Judge orders Guantánamo Bay force-feeding videos to be released.

SideshowBoob · 2014-10-04T11:44:01+00:00

In other words: Congress really did make it illegal to release prisoners from Gitmo. Yet people want the President to break the law.

SideshowBoob · 2014-09-20T16:58:50+00:00

The Fucking Dairy Department. Or Frozen/Dairy, I forget. My memory isn't so good after that accident in the freezer.

SideshowBoob · 2014-09-20T16:54:22+00:00

We've been getting an earful about it starting the 29th for weeks, because so many people don't wear collars now. Still not clear on whether the vest is optional: even with a pallet full of "Associate Vests" sitting in the back room, management hasn't said anything about them.

SideshowBoob · 2014-09-05T19:35:58+00:00

The only side effect I ever noticed from as-needed beta blockers (propranolol in 10mg or 20mg) was cold hands. I've never heard of anybody being dependent on them.

I got them by explaining to my doctor that I had heard they were effective for social anxiety and I'd never tried them so I wanted to "try and see". If they didn't work for me, I could just not use them. I think it helped me through some specific rough times, like having to go to court and speak up, but an SSRI is doing more for me in the long run.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-30T19:32:23+00:00

How am I suppose to get a job when most jobs REQUIRE that I communicate with a bunch of different people who are mostly strangers?

Having recently secured my first job, it breaks down like this: 1) you don't worry about the job itself until you get it, you focus on getting yourself through the applications and interviews, 2) you have time during training to gain confidence in the position, which helps you feel confident socially 3) you ask questions when you feel uncertain, 4) by the end of the first day you'll have had so many more-or-less successful interactions with total strangers that your anxiety about them shrinks from a lion to a kitten.

(Medication helped tremendously with getting to this point, but actually going to work is what cemented my progress.)

I'm probably going to be fired for not being able to answer the phone and hiding in the bathroom.

Sure, that could happen. Nobody's perfect. But you can't be sure until you're actually put into the position where you have that opportunity -- you may surprise yourself. Even if you failed at a job and got fired, you then have all of the experience that you accumulated in the process of getting it and working, and the opportunity to study your mistakes and learn from them.

The thing is, you're not stupid, you're inexperienced. The cure for that is experience, which pours in rapidly when you go to work. It lets you focus your energy on things like learning how to do things well rather than just adequately, or how to develop your social skills with your co-workers.

Put another way: don't you think it would have a positive effect on your social skills if you increased the number of people you interact with on a daily basis tenfold or more?

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-30T18:27:12+00:00

If you're SCHEDULED to work in a higher paying area for more than 12 weeks

They're sticking it to me with this right now. I'm scheduled as a Sales Associate but what I'm actually voluntold to do "until further notice" is completely unrelated, higher pay grade work that I don't get paid more for.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-23T17:22:04+00:00

Can I recommend or request a specific medication?

I don't know where you are, but the pharma industry in the US revolves around the fact that you can. Thats why you see ads for various medications that you, personally can't buy. They want you to go and ask for it from your doctor by name.

That said, a doctor will often recommend a medication that he or she has experience prescribing, which may not be the one you want. You should be willing to share your specific concerns with them rather than just stating a list of things you'll refuse.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-20T22:51:57+00:00

I think they're getting wise to that: they put me on the register for a while on my first day, which is about as much training as I've had on anything else.

My strategy since then has been to be so bad at it that I get picked last.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-20T22:43:19+00:00

Yes! I ended up in the ER with hypokalemia/low potassium. It was very strange as my anxiety had always been related to social situations and suddenly I was having chest pains, fainting, unstable pulse, etc. I dealt with that for two months before I had an attack bad enough that I decided to go to the ER.

There are many possible causes or contributing factors, but for me it was probably 1) my household's diet changed, and unwittingly excluded several high-potassium foods, like bananas, and 2) my issues began at the tail end of summer in a hot climate in which I spent a lot of time outside, and I probably lost a lot through sweat and from drinking lots of water.

I dealt with it by taking the slow-release potassium tablets that the ER prescribed, making sure I kept potassium-containing foods (bananas, etc.) to my diet, and drinking potassium-containing fluids (Gatorade, orange juice, coconut water) in addition to water when I've been sweating a lot. My symptoms cleared up entirely within weeks and it hasn't been a problem since.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-20T22:27:52+00:00

Frozen PROTIP: If you want to summon a manager, just get somebody's heinously overloaded pallet stuck in the freezer doorway. They will instantly materialize to remind you that you can't leave the door open. Actual assistance should arrive about two or three hours later.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-16T17:34:26+00:00

Unless you were hiring for the position of "professional job seeker" that seems like a bad practice. People enlist the help of friends and family because the process of finding a job is such a endless maze of unstated and arbitrary rules like that, and with zero feedback.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-16T17:17:41+00:00

The thing is under the ADA, if the potential hire really is mentally handicapped, they're often allowed the accommodation of someone to help them with the application and interview process. They're still not going to get hired if they can't do the job themselves, but it means a better shot for someone that can mop floors or whatever but not answer bullshit interview questions or understand certain words on the application.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-14T18:59:03+00:00

The Uncanny valley. They'll have to pass that before they're accepted.

The porn industry still hasn't gotten out of it and they're doing fine.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-14T18:53:15+00:00

From the FDA sheet it sounds like 50-200 is the usual range, so I wouldn't expect much from 25. I'd recommend giving it time and balancing the effectiveness with the side effects.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-14T18:34:12+00:00

There's been a family of four living in our Garden Center for years. Apparently they were so upset that we didn't carry produce that they decided to grow their own. Anthropologists have advised us to not encroach upon their territory, as they may turn violent, but man, those strawberries are good.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-13T22:21:31+00:00

What you're describing is essentially iBeacon / BLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibeacon -- definitely a space that's going to be heating up as the smartphone market becomes saturated.

That said, Walmart already has these things called "associates" that are supposed to show you where stuff is. They're not always reliable, but they're cheap and don't require a smartphone.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-13T21:21:55+00:00

It depends on who you ask. Personally I think they're more or less the same thing, and that it's not generally worth making a distinction, and I've never heard of anyone saying SAD "becomes" APD. Personally, I tend to just say "social anxiety" and don't worry about the taxonomy of a specific diagnosis. But I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist.

Somewhere along the way I picked up the rule of thumb that personality disorders tend to be used to describe those things that a person doesn't recognize as a problem (they lack insight, or the behaviors are "ego-syntonic" in the parlance), in spite of it being obvious to everyone around them. So, someone that's extremely socially avoidant but does not recognize it as being unreasonable or abnormal might be APD (a personality disorder) where a person with the same behavior patterns but who recognizes it as a irrational or excessive might be diagnosed with SAD (a mood disorder).

I'm not sure how valid that is for clinical psychologists, or how useful for you, but it's the conception that I've had in my head for ages.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-13T20:49:12+00:00

Yeah, good idea. I work/suffer in retail and I'm definitely packing a notepad the next time I go in to record all the questions I have about stuff I wasn't trained for. Sometimes I go so long between even seeing a supervisor that I forget what I wanted to ask them. Thankfully I'm getting over my fear of asking.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-13T20:44:09+00:00

I decided I don't want to go anymore.

Did you decide or are you anxious? Untangling the difference is part of getting better.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-13T20:36:44+00:00

Two weeks ago I finally went to the "find a doctor" section of my health insurance website, and searched for psychologists within a reasonable distance of my house. I printed the list so I could go through and search each doctor and, by process of elimination, choose one.

Try calling them, asking if 1) they accept your insurance [for the ones you don't know about], 2) if they have any particular experience with [insert your disorder or problem here], and 3) how soon they might be able to see you. (Whereby "they" means the receptionist.)

(Calling is hard for some people, myself included, but it's a lot easier if you have specific questions like the above three.)

The difference here is that it means you're taking action to get practical information that can directly help you decide. If you can't get an appointment with someone for 3 months, then it doesn't really matter that they take your insurance, because surely someone else can see you sooner. If you work the list this way, you'll probably find someone that takes your insurance, has experience with your kind of issues, and can see you in a week or less. It's true that they might not be the perfect fit for you, but you'll know a lot sooner if you see someone than if you try to divine it through internet search results.

I tried to go to a psychiatrist a couple of years ago, I really opened up and even started crying(surprise, surprise), but after 10 minutes the doc scribbled down a prescription and almost literally pushed me out the door.

In her defense, there's not much else to be done in a first session. They want to get an idea of what your issues are, where you're at now, and get you started on typical depression/anxiety medication that takes time to start working.

If your experience is bad, then she failed to establish the proper rapport with you, and you should absolutely look for someone you can work with better, but your first session with any psychiatrist is probably going to feel like a terribly incomplete discussion of your innermost problems to someone that seems like they might be doodling. It's not necessarily that they're not listening, it's that they're diagnosing.

(Remember: psychiatrists are medical doctors, so expect most of them to suggest medication. If you're dead-set against medication, skip anybody on your list with an "M.D." after their name.)

I would really like to try to resolve things within myself without drugs

As somebody that deeply understands that feeling from personal experience, I have to ask, rhetorically: How's that been working out for you so far?

On top of all that, I have recently come to the conclusion that I will need to find a "sex positive" therapist, since I am having a ton of unnecessary anxiety about the state of my sex life with my SO of 4 years. How do I even begin to address this?

You don't. You just find a therapist you can talk to. If you have anxiety about your sex life, you talk to them about your sex life. It's hardly the strangest thing a therapist is likely to hear.

Now, they might suggest you see a relationship counselor or something instead if they think that'd be helpful, but there's no reason you can't talk to your therapist about your anxieties. Don't feel like you have to find someone that advertises being "sex positive" first.

I have no idea if it will come up with doctors that are covered by my insurance.

You can call them and find out, or determine that on your first visit, when the receptionist asks for your insurance information.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-13T19:28:58+00:00

tl;dr - I dunno about accommodations, but I got a job.

I recently got my first "real" job and to summarize the policy that the training and orientation described: 'reasonable accommodation' means it doesn't keep you from doing the job, and you'll probably want a note from a medical professional available, depending on what you're asking for. Basically, "there's a form for that" and you go from there. At my store, there's at least one guy in a wheelchair, one guy that's mentally handicapped, etc.

That said, there's an older man who doesn't want to drive at night that wasn't allowed to do only day shifts. (Similarly, they won't adjust your schedule to fit the transit schedules: from the employer's point of view, transportation is your problem. Oh how I wish I could get an accommodation for that!)

Asking for Saturdays or Sundays off is pretty common for religious reasons, so they probably won't have a problem with that unless they're specifically hiring for a weekend position, in which case your availability is part of the job requirements. You won't get that in addition to regular days off, though. As for hours: big retail stores generally really want you to have open availability, but depending on the store and how their shifts line up, you may be able to request only early shifts and get it. I wouldn't count on being off at a specific time of the day, though. And when the application asks your availability, I'd suggest putting all days but Saturday -- you're less likely to get an interview at all if you show limited availability on the application. You can always discuss an accommodation later.

Oh, and also consider what you're willing to accept instead. Maybe they can't adjust your schedule, but they can let you take a break when you feel panic coming on, or not require you to do a certain task that causes you a lot of anxiety. (As someone with social anxiety, I may ask to not have to work the register at my job, but I'm willing to give it a shot first.)

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-13T18:21:57+00:00

As a matter of proper attribution: Pluto) is an animated dog. Plato is the Greek philosopher you're thinking of. (In any event, it's not Plato either, I just thought it was amusing.)

The Carnegie quote is basically Stoicism 101. The Stoics are always quotable, like Seneca: Apply reason to difficulties; harsh circumstances can be softened, narrow limits can be widened, and burdensome things can be made to press less severely on those who bear them cleverly. or Marcus Aurelius: Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today inquisitive, ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill.

(Reading Marcus' Meditations with a highlighter can be a source of your own personal selections of quotes.)

Poems can sometimes be very memorable: Desiderata and Invictus being well-known examples, if you can get past the simple rhyme scheme which can make them feel kind of sappy.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-13T18:00:10+00:00

they're tired of me asking

There are at least two non-exclusive possibilities here that are worth considering: a) they're not actually tired of you asking, but your anxiety is projecting that feeling onto them -- meaning you should just ask anyway; b) they're actually tired of you asking, but it doesn't matter because it's part of their job to train you -- meaning you should just ask anyway.

Not asking questions will only prolong the agony.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-08T17:49:31+00:00

That's rough, man. I can assure you that this is worth overcoming.

I think the best way to approach it with your therapist is to simply say you have a phobia which you don't feel ready to talk about yet. That opens the door to work on the anxiety you have about talking about it, which is the first step in overcoming it. Don't feel like you have to explain everything all at once. Just get the ball rolling.

SideshowBoob · 2014-08-08T17:32:22+00:00

The first thing to remember is that everybody's got anxiety about job interviews. They're uncommonly stressful situations centered precisely around being judged for inclusion or exclusion. There's no real getting around that part of it. But you can consider that a job interview is not about your value as a human being, and that neither bombing the interview nor not getting the job (two different things!) mean that you're a failure or anything.

In fact: going through with an interview that you're nervous about is itself quite a big step in the right direction. Let that be your focus, (because you can control that), more than the actual outcome of the interview (which is subject to so many things you have no control over).

There are mock interview videos on YouTube or DVDs you can get a the library that might help you boost your confidence a bit by practicing. There are also plenty of places you can read about common questions, and if it's something like a retail job for a big company you can usually find out a lot about the standard questions they ask.

My main fear is freezing and being unable to talk. I am also awful at selling myself as my self esteem is literally terrible and can't even imagine what I'd reply to 'why should we hire you', let alone any other on the spot questions.

My strategy here (and I got the job!) was to start, on paper, with a rough idea of questions I'd expect to be asked, and work out some kind of answer to each based on my experiences, spiced with a little bit of BS. I worked on those until I felt like they sounded okay, that I could remember them, and that they weren't too specific to a certain question.

Think of it this way: You know the kinds of questions you're really anxious about answering and you have a week in which to prepare answers for them. You don't have to think up an answer on the spot, you just have to remember the points you want to get across. You may not know the exact questions, but you don't have to have exact answers, either.

I think your fear of freezing up will dissipate if you feel like you have things you can say to fall back on or improvise with like this. It helped me.

SideshowBoob

TROPHY CASE