I'd be interested in hearing more about benzodiazepines and open-back visibility. I assume you're referring to nervousness about having your back facing a room?
My wife is "neurotic" about other people being behind her and being able to see her computer. She also has significant hang-ups with believing that people don't like her (as far as I can tell, they do), and general depression.
I'd love to get a better idea about whether these are symptoms of a real problem, or just "personality quirks". I've tried to get her to see a doctor about her symptoms of depression and somewhat odd neurosis, but she seems to largely believe the problem external to herself.
Lastly (and I intentionally left this for the end) -- I don't say this lightly, but your position -- that the "normal" people are indignant about having to somehow compete harder due to "the weak" having access to anti-anxiety drugs and anti-depressants -- seems unfounded in the available evidence.
I do think people with mental illnesses are judged harshly, but I don't think it has to do with concern regarding "doping" or some other form of unfair competition.
If your wife is anything like me—and her symptoms are identical to ones I had during an earlier stage of my depression—then they are real and should be examined. Even if they never worsen, they are needless anxieties to carry around.
There are no external problems. Everything is as it is; we choose to interpret the stream of input as problematic, or not. Sometimes we inject falsehoods into the stream ("nobody likes me") to nurse our fear.
It isn't necessary for your wife to live every day peering over her shoulder. Nor convincing herself that her friends and coworkers dislike her. Nor experiencing any of the other anxieties she no doubt simply takes for granted. As someone who carted so many around for not less than a decade, believe me: they're not worth the luggage fees.
I'd be interested in hearing more about benzodiazepines and open-back visibility. I assume you're referring to nervousness about having your back facing a room?
Open-back visibility is unnatural. Picture a man, comfortably reading a book, and a tree. Where is the tree? Invariably, it's right behind him.
When people are in a loud or uncomfortable environment, one of the first instincts is to guard their back. Modern office environments don't allow this. Most have traffic corridors behind the person who is working. Over 8 hours, the stress builds up.
My wife is "neurotic" about other people being behind her and being able to see her computer. She also has significant hang-ups with believing that people don't like her (as far as I can tell, they do), and general depression.
I'm not a doctor, and I don't know your wife, but to me, this sounds like social anxiety. A lot of office environments make it 10 times worse than it needs to be.
There's also such a thing as "secondary depression", which is depression induced by an anxiety disorder. Office-induced social anxiety usually leads that way.
At some point, I learned that no one cares what is on my computer (as long as I'm not obviously fucking off) because everyone is playing his or her game rather than trying to evaluate mine, but it took me years to really get that.
your position -- that the "normal" people are indignant about having to somehow compete harder due to "the weak" having access to anti-anxiety drugs and anti-depressants -- seems unfounded in the available evidence.
No, not all the "normal" people. However, there are people out there who feel very negatively about the use of these drugs, that they're "propping up the weak", and this is the source of that attitude. Society has been stack-ranking people for some time based on their ability to handle stupid stresses in large amounts, and psychiatric medicines change the game. But that's a good thing, because that game doesn't deserve to exist in the first place.
My wife is "neurotic" about other people being behind her and being able to see her computer. She also has significant hang-ups with believing that people don't like her (as far as I can tell, they do), and general depression.
I'd love to get a better idea about whether these are symptoms of a real problem, or just "personality quirks". I've tried to get her to see a doctor about her symptoms of depression and somewhat odd neurosis, but she seems to largely believe the problem external to herself.
Lastly (and I intentionally left this for the end) -- I don't say this lightly, but your position -- that the "normal" people are indignant about having to somehow compete harder due to "the weak" having access to anti-anxiety drugs and anti-depressants -- seems unfounded in the available evidence.
I do think people with mental illnesses are judged harshly, but I don't think it has to do with concern regarding "doping" or some other form of unfair competition.