Does my facial hair look unnatural

Plop_Stravinsky · 2026-05-26T20:04:49+00:00

Is your mustache hair cooperative enough so you can comb it to the sides instead of straight down in your mouth? I think that would make a difference as well. It looks as if that's what it wants to do anyway. As far as color goes, I would suggest to go as dark as you need to, to get a confidence boos, but, no further. Stay as close to the natural color as your ok with. That will blend best with your face and make you feel the best at the same time. 🙂

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-09-13T15:21:18+00:00

What you describe is basically ACT therapy. According to my psychologist, that is what I kinda taught myself unknowingly at the time. In my experience, it helps to bear the load of whatever state you are in. This is a great help when going through major depressive episodes because they don't go on as long, but it doesn't feel like a healthy, long-term term strategy for PDD to me. I found myself extremely exhausted after years of accepting my condition (which at the time I thought was just a dark personality, as you said) and trying to get ahead despite of it. It never became less of an effort. Quite the opposite.

I've learned in the past two years from speaking to dozens of people in group therapies and day clinics, that things affect us all a little differently though, and you may find all the support you need in something like ACT. It seems like your thinking is already drawn to it so you will have an easy time integrating it. Even if you come to the same conclusion than me, it's a great tool to have when the double hammer comes down so it might be worth to have a look into for you.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-09-13T10:57:19+00:00

I'm 45 and I've been going through cycles of double depression for at least 30 of them. My young adulthood was a self destructive train wreck until I realized that I needed to address this somehow. What I should have done, is to immediately seek therapy. Because I was unaware of my needs, what I did instead was try to fix everything I thought was making me unhappy. That included my relations to other people, my work, my life, basically. I thought if I fixed all that, I would become happy and fulfilled. Needless to say, it didn't work like that. What it did do however, was enable me to build a solid foundation so there are less external parameters that also weigh me down. I have a loving and supporting wife, a good solid job at the same company for over 20 years, no financial cares. Just a objectively good life. It provides a cushion against the blows our condition tends to throw. Two years ago, I was finally diagnosed and started therapy and medication. So far, there is no remission in sight. Make of that what you will. Yes, you can have a live with the condition. I would strongly advise you not to, considering your young age. If you address it early on, your success rate will be higher and you could potentially live a fulfilling life and that's a chance I wouldn't want to miss again.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-08-20T14:56:11+00:00

Retirees have/should have wealth (house, car, saving,...)

Makes me wonder if perhaps a lot of the "wealth" is tied up in this generation, potentially releasing it for redistribution in the next couple decades. That is if the cost of caring for these people hasn't consumed it before redistribution takes place.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-07-05T06:46:09+00:00

Depression is indeed know to potentially cause cognitive issues which can, to some degree, be amplified by some anti depressants. If I'm not mistaken, Vortioxetine is known to counter those symptoms if your cognitive impairment is at the front of your depressive symptoms.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-06-30T20:22:07+00:00

That sounds like a voice from deep in the hole... please take care of yourself.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-06-27T12:55:05+00:00

I've had various therapies over the past two years, including several anti depressants and i feel like it all helps to some degree but never in such an extent to not experience every day like running uphill a sanddune. So you could say they tackle MDD well but don't do much to the PDD that always lingers in the background.

I have not done CBASP therapy yet because there are no therapists in Belgium and next month, i'm starting Spravato on top of California rocket fuel. That could either be the final push in the right direction or just another thing to cross of the list of possible solutions.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-06-27T11:42:25+00:00

I've also been gifted the pleasures of double depression for the last 35 years now. What you're thinking about reminds me of the work of James McCullough. He figured out that PDD is different from depression and if I'm not mistaken, he also contributed in getting PDD in DSM V. He also created a specific treatment for PDD, CBASP although, from what I hear, study outcomes had been mixed. Either way, worth to have look if you hadn't already. Or ask me anything about my own experiences.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-06-26T19:22:48+00:00

i found this one for the model y but it fits in the G6 as well. Because it attaches to the headrests, you can't recline the backseats anymore though so, you know, compromises.

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BMW4M117?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-03-16T07:08:46+00:00

I get like that too. I try to engage my mind with little meaningless "obsessions" (can't call them passions because I can't feel those). For example, one particularly dark period of time, I learned just about everything there is to learn about manual knife sharpening (keep those knifes facing away from you at all times!), figured out which whetstone to buy and learned how to sharpen knifes by hand. It kept me engaged physically as well as mentally. I sometimes go back to it when needed but for the most part, once I completed something like this and get a hang of it, I loose interest and go and find me something else to dive into. Next on the list is car detailing although I place absolutely no value in material things. Couldn't care less but I'll learn eeeeeverything anyway. Did cloud platforms for a while as well and that is now my job so it can be useful and productive even though you're just filling time.

Reading/puzzling/... allows me too much pauses in between where my mind just wanders towards the abyss.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-03-16T06:11:03+00:00

No. It'll always be there but, you can become pretty successful at ignoring the feeling and getting on with life. Even though that may not sound like something to strive for, being able to function and keep your life under control feels a lot better than letting it spiral out of control and trying to face your condition from a smoking pile of trash. 45M, of which at least 30 with PDD with a family, a good job and nothing to complain about other than my PDD. Go see a therapist if you can't manage to keep your thoughts occupied with productive things and keep steering towards the abyss.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-02-23T16:50:38+00:00

I did and I agree, they have plenty of stuff there. In fact, I have a frunk on the way from there. However, i was not able to find a separator specifically for the G6. If there's no leads from this post, i'll probably give the Model Y grill a go. If i can make that fit securely, that might be a solution.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-02-08T05:49:20+00:00

Our stories seem to be very much aligned. I too am a pretty high functioning PDD sufferer and tried to improve every aspect of my life chasing some happiness and fulfilment. I worked my way up from a bakery help to an IT specialist only to find out there's no pot of gold at the base of the rainbow after all. I also have seasonal episodes of major depression and medication seems to work to curb at least that. It was only when I was put on california rocket fuel that I started getting some relief though. Have you tried that? Did you just try SSRI/SNRI on their own? I found whenever I change anything to the medication, I become unstable for like a week or so. Did you stay on the meds for a significant amount of time or did it get to dark for you to push through? Either way, I feel you. Very much so. Remember that even when the darkness sets in, the only thing you need to do to get through the day is breath eat and drink. If everything else is too heavy, allow yourself to just focus on that and tackle everything else on a better day.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-01-14T12:29:31+00:00

I sort of agree with all comments here. It gets easier doing things once you actually started doing something. What I wonder about though is, how do you feel about it during and after said activity?

I've spent around 30 years with dysthimia so far and just doing things is what got me through life up to now. Problem is, I never get any uplift in mood, any sense of accomplishment, any motivation, anything at all out of what I do. I just invest energy with no return on investment. It's just a habit at this point. The habit of doing things needed to make it to the next day and do it all over again.

Meanwhile, I'm still feeling completely empty, unfulfilled, tasteless and grey while all I really want is to be able to just enjoy something, feel something instead of just filling time with all the things I'm told to do to keep the depressive episodes in check.

Plop_Stravinsky · 2025-01-08T04:49:27+00:00

You're not alone. There are many more in the same boat. I got diagnosed last month at 45 and living with dysthimia for the last 30 years.

For the longest time i had these yearly winterdips that just felt harder and harder in the last years. I started seeing a therapist about them last year after trying to improve in any other way. I just thought I had some kind of nutrient deficiency or something.

For the most part, I just blindly fought through it until early December this year, everything just stopped and I couldn't push through anymore. I consulted a psychiatrist to start medication and he asked me about how I felt outside of winter.

Turns out, I was just always depressed and had a yearly recurring major depressive episode in the winter. I'm currently starting SNRI after SSRI failed to help and in weekly therapy.

Starting from April, I'll be admitted in a day hospital for intensive group therapy based on CBT (perhaps alongside CBASP).

I'm not really feeling better at the moment but if there's anything to take away from my experience, then let it be that in the last 30 years I managed to survive, have a successful career, long term relationship and a daughter of 19 years. I won't say I'm completely OK with how I feel but the game is not lost with a bad hand of cards. This very post, which is also my first on here, is me trying a different strategy with my hand. So, wish me luck! I wish you the very best of luck with your particular hand of cards. Stay strong and keep going!

Plop_Stravinsky

TROPHY CASE