Comments by "L.W. Paradis" (@l.w.paradis2108) on "Dostoevsky’s guide to destroying your life (Notes from The Underground)" video.

  1. I better say more than I've said so far. This will be hard, but you need to start here: Eat right. Sleep well. Walk every day, near trees or a river or lake or sea, if at all possible. Do that. Then work on arresting ruminations. You are way too self-critical. It's not truth, it's only habit at this point. Facing truths isn't your problem. Enhancing your physical body is. That's your foundation, so that's the place to begin. It's very hard. I know you'll make it. It's the wry note in your voice that tells me you will.
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  2. @alexanderflood1462  Ask for help? Treacherous. I know people who, at their lowest point, were mistreated when they did. I was just thinking of a student I had, Iraq combat veteran, anti-war but rationally so, who had a grave problem at a job where everyone had high-level security clearance and the rules were not being enforced in ways that really matter. When he asked me for advice, obviously I gave it a lot of thought, from several different perspectives, and acknowledged that only he would know what was best. I wasn't competent to tell him. I did write out my thoughts in a long email. You know what other people told him? Absolutely thoughtless, accusatory slogans: "If you quit, the bad guys win." "If you stay, you could end up in trouble with them." Complete rot. No respect, and of course, they came up with these slogans without listening to what he had to say, much less thinking before speaking. If that were the only story . . . I know people who were emotionally abused after a cancer diagnosis. Seven, to be precise -- in two cases, the mothers of pediatric cancer patients suffered emotional abuse. People are at the end of their rope for a reason. On a positive note, Harvard professor of psychiatry Christopher Palmer was once homeless, was once harmed by a poor therapist, and had a mother who suffered from schizophrenia. Well, you can tell by what he is today that he worked his way up. He is so dedicated, and has helped people with intractable mental illness. Finding the RIGHT people is hard, but possible, and worth the struggle. Finding the right book helps. It's a connection to a kindred spirit. It's a start.
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  3. Read Dostoevsky. You will never be alone.
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  4.  @netviz8673  Exactly. At 24, you have about two decades to be young, and another two to be middle-aged. This show will close soon enough. Why push it?
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  5. @netviz8673  And any career you achieve by age 40, count on doing for three decades. For real.
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  6.  @LH74  Humble himself? What if they abused him? And to do that for money and a room?? I've never heard worse advice.
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