In my field we call those “zombie theories.” They are all the rage in the vaccine wars. You debunk it, it goes away for a bit, then resurfaces due to some Facebook rant or X post or stupid presidential candidate or something. It never dies. A lot of the exhaustion on my field is due to this thing where you can never win. The same battle has to be fought, the same golem slain, over and over and over. And after a while, you know you can’t win, and are shrieking endlessly into the void. Then, the void starts shrieking back…
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And that, dear friends, is how St. John’s Wort became my friend. 
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I wish that wasn’t such a relatable concept, personally and to so many things in the world right now.
Maybe ignorance really is bliss 
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TW: discussion of suicide, depression y mas
Please visualize a " /s " tag on the “This Is Fine” thread header that’s a million pixels high and wide here.
I have friends in medicine in several states, and I can scarcely imagine a more thankless job, some days, than being a public-facing MD or clinician. From their own reports, I sense that all the lunatics who were threatening violence against Dr. Fauci just pivoted to try to find someone more… uh… local.
Lord’a mercy.
Hang in there, all y’all.
If people have the dumb and they can’t brain, the rest of us are gonna hafta hold the line together.
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There is an additional factor that doesn’t get much attention. Many state medical boards will suspend or “review” licensure if the practitioner seeks help for mental health issues and a large number of hospitals still require an attestation that we “have not sought help for mental health or drug dependence in the last xx years.” So seeking help directly jeopardizes our ability to make a living. VA just changed their policy from a “will suspend” to a “will review” following the suicide of the sister-in-law (an ED doc in NY, where there is, or at least was, such a rule) of one of the head people at UVA Hospitals. Most of my colleagues are not willing to take their chances on that, though, and have a healthy distrust of the “review” process. So yeah, some self-inflicted, some not so much, but we are in a very bad place.
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This is really effed up. Wouldn’t a doctor in good working condition be better than a broken one? Seems like a no brainer to me.
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No, of course not! We need to be stronger than that. Therapy and mental health help are for the weak! (He explained bitterly.) There actually is still a lot of this kind of attitude in medicine, and more so among surgeons than us peons.
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That’s not right, Capitalism wants babies because then you’ll owe it thousands of dollars on delivery.
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This is scary. Vote blue, y’all.
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Agreed. The whole “don’t have any” is standard-issue victim-blaming of poor people who already have children.
I don’t get too much commentary about being childless in my personal life. But when I do, the person giving it fits the description, if you know what I mean. These people exalt not only unborn fetuses, but even the potential, a mere twinkle in the eye!
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Next will they be complaining about the lack of workers to fill all the jobs being created by the Olympics, decrying that no one wants to work?
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They have on-the-job-training. You’d think they could hire from the pool of homeless who want to work. 
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I wonder if anyone has thought of maybe spending some of that infrastructure money on, I don’t know…affordable housing?
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I think what most may be thinking is finishing up construction on their hotels before the start of the Games.
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Maybe a giant stadium or two that will be sitting vacant in a couple of years?
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