Hope can take down a skyscraper if there's enough willpower behind it.

Find people who you DO like hanging out with, and people that like hanging out with you. There's other pessimistic people out there, and the old adage speaks some truth - misery loves company. Lots of people suck, period. The world needs more satirical, skeptical, pragmatic people. Also, isolation only exacerbates a strong self conscious, and I know this from personal experience.

Everyone with half a brain and a realistic look on life has contemplated ending it. Don't dwell on it. This society does suck major ass, but offing yourself isn't going to help. It's just going to make things shitty for everyone.

I can't give you an answer for your problems; psychologists are only trying to push YOU to find a solution, but like every other profession, some people suck at their jobs. Think about it for a long time. If it's the country you live in, LEAVE. If it's your current job, LEAVE. Just make sure to plan ahead, approximately 3 months. If it's you, then start to change yourself slowly.

Also, there's more constructive ways to kill one's "self," as opposed to physically. Read the entry titled "Ego Death Feels as if Everyone Else is Dead" http://www.ahalmaas.com/glossary/ego-death . If you don't believe in that type of stuff, so be it.

I'm no psychologist, but I have seen the potentially positive benefits from hanging out with old friends, taking up old past times, and just trying to get involved more with the community. Listening or playing music can be a great avenue for letting emotions loose - it seems like all the great artists have shared some of our feelings in the past. In short I would advise to just "keep on moving," keep on grinding, keep the hope up ESPECIALLY when things seem the worst

If you ever have a night when your mind runs and you aren't able to get asleep, I've had consolation in the thoughts that "tomorrow, everything will be back to where it was before." I realize that may not sound so cheery, especially if you're in a a bad rut, but it is great to learn that your mind can run anywhere and everywhere and you will still be back tomorrow, albeit a little more sleepy.

And lastly, save the booze for celebrations

Apparently you're unfamiliar with John Forbes Nash (Source = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbes_Nash,_Jr.)? In no way am I advocating that someone who was prescribed with antidepressants should just stop taking them. Like any drug, there are withdrawals associated (not the same type as opiod or alcohol based withdrawals). However, these medications are allegorical to a long term band-aid. Even if you're taking them and feeling fine for years, this will not ensure you will be fine the next year, or the year after next. To deny that depression is related to the environment/situational, or perhaps CULTURE based is naive. Oh yes, and people who take antipsychotics, or the dubiously advertised "atypical anti-psychotics" have higher instance of brain problems such as dementia. Correlation doesn't imply causation, but it sure does raise some good questions.

I'm also glad things are working for you. My mother was diagnosed as bipolar many years back and her situation is like yours. She also had to leave two jobs, relocate, start working at a position which she was overqualified for, and put in a few years of work before getting a position she deserved. Before she started at the group home, she was considering getting a cashier job at Target, and she has a master's degree in education . Now she gets to manage a few group homes, take more than 10 days of vacation a year, and even work from home on occasion.

On the other hand, my oldest brother has been prescribed relatively large doses of antidepressants, has been taking them religiously, and is still having problems. Perhaps he just needs to go to the psychologist more, but I think that's not the case. His head is in the right place, but he's been out of work so long that it's difficult to get back in. People judge you if you haven't had a job in 7 years - they start asking why, and they will hold prejudice if you tried to explain the situation.

The way we are treating this issue, or the spectrum of issues, is not adequate. It's damaging my family, and it drives me F*CKING CRAZY. I expect more out of this culture of college education professionals.

I don't see how your comment received a zero - perhaps commented too late? Regardless, you got right to the point.

Instead of a "poke an see what happens," I think we've in a frantic period of "spray and pray." I totally agree, the institutions are the ones promoting these things, for example - strict adherence to DSM. When you look at the "improvements" they have made in the past few editions, they are opening up the definitions to become more subjective, which may account for some increases in diagnosis. Right now, it seems all we can ask for is respected professionals to stand up and speak out about the problems. Hopefully this will change into a rational discussion, also known as a heated debate, on what are the steps we need to take to set us in the right direction.

Upmod to infinity. On with the Revolution of Thinking. Down with the Naivetities, the perpetuators of Groupthink.

I totally agree with the AC and disagree with raehl. I live in Minneapolis, and I get excellent coverage (HSPA = up to 18 megs down at work in Eden Prairie). I recently went on a trip to Tucson, Arizona, not knowing what to expect; I was getting 4G coverage in areas on the outskirts of town.

Every carrier has low spots. It's not the carrier's job to make sure there is 4G coverage in every little zone you are going to be driving, that would be a waste of money ! It's your job as a consumer - go ask coworkers, friends, family, etc, who are using that specific carrier before you make the jump. Also, T Mobile has a perfectly functional coverage map that you could have used http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/pcc.aspx/ .

I realize T mobile isn't perfect. I use the $30 pay-per-month 5GB unthrottled @ 4G plan, and sometimes they treat you like a second-rate customer when you call in. I would have tried Republic Wireless if they didn't have such outdated phones.

If the liberals are guilty of doublespeaking, then the conservatives are guilty of straight up lies. The liberal/conservative left/right democratic/republican false dichotomy isn't helping our critical thinking...

After reading your response, I realize we are closer in understanding than I thought earlier. I don't quiteI agree with your idea that democratic governments are less totalitarian, seeing all the wars that have been started by the United States since WWII. South Park captured the idea in one of their episodes - while the people of the United States are in a disagreement on how to resolve international issues, our government likes to occupy foreign locations without any declaration of war. Furthermore, I do not believe the Left or the Right are much better than the other. It seems we need to branch out on a whole new axis. I don't care if you want to call it the Ups, the Downs, or the Pirate Party... we just need something else.

Saying Soviet Russia was a communist country is like saying the United States is a democratic country. USA is a democratic republic. Soviet Russia was far from a communist state. I realized that everyone thought Soviet Russia was communist, but they're the same dumbasses saying that about China now. China is far to privatized to ever claim it communist. Maybe I'm being an idealist...

It was great learning that the United States saved the world in WWII. Not so fun learning that USA and it's allies were at fault for setting up the scenario http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles .

up mod to infinity. Thank you for calling out conspiracy theorist Neo

"Ultrasound waves" is incorrect usage (source = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasound_(disambiguation) ). Starting with "ultrasonics" or "ultrasonic waves" would have been more apt.

I love that slashdot is pushing articles on ultrasonics. Ultrasonics seems like the field of the future to me. I remember my first encounter with ultrasonics in gradeschool. I had a friend that broke his arm skateboarding]. His doctor prescribed an ultrasonic bone massager that was intended to increase the rate of bone growth (he had a cast as well, the doctor was not some new-age psuedoscientist). Fast forward into college, when I was interning at a consumer goods manufacturer. They used ultrasonics to bond together nonwovens! Totally sweet. The process used a very specifically shaped piece of metal, called a horn, which flexed in a very specific manner when subjected to ultrasonic frequencies (ultrasonic transducers can perform this electric to mechanical energy conversion). It requires a whole lot less energy than what was done before, which was more like hammering nails - you have to smash super hard, and the whole ordeal is more of an art than a science). Nowawdays they are beginning to use ultrasonic waves to benefit the flow of polymers in injection molding. Oh yah, and like you already mentioned, magnetic storage. This field is just skyrocketing.