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What? "You keep it hidden because for every 1 person who takes your advice and helps you out there are 5 who will write you off as a serious person for the res

What? "You keep it hidden because for every 1 person who takes your advice and helps you out there are 5 who will write you off as a serious person for the rest of your life. Edit: I'm not saying this is right/wrong, but there are real consequences to outing oneself as a depressive." What are the consequences? After dealing with OCD and social anxiety issues from 18 to 28, I finally started to open up and talk about these oddities that conflicted me to others. What I learned is most people I talk to all dealt with something similar. These were just random people I met at work, friends and family members. I wish I talked about what conflicted me before I was 28, I would have been able to enjoy that 10 year span of my life more. What I am saying is don't think you are alone, think you are crazy the one dealing with ocd, social anxieties, depression - the majority has been there and when you learn/realize that we are the same a huge weight is lifted off your shoulders. In other words talk talk talk about your problems, oddities (obessesive thoughts or actions), social anxieties and depressive thoughts until you are blue in the face. If people are going to look down on you for being a depressive screw them, they are hiding behind their own wall of B.S. - no one is perfect and everyone has dealt with something from the above in various degrees before! My condolences to Dan's family and friends.

brandnewlow 17y ago
When admitting to even a brush with mental illness doesn't disqualify someone from running for public office, my point with be moot. Until then, people who suffer from serious depression have to be very careful who they share this information with.
- ryanspahn 17y ago
  Feel free to elaborate the whom you are speaking of. I guess I could start a list... 1. Navy seals 2. High level CIA/FBI agents 3. Airline pilots; any person whose work deals with the lives of others. Maybe that is a good sampling of whom you speak of?
hackthisthing 17y ago
What do you do when you don't feel like eliciting pity? IMO if you do this people will treat you as an oddity and try and take care of you. F that. RIP Dan, I feel for you.
araneae 17y ago
I have a friend in the Navy. He has some problems, but he can't see anyone about it because if he does, he's taken off of active duty. Essentially, he loses his job. Also, I have been asked on several applications for various things whether I've ever seen a mental health professional. One can lie, but... And of course, there's a number of people whose real problem isn't depression, but wanting attention. The real depressives I know are the people least likely to seek help.
bestes 17y ago
I'm doing the startup thing, but didn't really think about medical insurance too much. It turns out I'm uninsurable. That is a real and serious consequence of accepting (professional) help.
kragen 17y ago
There's what appears to be an excellent discussion here in the comments, from people grappling with the consequences of depression and other difficult mental states — people talking about their struggles and the issues that have come up for them. This is exactly the kind of discussion that can help people who are dealing with these issues themselves, and prevent tragedies like Dan's suicide. But these posts have been [dead]ed by some administrator. Whoever deleted those posts bears the responsibility for the next YC founder suicide, a tragedy which may happen this year, or next year, or five years from now. This person should be stripped of their administrator bit and publicly chastised for their misbehavior.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]

brandnewlow 17y ago

When admitting to even a brush with mental illness doesn't disqualify someone from running for public office, my point with be moot. Until then, people who suffer from serious depression have to be very careful who they share this information with.

ryanspahn 17y ago
Feel free to elaborate the whom you are speaking of. I guess I could start a list... 1. Navy seals 2. High level CIA/FBI agents 3. Airline pilots; any person whose work deals with the lives of others. Maybe that is a good sampling of whom you speak of?

hackthisthing 17y ago

What do you do when you don't feel like eliciting pity? IMO if you do this people will treat you as an oddity and try and take care of you. F that. RIP Dan, I feel for you.

araneae 17y ago

I have a friend in the Navy. He has some problems, but he can't see anyone about it because if he does, he's taken off of active duty. Essentially, he loses his job. Also, I have been asked on several applications for various things whether I've ever seen a mental health professional. One can lie, but... And of course, there's a number of people whose real problem isn't depression, but wanting attention. The real depressives I know are the people least likely to seek help.

bestes 17y ago

I'm doing the startup thing, but didn't really think about medical insurance too much. It turns out I'm uninsurable. That is a real and serious consequence of accepting (professional) help.

kragen 17y ago

There's what appears to be an excellent discussion here in the comments, from people grappling with the consequences of depression and other difficult mental states — people talking about their struggles and the issues that have come up for them. This is exactly the kind of discussion that can help people who are dealing with these issues themselves, and prevent tragedies like Dan's suicide. But these posts have been [dead]ed by some administrator. Whoever deleted those posts bears the responsibility for the next YC founder suicide, a tragedy which may happen this year, or next year, or five years from now. This person should be stripped of their administrator bit and publicly chastised for their misbehavior.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]