[HN Gopher] Too many people take too many pills
___________________________________________________________________
Too many people take too many pills
Author : mfiguiere
Score : 98 points
Date : 2023-04-28 11:28 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.economist.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.economist.com)
| hnburnsy wrote:
| I believe the headline is a play on the line from Shoot to Thrill
| by AC/DC...
|
| > Shoot to thrill, play to kill, Too many women with too many
| pills
| hnburnsy wrote:
| Note the song was recorded in 1980.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| And was probably referencing recreational drug use, not over-
| prescribed drug use.
| irsagent wrote:
| https://archive.is/fi1L1
| Semonto wrote:
| Very prominent are also homeopathy.
|
| They if you need to go to a doctor regularly and you don't have a
| proper diagnosis you might just like going to a doctor
| WirelessGigabit wrote:
| The fact that Homeopathy is even considered normal treatments
| is appalling.
| shrimp_emoji wrote:
| Having a subpar education system is expensive.
|
| https://www.thinkimpact.com/literacy-statistics/
| poulpy123 wrote:
| Yes I take too many pills for my liking but I don't do that for
| the pleasure of swallowing pills, I do that to not end at the
| hospital
| fastaguy88 wrote:
| This article would be much more informative if it told us more
| about categories of pills (or diseases), how frequently they are
| taken, and the ages of the people who take them. Almost half the
| US population has hypertension [0], and 19 million have stage 2
| hypertension -- those people should be on drugs. Each year,
| 800,000 Americans have a stroke, and another 800,000 have a heart
| attack -- these people should be on drugs. My doctor's office has
| me on more than 5 drugs, but I only take 2 regularly -- the
| others are for specific short term conditions (e.g. poison ivy).
| In general, statins, aspirin, and anti-hypertension drugs cost
| effectively save lives.
|
| I have no doubt that there are too many people who take too many
| pills, but there are also too many people who should be taking
| medication and are not. The article does not make a strong case
| that, for a given age group, we are being over medicated.
|
| [0] https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm
| JohnFen wrote:
| I had surgery last year, and had to give a list of the
| medications I currently take. My list had a single item, OTC
| allergy medication.
|
| The surgeon and intake nurse both independently double-checked
| that my list was complete. They told me that it's almost unheard
| of for someone of my age to have no ongoing prescriptions and
| they wanted to be sure a mistake wasn't made.
|
| I was very surprised by this. I was even more surprised when I
| surveyed my friends and discovered that every single one of them
| has at least one ongoing prescription.
|
| I had no idea!
| aschearer wrote:
| Nice going, John! Role model material. What is your secret?
| JohnFen wrote:
| I have no idea. This whole thing surprised me -- I just
| assumed that I was "normal" in this respect. I don't have a
| secret, as far as I can tell. I am moderately physically
| active, and I do eat moderately healthy, but not
| exceptionally so on either count.
|
| I suspect that, rather than being a role model, I just drew a
| lucky number in the genetic lottery.
| seanmcdirmid wrote:
| Luck definitely has something to do with it. It took me a
| while to get that given that I thought my mom was a
| hypochondriac. It turned out she was just sick her whole
| life. I'm 48 now and don't have any prescriptions yet, I
| hope I can maintain that.
| chickenpotpie wrote:
| As someone who takes a pill daily that fixes my brain chemistry,
| I would like to clarify that it is simultaneously possible that
| many people are taking pills they don't need and many people are
| not talking pills they do need.
|
| I despise generalized statements like "xyz medication is over
| prescribed" because it is also in some ways probably
| underprescribed. I didn't seek treatment for a dibilitating
| illness for many years because I was repeatedly told that the
| medication was abused and all I needed were lifestyle changes.
| For me, the medication was underprescribed.
| manuel_w wrote:
| Slightly related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16252372
|
| I noticed that taking pain-killers is a very common thing in
| american TV shows. The main protagonist (male hero) gets hurt,
| goes to the bathroom, hastily pours a handful of pills into his
| hand and pops them into the mouth. Not one, but a hand full of
| pills, cleary too many. I've seen it so much, I'm starting to
| wonder if it's a TV trope.
|
| I'm wondering if pharmaceutical companies are sponsoring this.
| It's akin to product placement.
| blacksmith_tb wrote:
| Hmm, well I wouldn't recommend taking a whole handful of
| ibuprofen, but it probably shouldn't kill you (unlike a handful
| of acetaminophen/paracetamol, or opioids), it would be hell on
| your stomach, but I suppose fast-paced drama doesn't have time
| for realism.
| slowmovintarget wrote:
| With the toxin they put in Tylenol (to prevent abuse), you'd
| blow out your liver if you did that.
|
| In books, you get "chewing asprin without the water." So yes,
| it's dramatic, but not realistic. It's just a way of conveying
| through action "Ouch, that _really_ freaking hurts. "
| fire wrote:
| > With the toxin they put in Tylenol (to prevent abuse)
|
| ...acetaminophen itself is what kills your liver in an
| overdose, there is no "toxin they put in tylenol"
| [deleted]
| anjel wrote:
| Got it upside down. Acetaminophen is added to opioids to
| prevent rec use and abuse.
| [deleted]
| ploxiln wrote:
| It's a dramatic trope. I'm an american, born and raised as they
| say, and I've never seen that. It probably happens sometimes in
| places I'm not familiar with, but ... come on, it's absurd,
| anyone would be incapacitated by that many pills.
|
| I was thinking about this when watching The Shape of Water,
| Michael Shannon's character is in his car, arms shaking,
| pouring the whole pill bottle on his face ...
|
| It's a dramatic trope.
| saltcured wrote:
| I think this can be one of several subvariants.
|
| A version of the drug habit/self abuse trope that used to be
| demonstrated with late nights alone with booze bottles in some
| depressing living room.
|
| A blazing modern signal that the protagonist is hurt but
| continues anyway, to distinguish him from some impervious
| Superman or unfeeling Terminator clone.
|
| The writers are mildly concerned about the plot discontinuity
| and rushing him to the next scene. See also the bullet wound
| self-care with improvised extraction and bandage from ripped
| clothing, which leads to miraculous physical rebound. No
| debilitating blood loss, nerve damage, or torn connective
| tissue in this plot!
| [deleted]
| shalmanese wrote:
| I think it's video game logic imported into films. Pills are a
| common health pack symbol so more pills = more health regained
| = more return to normal stats.
| SturgeonsLaw wrote:
| Like the way toothpaste ads show them squirting 3x as much
| paste as you actually need onto the toothbrush
| quintushoratius wrote:
| That's just like how shampoo companies advise you to "lather,
| rinse, repeat". It's a great way to boost sales, but besides
| being unnecessary it's terrible for your hair, your water
| bill, fish living downstream, and your wallet.
| gs17 wrote:
| Personally, I've had much better results with repeating,
| but I haven't bothered to experiment enough to see if it's
| from "rinse, lather, rinse" or the full "lather, rinse,
| lather, rinse".
| [deleted]
| aschearer wrote:
| People want pills or miracle diets. People don't want lifestyle
| changes. They're busy, stressed, strapped for cash, and anyway
| they like the standard American diet. Collectively, we could
| shape our environment so healthy decisions are easier and
| unhealthy choices are harder, but we can't even agree to tax
| sugar. So we won't make policy changes anytime soon, and
| individually many of us will fail to make healthier choices. What
| more is there to say?
| [deleted]
| escapedmoose wrote:
| I used this same reply elsewhere, but it's relevant here as
| well:
|
| Diet/sleep/exercise/sunlight are always the first step, and if
| you don't at least get those, you'll be hard-pressed to feel
| decent no matter what else you do, regardless of whether you
| have other medication-dependent conditions.
|
| That said, there are way too many people out there who have no
| experience with conditions which require medication, who seem
| to think that those things are a substitute for medication
| rather than a baseline that must be kept up alongside
| medication.
|
| I'm no psychologist, but I tend to assume that a driver to
| thinking this way might be the sense of safety that comes with
| self-righteousness. Similar to victim-blaming in crimes, where
| people pick at the personal faults of crime victims (however
| slight) in order to reassure themselves that a similar thing
| couldn't happen to them. Imo it's a coping mechanism for a
| world where long-term suffering can be brought on totally at
| random.
| asdfman123 wrote:
| As a doctor it's your job to give your patient something that
| will treat them. You can't tell someone "if you exercise an
| hour a day, your problem will go away" because at least 9/10
| people won't do it.
| omginternets wrote:
| If they don't take the pills, are you also supposed not to
| prescribe them?
|
| Patients refuse treatment all the time. I'm not so sure it
| ought to be a doctor's job to cater to the patient's every
| whim.
| dismantlethesun wrote:
| Actually yes. If the patient refuses treatment you do not
| give them a prescription they is useless but rather tell
| them of an alternative if one exists. If none exists then
| tell them that.
|
| In the end, it's the patients right to have the treatment
| they want and can afford so long as it's efficacious.
| [deleted]
| JohnFen wrote:
| I expect my doctor to give me the best medical care. If
| that's telling me to make a lifestyle change, that's what I
| want (whether I follow his advice is an independent issue). I
| 100% don't want a doctor to give me medication that isn't
| necessary.
| asdfman123 wrote:
| I'll tell you what your doctor might not be telling you:
|
| - 30 minutes of cardio, 3x a week is a bare minimum. The
| more cardio the better, so consider endurance sports.
|
| - Resistance training is necessary too, and can be done at
| home with no equipment
|
| - Get at least 10 minutes of sunlight right after you get
| up or right after the sun comes rises, even if it's cloudy,
| if possible
|
| - Don't drink more than 2 drinks in a day
|
| - Try to reduce stress as much as possible
|
| - Get plenty of sleep
|
| - Cut out digital distractions
|
| - In general try to eat as many natural foods as you can,
| especially more fruits and vegetables. Avoid eating
| chemicals if you can, hydrogenated oils, etc.
|
| Now you've heard it, as well as everyone else reading this
| thread. It's up to you to do it. But odds are, for the most
| part, you've heard it before and don't need reminding.
|
| If you're confused about any of the details on this list,
| you are all people who are in the top quartile (at least)
| in learning things on the internet, and can figure the rest
| out yourselves.
| [deleted]
| 0zemp2c wrote:
| I don't think 30 mins, 3 times a week of exercise is
| remotely close
|
| only stretching back a few decades, my grandfather was
| working his own land as a subsistence farmer without much
| "automation"...probably doing the equivalent of three
| hours of CrossFit a day, basically every day. looking
| back at pics of him now...he was strapped, even in his
| late 70s (what was also known as "normal").
|
| my genetics probably come from hundreds of generations of
| people who led similar lives, yours too
|
| I achieved my "normal" body weight with a minimum of two+
| hours per day, every day, of exercise...just like all of
| my ancestors who shaped my genes
|
| 90 mins a week is probably not enough to even slow down
| weight gain, we are dramatically underestimating how much
| exercise we need, and dramatically underestimating how
| much we need to clean up our diets...in 1880 basically
| anyone doing subsistence farming (most people) was the
| equivalent of a CrossFit nut with a "clean"
| diet...everyone
| comfypotato wrote:
| 5 hours per week of 3 METs (a 2.5mph walk is 3 METs)
| reduces your risk of Cardiac disease by 70%. This is from
| one of the bigger meta analyses I've ever read. The US's
| exercise guidelines are based on it.
|
| In general more is better, but it's diminishing returns,
| and you could argue that more time than this could be
| better spent doing other healthy tasks.
| escapedmoose wrote:
| I don't have the energy to refute these claims one by
| one, but I would recommend you do some more research into
| the lifestyles and health conditions of previous
| generations.
|
| Glad you've found something that works for you though
| omginternets wrote:
| > The more cardio the better, so consider endurance
| sports.
|
| The research vehemently disagrees with you, especially if
| you're a woman.
| amanaplanacanal wrote:
| I've never heard anyone claim that less exercise is
| better. Can you point to the research that "vehemently
| disagrees"?
| comfypotato wrote:
| It's one of the most researched topics in science.
|
| 5 hours at 3 MET (a 2.5 mph walk is 3 MET) a week lowers
| your risk of cardiac disease by 70%. It's not affected by
| gender for the basic numbers. This is from one of the
| bigger meta analyses I've ever read. The US's exercise
| guidelines are based on it.
|
| Can't speak for the recommendation of endurance sports.
| Definitely not a requirement. The research does show
| that, in general, the more cardio the better.
| Moissanite wrote:
| > Don't drink more than 2 drinks in a day
|
| Just to clarify, because this one tripped me up: you
| specifically mean alcohol, right?
| eastof wrote:
| In american english "drinks" is a common colloquialism
| for alcoholic drinks. You should definitely drink more
| water than that with your cardio haha.
| Moissanite wrote:
| Good; I was worried I'd stumbled into some some paleo-
| esque "only drink from puddles at dawn and dusk to
| maximize your gut flora development" nonsense.
| JohnFen wrote:
| Of course I've heard it. As you said, the odds are
| excellent that everyone reading this has heard it too.
|
| And I actually do all of that. Not because anyone told me
| to, or because I should, but because that's just how my
| life ended up being arranged.
|
| Not sure how that's related to my point, though.
| asdfman123 wrote:
| Just that everyone's heard it, so the doctor isn't going
| to repeat it to you with every visit.
|
| I think a doctor absolutely should gently remind people
| that those things improve a variety of conditions, and
| occasionally push a little harder in certain situations
| (you need to start doing X now or your condition is going
| to be a big problem). Many of them already do, of course.
| JohnFen wrote:
| Sure, a doctor isn't necessarily going to give generic
| health advice on every visit. That wasn't what I was
| saying.
|
| What I was saying is that if I go see a doctor for a
| condition, and the proper way to resolve that condition
| is to make a lifestyle change, then that is what I want
| the doctor to tell me.
|
| What I don't want the doctor to do is to just give me a
| prescription if the actual treatment is to behave
| differently in some way.
| asdfman123 wrote:
| But difficult to treat chronic conditions aren't that
| straightforward, and virtually all of them respond to
| general good health as outlined on that list.
|
| Everything else is either a straightforward treatment, is
| untreatable, or has a lifestyle change that the doctor
| _will_ tell you about (like with IBS and a low FODMAP
| diet for instance).
| JohnFen wrote:
| I agree. That isn't counter to what I was saying at all.
| rufus_foreman wrote:
| I'll tell you what your doctor might not be telling you,
| doctors have the highest suicide rates of any profession.
| Should I trust them to tell me what is healthy?
|
| Retail managers have the lowest suicide rates.
|
| I don't trust them either.
| kzrdude wrote:
| I have some struggles, and this is basically the plan
| that I try to follow. I can notice how it really helps
| with mood, energy, everything, and how a single day of
| falling off it leaves a big mark the next few days.
| Cheers.
| eli_gottlieb wrote:
| >People want pills or miracle diets. People don't want
| lifestyle changes.
|
| How you gonna make lifestyle changes without permission from
| your lords and masters who write your paychecks?
| aschearer wrote:
| LOL what? Where did all this "lords and peasant" nonsense
| come from? Come back to reality, Eli.
| eli_gottlieb wrote:
| I'm being real. Lots of people work 10-12 hours a day. How
| are they supposed to shop and cook for only fresh and
| healthy food, as well as do 30 minutes of rigorous cardio
| per day, in the remaining four hours a day when they're not
| asleep? What if they have family obligations?
| brnaftr361 wrote:
| My experience was that I was _scheduled_ 12 hours a day,
| the reality is that we all commuted 1h both ways and
| turnover often took 30-45 minutes. We were bussed in, and
| we arrived 15-20 minutes early. To put the final little
| bit in, we also had to commute to the bus depot. Whatever
| extraneous time I had was spent in the shower.
|
| While I did manage to eat decently I also had the benefit
| of years of working in kitchens and I opted for
| vegetarianism years prior so I had to delve into a novel
| culinary discipline which served to broaden my horizons
| both in what I considered a meal, and what I was willing
| to eat, and how I was willing to eat. Looking at the rest
| of the cohort: yeah, it was bad. A lot of industries we
| interfaced with had a lot of very evident cases of poor
| diet. I expect among the whole the chronically single and
| childless were the few that could manage their health in
| the context of that schedule or any modern American
| regime, really.
|
| Beyond diet it's physically taxing, especially
| considering that my industry, and every industry touching
| it worked some variation of swing shifts and if not that,
| 24/7 on-call. That alone is extremely taxing and has
| prolific long-term implications. Alcohol and drug abuse
| are commonplace, whether licit or illicit substances. And
| there's a huge emotional layer to it as well, if that
| isn't obvious. Mind you these are the people paid by the
| companies that keep your lights and heat on, transport
| all your food and fuel...
|
| But even outside of that extreme edge case the other jobs
| I've had can have their own sets of challenges. It's not
| always overeating that gets you, but undereating is a
| hazard as well. And workplace injuries are _not_ so
| avoidable as the institutions like to profess. If you 're
| pressured, your peers are pressured, your customers are
| pressured, etc... the culture itself becomes go fast or
| die trying -- they'll tell you to work safe but God
| forbid if you do you'll be punished for it, ask me how I
| know. And that's without factoring in RSIs, which in some
| occupations are virtually inextricable.
| badpun wrote:
| Most people don't work on weekends. You can do shopping
| and cook for entire week then. This is not a theoretical
| proposition, I've done that a lot.
| omginternets wrote:
| Most people do not work 10-12 hours a day.
|
| Those who do have far bigger problems than regular
| exercise.
| etempleton wrote:
| In the US it is fairly common.
| clnq wrote:
| It is admired. "First in, last out" and sleeping in the
| office are virtues to be signalled!
| inglor_cz wrote:
| In the developing world, where highly processed food is
| usually too expensive for a normal family to live on,
| people cook regularly. Like, every day.
|
| How come? They certainly don't work any fewer hours than
| Westerners do.
| amanaplanacanal wrote:
| I bet most families have an unemployed adult that cooks.
| Grandma or older child or some such.
| badpun wrote:
| In communist Poland, both of my parents worked, and yet
| my mother cooked every day after work. Work + commute
| took her around 9 - 9.5 hours per day. On top of that,
| there were long queues to buy anything at the stores, so
| you were spending easily an extra hour shopping per day
| (not to mention spending time bartering with family and
| neighbors the goods you managed to buy, but didn't need
| for stuff you actually do need).
| escapedmoose wrote:
| Often those tasks are left for their children who are
| forced to cut their education short to care for the
| family.
| badpun wrote:
| > They're busy, stressed, strapped for cash, and anyway they
| like the standard American diet.
|
| Most of all, they're lazy. When people retire, all these
| problems (no time, stress, money problems) usually go away and
| people have oceans of stress-free free time to fill. And yet, a
| lot of them don't drop their unhealthy habits like overeating,
| no excercise etc.
| aschearer wrote:
| How puritanical. Do you look down on everyone or just
| unhealthy people?
| badpun wrote:
| I'm the same. It's just human nature to not want to expend
| effort. We love excuses, like - I'm too stressed, to busy
| etc. - but quite often, they're just that - convenient
| excuses.
| ElevenLathe wrote:
| All humans in environment A get fat, develop heart
| disease, and are depressed. All humans in environment B
| are lean, live long lives without medication, and are
| happy. The only logical conclusion: everyone in
| environment A is lazy or otherwise morally deficient.
| [deleted]
| tintedfireglass wrote:
| everyone in environment A is lazy and morally deficient
| because environment A promotes laziness and is in itself
| morally deficient.
| glitchc wrote:
| Or environments A and B have specific differences in
| factors operating on the humans existing within them.
| badpun wrote:
| > All humans in environment A get fat, develop heart
| disease, and are depressed
|
| There's plenty of non-obese people in the world.
| LightBug1 wrote:
| [flagged]
| 11235813213455 wrote:
| > There's plenty of non-obese people in the world
|
| yes, over 9000
|
| but more than half people are overweight in developed
| countries, so this has become the norm
| badpun wrote:
| What's with the denial? A significant portion of
| population of developed countries is not obese. It's easy
| to look that up. This proves that we don't live in an
| environment that makes everyone obese.
| SturgeonsLaw wrote:
| Maybe it's all the beef from those spherical cows they're
| eating
| mydogcanpurr wrote:
| There's a huge confounder missing in your analysis which is
| that they're also typically quite old by the time they
| retire. People don't change their habits easily at that age.
| dantheman wrote:
| Sugar is taxed, it's why we have hi-fructose corn-syrup.
| robotnikman wrote:
| Which is arguably even worse than sugar for you
| amanaplanacanal wrote:
| Sugar is taxed only in a few localities, but is subsidized
| federally.
| WarOnPrivacy wrote:
| Too many people also don't take enough pills - because they can't
| afford them.
|
| Myself, friends and family all have untreated conditions and
| aren't getting preventative care because the out-of-pocket cost
| of meds and treatments are more than their total earnings. Due
| for Shingles vaccine? $400. Need an inpatient visit to resolve
| something before it becomes serious? $2800.
|
| Five hundred here, $5000 there and pretty soon healthcare becomes
| an alternative to housing.
| harha_ wrote:
| I'm just so glad I didn't start taking SSRI's, my doctor almost
| forced them down my throat but I didn't take them because I felt
| like I don't need them. And I didn't need them.
| michelb wrote:
| Interesting to see which countries have these problems. Reads to
| me like it's very much a political problem. In my country I
| practically have to fight my doctor to get pills or an xray if
| they deem it unnecessary. Which is great in the end, as it saves
| our society a lot of healthcare costs.
| thenerdhead wrote:
| Who exactly is responsible for the patient's wellbeing long term?
| The old idea of doctors and pharmacists should be putting
| themselves out of a job doesn't seem to be reflected in many
| healthcare systems. It is also not morally responsible for
| patients who may not be self reliant to do so for a number of
| reasons(I.e. not in right health or mind).
|
| On the reverse, how many doctors or pharmacists actually
| recommend lifestyle and supplementation changes before resorting
| to a prescription through observation? My experience has been
| quite disappointing and I lose faith every time I get a checkup.
|
| For what it is worth, I'm not on any prescriptions and actively
| refuse recommended prescriptions when only seen for 30 minutes
| every half year. It always feels like an up sell when all you
| want is to be sent on your way with an acknowledgment that you're
| healthy.
| local_crmdgeon wrote:
| I hate these articles. While yes, this is true, it's also true
| that _many_ people have severe, untreated illness that they're
| just "toughing it out." My friend with BPD ruined his life
| because he's "stronger than the disorder, I don't need to take my
| meds"
|
| Spent millions foolishly, genius engineer - horrible story.
| Easily fixed.
| [deleted]
| asdfman123 wrote:
| There is a fine and very important distinction to be made here.
|
| If you have a health problem, you should do your best to get
| exercise, eat healthy, etc. However, that _doesn 't_ mean
| medicines are wasteful or pointless. People often greatly
| benefit from them.
|
| I've struggled with ADHD, depression, and anxiety my whole
| life. And indeed, yes, the best treatment I've found is diet,
| weight training, and long-duration cardio. Which I do.
|
| But people who are "in the hole" need medicines to dig them
| out. And also, people with kids/multiple jobs don't have as
| much time as I do. And these habits take years to finally
| stick. And I still need ADHD medication.
|
| And the best treatment for things like this is to try _every_
| treatment you can together, but don 't overwhelm yourself in
| the process (and it takes wisdom to not overwhelm yourself).
|
| People on Twitter opine about this kind of stuff piss me off.
| They think their vague notions about what is right for society
| --that they have no experience with--should take precedence
| over my decades of (informal) research and lived experience.
| It's okay to have opinions and discuss things, but don't try to
| bully the people who actually know what they're talking about.
| escapedmoose wrote:
| Diet/sleep/exercise/sunlight are always the first step, and
| if you don't at least get those, you'll be hard-pressed to
| feel decent no matter what else you do, regardless of whether
| you have other medication-dependent conditions.
|
| That said, there are way too many people out there who have
| no experience with conditions which require medication, who
| seem to think that those things are a substitute for
| medication rather than a baseline that must be kept up
| alongside medication.
|
| I'm no psychologist, but I tend to assume that a driver to
| thinking this way might be the sense of safety that comes
| with self-righteousness. Similar to victim-blaming in crimes,
| where people pick at the personal faults of crime victims
| (however slight) in order to reassure themselves that a
| similar thing couldn't happen to them. Imo it's a coping
| mechanism for a world where long-term suffering can be
| brought on totally at random.
| gms7777 wrote:
| Yeah, as someone with ADHD, good diet, exercise, sleep, etc.
| are critical for managing symptoms. They're also effectively
| impossible to maintain consistently without medication.
| birdyrooster wrote:
| Who are you to say that spending your millions is foolish this
| way or that way? We all end up as dirt. Why not live
| eccentrically and take risks? It makes for a good story which
| you have conveniently cast as horrible. I bet that story is
| plenty interesting and worthwhile as is yours.
| doodlesdev wrote:
| You clearly never met anyone with BPD.
| Zircom wrote:
| When you say BPD are you referring to borderline or
| bipolar? Because borderline is usually treated with therapy
| as the first-line treatment, while meds are definitely the
| norm and most effective for bipolar.
|
| OPs description of his friend ruining his life by not
| taking his meds seems more like bipolar.
| throwaway743 wrote:
| Eh, could be either really
| trollthrowaway4 wrote:
| Good fellow, perhaps you've wandered in here from another
| time? Maybe in 2011 this would've been a level-headed take on
| this platform -- but not now! Spontaneity, eclecticism,
| originality? No no, we're all Big Corp workers here, and we
| must all fall in line into our predefined paths. Hackers and
| rogues, best ye not speak; lest the hounds of conformity
| catch a whiff.
|
| Money should only be spent _reasonably._ That is, put into a
| retirement fund, into savings, and other well-regarded
| things. Your life must be lived _reasonably_ -- else we will
| tell you otherwise!
|
| I.e. many other people only see one "good" way to live a
| life; only one "good" form of morality; only one "good"
| mindset.
|
| And as much as I've enjoyed the originality of your posts,
| may I recommend ceasing? Share these morsels of a not-yet-
| snuffed-out humanity with your intimates, rather than
| strangers who don't care about the consequences of their
| words on others?
| quintushoratius wrote:
| > Why not live eccentrically and take risks?
|
| Maybe because there are dependents that needed that money for
| school, shelter, clothing, or food.
|
| There was a story in the news recently about a guy who
| spontaneously gave away $200k by throwing bills out of his
| car window. Seemed like a feel-good story, at first. It turns
| out that he gave away his family's life-savings and they're
| now destitute.[1]
|
| Money can absolutely be wasted and spent foolishly.
|
| [1] https://www.nbc15.com/2023/04/13/man-throws-200k-cash-
| out-ca...
| birdyrooster wrote:
| That was exactly what I'm talking about. What an
| interesting story and we have only heard it from a single
| perspective. Imagine the stories of the people it affected,
| I'm sure it made someone better off.
| fear_and_coffee wrote:
| [dead]
| neonate wrote:
| http://web.archive.org/web/20230429132941/https://www.econom...
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