It’s worse than that. Iirc everytime republicans gain 2 out of 3 of Congress / Senate / president, they rip up enough regulations to cause a global recession.

Thanks, America for taking a shit on the world. Again.

I also have bipolar II / autism. It can definitely be a grind. I’m v lucky that I am self employed in a creative field, where my oddness is valued.

The most difficult aspect of life for us is, imo, dating. Especially with the rise of ‘the ick’ phenomenon. Neurotypicsl people usually make a v quick internal judgement that we’re ‘weird’ or ‘unsuitable for friendship’ (very illuminating and sad study on this I read recently).

During the pandemic, I got heavily into stoic philosophy, along with some Buddhist learnings. Not mastered either but they’ve been a bigger help than medication I take.

Check out an audio book: ‘Derren Brown - Happy’. It will give you a bunch of very effective tools on how to manage external stressors. If you never used audible, they usually have a ‘one month free trial, keep one audiobook’ deal. Get the above book then cancel 😁

Crazy that I’ve been downvoted for offering factual help, while the comment which is provably incorrect is up voted

Is there a ‘remind me’ feature on lemmy? Cause you might be waiting a while, I’ve got a few disposables to get through first!

Yeah. People can avoid all this nonsense by installing one simple app… Duck duck go browser.

You don’t have to use the browser. It just sits in the background quietly blocking tracking requests from other apps.

It’s absolutely horrifying on first use to see how egregious tracking is.

Brilliant, thanks very much for the advice. I’ve still got a few disposables left but definitely switching over. No more USA razors.

Thanks for these links. As someone who’s stuck to the usual suspects bought from supermarket… Anything I need to be aware of switching to this? Like, will I need to shave more carefully, use different technique? Or just shave as normal?

I’m using Sync to write this comment :)

Exactly. And usually if I am replying to another comment later, I can see that balance has been restored by others doing the same :)

• If I see a freezer / fridge door open in a supermarket, I close it. Not for the supermarket, but for the planet

• as someone who stacked shelves as a teen, if I take an item and it leaves a gap, I pull the next one forward so the employee doesn’t have to keep fussing over the manager’s demand for it to be lined up

• my dad lives in a bungalow, on a small cul de sac of other bungalows. Sheltered housing for old folks. Litter often gets blown in and collects, I’ll pick it up every couple of weeks. Also cleared their paths / sprinkled salt when It snowed

• when old people are in the way, I don’t crowd up behind them. I’ll take a few steps back and wait so they don’t feel pressured

• if there’s an item in the road that could damage someone’s car, I’ll wait until it’s safe then remove the item

• if I see someone was down voted just for sharing their opinion (assumedly because the down voter is too childish to withstand an opposing opinion), I make sure to up vote it in an attempt to restore balance. Even if I don’t agree with said opinion (obviously this doesn’t apply to hateful rhetoric etc)

Prob a ton of other little things I can’t remember. Thanks for making this post!

It’s very basic ‘think of the children’ rhetoric.

Our emotions are more easily manipulated in this way, because generally people are hard wired to protect babies and children.

So by associating trans people with paedophiles, right wingers are able to more easily hijack into what would otherwise be rational people. It also makes it more difficult to debate against because nobody wants to be labelled as someone who wants to hurt kids.

I love anything by Solar Fields for tasks requiring concentrating, it’s especially good for reading scifi.

Whenever he releases a new album though I have to listen to it a few times, before I can have it on in the background… It’s very beautiful and intricate.

Yep has to have no lyrics or I get pulled into the song!

“Don’t say things about someone behind their back, if you wouldn’t be prepared to say it to their face”

I learned not to say things about people behind their back, that you’d not be prepared to say to their face, aged 14.

Cost me a black eye & split lip, also some pride. Valuable lesson though that stuck with me to this day over 2 decades later.

Knoble, sorry for calling you Knobless.

I’m so, so sorry to hear this.

I feel really lucky that I get some government support because I have autism / bipolar. It’s not much, but the specific benefit I receive also allows me to do some work… and I’m also very lucky to be self employed in a field I enjoy (writing music). So I’m certainly not rich or even that comfortable, but it does allow me to morph my days and nights to suit my unnatural rhythms.

One thing I find about lack of sleep… it makes me really emotional, grumpy, increases likelihood of a depressive state. For me, it’s SO important to almost literally inject happiness. If we have a condition that takes away our happiness, it’s really crucial to create happiness in any way possible. Binge funny TV shows, go for a walk, watch some standup comedy, call a friend (not at 2am unless they’re also a night owl haha), make some art (doesn’t matter if you’re good at it), try learning a new skill, play a game, join a volunteering group. Those are my go-to activities, probably different for you.

Also, and I know it’ll sound trite, but I got into a couple of things during lockdown that made a big difference to my overall happiness; Buddhist and Stoic philosophy. I’m not a Buddhist, probably never will be. I definitely have a long way to go in applying Stoic principles. But they have really improved my life. Meditation is very hard at first but incredibly beneficial. If I could recommend a couple of books (one is an audiobook and for me was more transformative than Buddhist principles)… if you’ve never used Audible, you can sign up for a month trial and keep the audiobook you select, no charge if you cancel within 28 days.

1. Derren Brown - Happy (not sure if you’re familiar with this guy, he’s a legit mind wizard, almost terrifyingly intelligent and has a long career as a ‘mentalist’ aka psychological magic)
2. Thich Nhat Thanh - The Heart Of The Buddha’s Teachings

Thanks, I do suspect I have delayed phase sleep disorder. It’s good to know I’m not alone. Do you have any coping strategies?

My coping strategy is ‘modafinil to keep me from not being a zombie when particularly sleep deprived’, and ‘zopiclone for if I have been up longer than I should and it’s early enough to push me back into normal sleep pattern’. But of course I’m very wary about doing that more than twice in a row, so it’s never enough to establish ‘normality’.

Thank you so much for the detailed response, I really appreciate it. Over the years I’ve looked into this a lot but you’ve given me some really useful new information!

Health care in the UK, especially for lesser known genetic diseases, can be a bit of a lottery… I moved up the country 6 months ago, and within a month had been tested & diagnosed for a generic mutation called FMF (familial Mediterranean fever). My dad / sister both have it but despite nearly a decade of requests I was unable to get a doc to investigate it. So far up here the gp response has been a referral to a website for cognitive behavioural therapy.

I’ll push on though and see if there’s anything more they can investigate. Thanks again for the info :)

Sorry to piggyback onto your comment, and I know you can’t give medical advice, but I wonder if you have any insight into a problem I have with sleep.

I’m early 40s now. One of my earliest memories, aged around 4, is not being able to fall asleep. I’ve tried EVERYTHING over the years. Sleeping pills are a guarantee if things are getting squirrelly, but give me severe rebound insomnia the next day. When I do fall asleep, it’s like I can sleep for way longer than is normal (so either cause of sleep debt or poor sleep quality).

I’ve always joked that maybe I should be on a planet with a 28 hour day. But I also know that my lack of normal sleep is potentially storing up huge problems like increasing my risk of cancer, heart disease etc.

Melatonin kind of helps. But no matter what I do… My sleep pattern goes out of synch.

I’ve gone through school, ‘normal’ 9 to 5 jobs, relationships, all a big struggle as I have to perform at a normal level despite not having slept for 24+ hours fairly regularly.

I can do everything ‘right’ (no light in the evening, exercise, healthy diet, no excitement in the evening, no caffeine, mild sleep supplements) and still find myself unable to sleep. What the frick is wrong with me… Am I doomed to continue like this? I just want to sleep like a normal human being!

Reading the article, this went exactly as I imagined it would. Equal parts hilarious and horrifying!