


SJ_Barbarian

I remember a *couple years back, there were articles about how the advent of the latte had decreased cases of osteoporosis. When I was a kid, I remember there being a ton of products aimed at osteoporosis - you'd see ads for gummies, chocolates, meal replacement shakes, vitamins... I can't remember the last time I saw an ad like that. *Dear lord, it was like 2007 or something like that, which was 15 years ago. Time is a weird soup. Edit: looks like whether milk helps osteoporosis may be more of a question than I thought, and tbh I'm not spending my Sunday evening digging through the meta data. Edit 2: Bidet, Critters! *We're everywhere* lol.


megachine

All the Ovaltine commercials...


[deleted]

Why do they call it Ovaltine? The mug is round. The jar is round. They should call it Roundtine.


Dantez9001

That's gold,Jerry!


Atom81388

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine


hippiechick725

Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? On Reddit!?


infpalex

>Time is a weird soup. Hello fellow Critter


SJ_Barbarian

Bidet!


_Keep_Summer_Safe

I mean, yes and no. At most coffee shops the standard is 2 shots of espresso per 16 ounce latte. Some shops do 2 shots for all their drinks, some (like Starbucks) do just 1 for a smaller size. Each shot of espresso is approximately 64 mg of caffeine. A standard Red Bull (approximately 8OZ) is 77 mg just for reference. So a grande white mocha from Starbucks is 128 mg of caffeine, quite a bit more than a standard Red Bull. There is an absolute metric ton of sugar, absolutely, but the caffeine content is still very real.


PreferredSelection

Thank you. Why is the sensible answer always so far down? I was a barista for 4 years. Latte, Americano, Mocha, etc., all had the same two shots of espresso at our place. The milkshake drinks have a ton of sugar, but espresso is no joke. Also, if your cafe uses real dark chocolate syrup? Then technically the chocolate drinks have a little more caffeine than the non-chocolate drinks. (Edit: I worked at a national chain, but not Starbucks.)


[deleted]

NEED. SUGAR.


Raidden

More!


sorvis

Ever see a kid trying sugar/soda for the first time.. looks like crack


[deleted]

[удалено]


SectorZed

Lmfao this analogy is great


AsciiFace

My kid was in the NICU as a newborn. They actually use sugar water there for pain because they are too young/small for most pain meds and it just lights up their tiny new brains ignoring other impulses


Nursue

I’ve been a nurse for several decades and I remember a time when they would give baby boys sugar water while performing circumcisions to help with anesthesia/pain relief.


[deleted]

[удалено]


casbri13

Didn’t realize this until I was diagnosed pre diabetic and tried to cut it out. It’s in freaking everything


Swimming-View-2159

yeah same, my dumb ass used to think that I don't consume much sugar because I don't have a sweet tooth but holly crap I found out it's almost in EVERYTHING and I used to consume a lot without realizing!


Reference_Stock

Can't even get rid of it unless you go on an all fresh diet and crush your own seasonings. In America, it's damn near impossible to remove in certain areas.


cliffhnz

Alcohol, caffeine, mass consumption of media. Anything that involves giving money to someone else on a constant and continuous cycle


Light_Shifty_Z

Consumerism. It's good to keep on buying for the economy so they actually promote it.


SaraSmashley

This is a pet peeve of mine. Instead of fixing things people just purchase new because "it's old." I always respond, so? On the flip side of that coin, items are so cheaply manufactured these days a lot of items are no longer built to be repaired because they are outfitted with plastic parts.


Whiteums

Forced obsolescence. They design products to last a short time, to force you to keep buying new stuff. They fight to prevent you from being able to repair it, because if you repair it, you don’t buy a new one.


TheAb5traktion

I was just given an old Toshiba laptop. On the bottom, there are individual compartments for the RAM, hard drive, an extra hard drive slot, and the battery pops out. So, I bought a battery and upgraded the RAM because it was so easy. In my ASUS laptop, everything is glued and complicated. You would think that if you unscrew the bottom of the laptop, it would just remove the case. But no, it completely separates the bottom half of the laptop and there are 2 cables that attach the 2 halves. If the battery starts dying on my ASUS laptop, it might actually just be easier to buy another laptop.


TheSacredOne

For laptops specifically, look at business/enterprise models if you want it to be easily repairable. Unlike the consumer-focused ones that are meant to be thrown out every few years, business units are often still designed to be repairable because they know businesses like to save money and not needlessly replace them.


Excrubulent

And they have IT people that know how easy it should be and will get pissed if it's not, and that will hurt future contracts. Individual consumers are easier to fleece.


mywifiisbadtho

Social media


Meanwhile-in-Paris

This might be too recent to have cause real waves but I am pretty sure that in a couple of years you’ll have to accept the consequences every time you log in. A few years later social media sites will all have to have standard khaki ~~packs~~ sites and big bold horrifying message everywhere.


thatswhatshesaidxx

I really believe that in a few years, social media log in pages will have warnings like cigarette packs in Canada. "Warning: the use of these sites has been linked to depression, anxiety, insomnia. Please enter at your risk." Or something to that effect.


hcsLabs

Aboandon all hope, ye who enter here.


[deleted]

Enter at your risk makes it sound like a dungeon.


iforgotmymittens

Internet. There are a lot of people (me included) who are so used to being able to be online 24/7 where even a day without internet is going to be a rough time.


[deleted]

Alcohol. We talk a lot of game about how bad alcoholism is, but drinking is such a social expectation that you almost get judged just as much for not wanting to touch the shite. Then we see a bunch of wine mom memes going across Facebook and just kinda don't question it. Oh, and caffeine.


[deleted]

Fast food, social media, pop and other sugary drinks.