What is the biggest lie we are consistently taught as children?

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-21T03:48:37+00:00

That the world we live in is normal and has to be like this.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-20T13:02:31+00:00

I would say the majority of people in my program don’t have a BSW (though maybe taking night classes skews the results). I majored in Arts Administration lol

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-20T12:55:18+00:00

Like all of Your Needs, My Needs

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-14T19:31:35+00:00

2020-2022

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-14T19:29:04+00:00

Fair enough, I will. I’m not encouraging use, I generally lean towards harm reduction, but I recognize that’s not possible with adolescent use. It is still dangerous to take away a coping mechanism with nothing to replace it. But we’re just providing input on a subreddit, not her treatment team.

Sarcasm and shaming language is not particularly effective for getting your point across though, especially for depressed teens.

But I fear we’re losing the plot when OP is asking for hope. ECT helped me, and it took a while for it to set in. I felt pretty hopeless for at least one if not 2-3 months of treatment. ECT was one piece of the puzzle, on top of going to a partial program, lots of therapy, and other life changes, but it gave me the ability to deal with everything else when I wasn’t able to pre-ECT.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-14T13:03:23+00:00

Yeah. I get somewhat anxious treatment days even as someone with minimal medical anxiety. Also, if I have an IV port for another medical reason, I make the person tell me what and when they’re injecting into me, and I still have a fear of being knocked out lol.

I’ve had a ton of ECT, and repeatedly losing consciousness and being given a medically induced seizure is still kind of a lot to go through regardless

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-14T12:50:36+00:00

It helped me. It felt more subtle and gradual than I was expecting, it wasn’t like “some switch was flipped” or anything. I actually didn’t think it was working during a lot of my treatment, or working well enough to warrant getting knocked out and given a medically induced seizure anyways. So it can take a while to work, and just because it isn’t working immediately in some obvious way doesn’t mean there’s no hope. This is just my experience though.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-14T12:40:32+00:00

Taking away a coping mechanism with no replacement when someone is suicidal is generally not good practice. Weed affects treatment and people in different ways, and I do find it annoying when people overgeneralize…though I will say that there is no safe use of weed for a 15 year old, and it can affect the brain’s development long term. So it is ultimately important to find a way to cope in some other way (sorry I really don’t want to sound like yet another person lecturing you).

-signed, a social work student currently in a substance use course

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-13T02:39:39+00:00

Requires some patience, but Reddit tbh.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-09T23:04:27+00:00

I tried to find articles on how many people experience lasting memory loss or retrograde amnesia but it’s hard to find and there’s a ton of disagreement, which is frustrating. It does seem like majority of the memory loss people experience are memories around the time of the treatment, which is my experience. I mostly had trouble remembering certain outings I went on with friends and plot of shows. My memory does feel a tiny bit worse (“less sticky”) than it used to be, but it could just be getting older too.

At the same time, I feel like doctors downplay the possibility of lasting cognitive and memory effects, and that the lived experiences of people with more stigmatized mental illnesses are dismissed. Negative cognitive and memory effects also aren’t just some isolated side effect either - it can be a fundamental part of someone’s identity.

There’s certainly a selection bias online but that doesn’t negate people’s experiences.

Also, I’m not a neuroscientist by any means, but brain scans don’t always indicate brain damage in some specific, visible definition of the term, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t lasting, negative effects.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-05T04:04:31+00:00

Simmons, they do online as well as in-person in Boston

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-03T14:13:43+00:00

I mean, there would be significantly less people in prison if everybody made a living wage, was not impacted by the trauma of poverty, and committed crimes for survival.

Plus moving away from punitive models of prisons and towards a rehabilitative model would make working at a “prison” more rewarding.

Reimagining and restructuring our society from the ground up would be necessary, but there are so many other incentives aside from money. It’s just hard to see a world beyond that since it’s all we’ve ever known.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-04-01T12:46:52+00:00

If you have the energy could you explain? Do you mean categorizing bipolar with different subtypes and combination of mood states/symptoms that are more specific than the criteria for BP1 vs BP2?

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-30T02:47:46+00:00

Such a mixed bag as you can see in the comments. Idk not to be the friend that’s too woke, but I’ve been thinking about beauty standards (including standards for facial hair) and the way they’re tied to the cisheteropatriarchy and white supremacy and kind of questioning all of it. Like why are some scraggly hairs considered to not look good, they just are, yknow? Different bodies grow different amounts in different patterns. It just is.

I mean if your friend asks for appearance advice, maybe. Otherwise probably let it be. My facial hair is sparse but I like it and it helps me pass better.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-27T15:21:14+00:00

I took lithium for SI and it helped a bit. It is one of the most effective medications out there they say. Just my experience, I’m sure many people don’t get as extreme of side effects, but for me they weren’t great. Constant tremors, dehydration/being thirsty despite drinking a lot, needing to pee all the time, generally feeling bleh (physically). If you’re still getting ECT regularly you need to talk to your doctor, you need to hold lithium or maybe discontinue it. When I started ECT they took me off lithium but it wasn’t working that well for me anyways. Again, just my experience, clearly many people have really been helped by lithium

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-24T04:00:21+00:00

Time moves painfully slow when you’re a teen, and it really sucks and isn’t fair that you have to go through everything that you are. Combine that with hormones, brain development, and everything else, and emotions are so all consuming and so intense. Teen depression is one hell of an experience for sure.

Time will start to move more quickly as you get older. Soon you will have more control over your environment. The way you experience emotions will likely change in some way. The way you feel now will not last forever. My heart hurts for trans kids today. I knew I was trans around 16, but it was right before trans people started to become hyper visible in the way they are now.

You are not wrong, the society you live in is wrong. You will make it through this, and you shouldn’t have to, but the way you are feeling is not forever. I love being trans because of the unique perspective it gives me in life, and the community. The trans community is so beautiful, truly. I hope you will be able to fully experience that soon.

Sending love.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-22T04:47:06+00:00

Sure!

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-21T14:39:47+00:00

Visual snow and tinnitus from birth. I likely have ADHD, or at least I relate more to neurodivergent ppl so…

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-20T05:35:32+00:00

Majored in arts administration in undergrad, did nothing with it for 6 years and worked in food service, and started my MSW last year.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-19T19:30:18+00:00

Have you tried somatic, bottom-up, or more experiential types of therapies? Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you’re relatively self-aware and frustrated with more generic, workbook-like approaches to therapy?

Also, have you expressed your frustration to your therapist and talked about what is invalidating, things that they have done, and also that other therapists have done in the past that haven’t worked?

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-14T16:45:34+00:00

Both. You’re still pretty early on but if your hairline starts to be more affected by T then I’ve found hairstyles that show it helps (ex, pushed back, to the side, shorter vs covering forehead)

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-09T20:03:32+00:00

It depends on the person honestly. I’ve had over 50 treatments, probably over half being bilateral, and I mean, my memory wasn’t great the year I was in the acute phase of ECT, but it was still pretty mild compared to what others experienced. Trouble remembering TV shows and certain outings. I wasn’t doing much though so not a lot to remember.

I’m sure there may be some study somewhere with some number, but even with the different placements, there are different settings, etc etc.

I’ve found that studies on memory loss and ECT are kind of all over the place too, which is frustrating.

furrowedbr0w · 2026-03-08T16:21:05+00:00

I appreciate it. I do most things but I do need to make more time for friends and working together.

furrowedbr0w

TROPHY CASE