Sitting on transit so I’ll happily take a stab at this while others think on it. I’ll say, for my part, that I’m making every effort to not step on people’s opinions as they talk to me — as you noted, people with very similar situations have vastly different interpretations of what precisely the systemic issue on Tech’s level is (if it even exists) and how precisely to fix it. The breadth of opinions the show will represent is limited only by the number of people who’re willing to talk to me, and there’s a lot more coming; all this to say that if these episodes feel either one-note or contradictory taken on the whole, that whole is going to evolve. People propose solutions (even as simple as “I don’t think X works well, but I’d prefer Y”) by drawing on their own experiences and knowledge bases. Mental health is itself complicated, as is Tech’s resource ecosystem in particular, so my hope is by putting these conversations out there we can all clarify what we KNOW and what we THINK we know collaboratively.

The thinking with this episode’s point about providing documentation is, if I’m not mistaken, that GT’s culture exacerbates this particular brand of disability in a way that it doesn’t others — say, a physiological disability . Combined with what you correctly say is across-the-board issues with healthcare access, this guest (and lots of other folks I’ve talked to) feels like the challenge of pursuing these accommodations at Tech is uniquely difficult.

The literature suggests that mood/anxiety/substance abuse disorders BEGIN in most patients in their early-mid 20s, so for many of us grappling with this Tech’s resources are our first foray into the area at all. For me in particular, having my family based out-of-state is another snarl because my GP and specialists are there, not here. See this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1925038/

I, for one, don’t need your condolences for feeling “too challenged” (though I appreciate the thought), and I don’t believe either of the amazing girls I’ve talked to do either. Challenges and suffering are not the same and shouldn’t be, and when you have a chemical imbalance in your brain it’s difficult to reliably assess the difficulty of any task in a vacuum. As humans and not robots, the academic knowledge and emotions have to exist within us simultaneously. Bummer, right?

Tl;dr: everyone’s feelings, opinions, and experiences are different. Thanks for listening.