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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   970 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for August 12, 2026

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

  • Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.

  • Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.

  • Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).

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Go to therapy. I used to work a similarly demanding job with a severely mentally ill clientele. The things I experienced weighed on me terribly and friends can only offer support to a certain extent. After a certain point, I almost felt like I was doing harm by telling them these horrible stories that they were not equipped to process or understand. A therapist will listen and listen and listen, and probably offer you at least a few helpful tidbits. Consider seeing one with a specialty in meaning-making or depth work, but I always say the best therapist is the one that is cheap and accessible enough that you will actually go to sessions. Best of luck.

I'm legitimately curious about how attorney-client privilege here interacts with therapist-client privilege.

After a certain point, I almost felt like I was doing harm by telling them these horrible stories that they were not equipped to process or understand.

Aside from my other PD friends who deal with the same issues at work, I don't share what I experience at work with friends or family. As you note, they are not equipped to hear this stuff.

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