Men's mental health is no joke, kids.
Men's mental health is no joke, kids.
We have a repeat caller who is absolutely convinced all their organs have been removed and everyone from their landlord through to the PM is in on the conspiracy. They are both simultaneously in a coma but awake apparently.
Every call lasts about two hours, you can't saw anything as they talk over you. They're pleasant with it and we don't want to block communication as we may be their only outlet.
That's one of many, many others. I've had them twice this week.
It should be pointed out that this is nothing new. After my mum died I struggled big time. I was alone at 22, no mum, no dad, no siblings, with a stepdad I never got on particularly well with. So I reached out for some help and was referred for counselling. The appointment came through for 6 months later. This was then cancelled and moved on a further 3 months. I cancelled that one and just muddled my way through in the end.
I also remember the BBC doing a documentary about mental health and there was a guy on there that wanted to be sectioned because he was suicidal and he was told that he won't be until he's actually tried something, so he promptly took himself off to the top of a tower block. That was long before Covid. I dread to think how bad it is now if you're struggling.
If any of you lads ever need to speak to a Mental Health First Aider, they’ve stopped paying me for it so I’ve deleted the Stay Alive app and have got rid of my green MHFA lanyard.
I'm a twit
Yep my dad tried to kill himself end of last year, which I vaguely mentioned here. He has been given six sessions of therapy which the last one is next week and has been told that's your lot we're too busy, give a fuck if you're feeling better or not.
He only got those through his doctor working his cunt off to get them for him.
Yeah, and I agree with that, but we're encouraging people to view mental health as some sort of spectrum with themselves on it and I don't think that's useful for people who have nothing actually wrong with them and not helpful for the people who do. Life is shitter than it was on the whole, there's no doubt about that, but encouraging people to fall into the trap of thinking they have mental health issues, when being down/frustrated etc. (which is just a normal human reaction to things being shit) is making the problem worse.
Yeah, that's not a mental health problem. It's having a shit life and being worried/stressed/annoyed by it, which as above, is perfectly normal. The onus should be on those in power to fucking sort it and not on Mr. Smith to 'check his mental health'. I mean, in that scenario, what the fuck does that even mean?
It's the individualisation of the problems of capitalism. Things are going to shit? That's your fault, check your mental health, develop a positive mental attitude. All while the people in power go "lol no, we're not going to fix anything" and their mates make out like fucking bandits.
Well 'we' shouldn't be falling into it like the sheep we are - it should be abundantly clear that it's absolute nonsense and that there is no way to put a positive spin on your mortgage going up by £500 a month and food prices more than doubling* since the pandemic/that absolute shitshow we're supporting in Ukraine. I generally like capitalism, but every mechanism to govern can reach the stage where it's taking the piss and it's up to the electorate to not swallow the shit we're pedalled. Instead, we're all wanking each other off about mental heath awareness and developing a new found love for a country most would have characterised as an Eastern European shithole before Putin invaded.
*I don't actually know that they have, but they must have done by now, right?
There are lots of surveys out there that correlate having Mental Health with how white and affluent and left-wing you are, so you could blame capitalism in a roundabout way.
I wouldn't say doubled but it has gone up substantially.
The supermarkets will be the next ones in the firing line. Your fuel and even energy bills are starting to come down now, while inflation has come down to around 8.2%
Still high, but it coming down suggests prices for items should not still be increasing, which they are. I'm sure they'll blame supply issues, but they're losing reasons to hide behind now.
I would take that data with a pinch of salt. For the left having a mental health issue is fashionable, for the right it would be deeply shameful, and that will skew any stats heavily. Harold and The Saint were both Right Wing and both were heavily tapped upstairs, but they never would have said so.
I think it's the lockdown and Magic's suggestion that everything is shit. I've seen plenty paperwork to suggest some claimants are still in lockdown mode. And I wouldn't go so far as to brush it off as just life. The pandemic was two years of disruption followed by the economic fallout that we're all living in. It's a once in a lifetime thing on a once in a lifetime scale.
Once in a life time... so far.
That very much depends on China keeping their labs tight, I know.
Inflation coming down slightly just means prices aren't rising quite as fast. They're still rising.
And energy bills aren't really coming down either. The cap came down a bit so they can't charge as much but the government support also ended so you'll be paying about the same amount.
And with inflation still being persistent, interest rates are likely going to go up again which mortgage providers are already pricing in so people's mortgages are going to go up (as will people's rents because the landlords will pass that on).
Maybe we should focus on real problems and bury climate in the bin where it belongs.
Nothing will ever confuse me more than Giggles triple masking up for years and being a climate change denier.
We set the swimming pool today, so I would appreciate global warming stepping up to the plate some time soon.
Had a very cryptic meeting with my new boss’ boss who runs the area I work for. He’s only about 3 or 4 months in role (2 levels above me which is on mega money) and was doing a bit of digging into my background and ambitions.
Encouraging as he seems to think I’ve got a bright future if I want it and need to work out where I want to end up.
Sitting on the sofa watching football didn’t seem a smart answer so I left it open ended. The work/life/stress balance at the top seems mad so not sure I’d ever actually want that. I’d drop dead from a heart attack before I’d hit 50.
That is the problem at my spot, aside from a few plum roles the next bracket of jobs worth considering for the pay jump are full of people who've aged 10 years in 18 months due to all the shit.
I've had a few options to try and progress in a couple.of jobs that I've meh'd out of because I just don't want the life the people already doing it seem to have.
I'm aiming for a sweet spot of more money but minimal hassle.
Why earn money for its own sake if you're hacked off. One day you'll be just as dead.
I prefer to hit the overtime (if it's available) to just bump my pay. Easier to do since the switch to hybrid working as I can get the same amount of work out in half the time at home. Staying where I'm at keeps things piss easy.
Im so happy at my new low expectations job I have to assume I’ll find a way to hate it soon enough.
The sweet spot is becoming an SME in whatever capacity. As soon as you have to manage anybody, stress levels shoot up.
The perfect scenario is also having a manager that isn't sure what you do, which I've had once before and it was great.
I'm currently heading towards a role where I'm managing things but not people. The dream.
Technically I manage and produce data, but it doesn't get me out of any bullshit work management courses. That said I have swerved the mental health one for 2 years now, purely on principle as it was originally voluntary and then the instigator must have got high on their own new found authority and labelled it 'compulsory'.
I have also managed to swerve some leadership conferenced with deftly placed holidays, I think I have been in the office maybe once this year. Thankfully the company seem fully comitted to this as the relocated one of the offices to new premises recently that physically couldn't accomodate all the staff who are based there.
Last edited by Lofty; 01-06-2023 at 07:39 AM.
Managing partners in wholesale is great. You take all the credit when they do it well and blame them entirely when it goes horribly wrong.
The old boy I went to South America with is now touring Central America. He's sent a report from Guatemala which included this sentence on a particular customer:
Might send this into the high performance podcast as an example of #elite #outlook.He recently lost his two month old son after high doctor’s and hospital fees, which has depleted his working capital
I’ve been off this week cos it’s half term, and it’s been rubbish. Nice weather, no emails, but constant kids.
I'm a twit
The new boss tried to explain to me why we (my role, but also the people under it) get paid less than the people doing the same jobs in other departments today, and why they won't contemplate any objective assessment of what we do against the grading guidance. I told them in a roundabout way that of their reasons were crap, and the discussion ended with them trying to stare me out and waiting for me to leave the table. I sat there for a good thirty seconds, so they started the conversation all over again, and then complained that we were 'going round in circles'.
Our MD is currently on a baffling but quite entertaining crusade against hot food. He's already sent packing the food van which used to park out the back and sell sausage rolls to the warehouse staff. Now he's ordered that the microwaves are to be removed from the kitchens. He just delivered a five-minute rant about how you shouldn't be eating hot food at lunchtime and everyone needs to go back to sandwiches.
Absolutely no idea why, but it doesn't affect me so lol.
Just bring in a pot noodle. Check mate, old man.
had an interview today, think I nailed it. pity I'm much better at interviews than doing actual work but that's a them problem I suppose.
Did you get it?
Big day for me tomorrow. Doing five interviews with hopeful applicants. Any dos and donts? It’s on teams so can’t just employ the one who smells best. There’s three of us on the panel and we have 2 questions each lined up (ChatGPT to the rescue) but HR have thrown a spanner in the works saying we must ask about gaps in employment. Tbh I’ve not had chance to check if any of them have gaps, but I presume so. Will badge that on at the end, I guess.
I'm a twit
Save the selfies for after the interview.
45 minute time slot each, and the first one took 14 minutes.
I'm a twit
Quite the mix! Jewellery shop salesperson followed by an African GP.
I'm a twit
What the fuck is the job if you're shortlisting both of those as suitable candidates?
Sexual assault champion.