ParallonTy12

Depression on blind

All jokes about TC/5'6'' Indian aside, there's a lot of posts about people feeling low and depressed and some even thinking about taking a bad big step to end their life.. It's obviously very sad that so many tech workers are suffering from mental health or stress or anxiety enough to want to die. First of all, those occasional mean trolls who write shitty demoralizing comments on those. Posts, remember sometimes one bad comment can tip someone over. Since it is anonymous we might never know what we did to someone. Secondly, on Facebook you can actually report if you think someone might be a danger to themselves. I know blind is anonymous but do you think this is something which can be tried? It might create some false positives since many useless trolls exist here, but it might just help someone if some positive or preventive action can be taken. I don't know the problem to this solution, but I read a post about someone contemplating dying today, and now I just can't sleep thinking maybe something can be done.

Add a comment
Flagged by the community.
Parallon Ty12 OP Nov 5, 2018

Really? Does that matter?

Sirius XM HsajiwI56 Nov 5, 2018

You validated his existence with a response.

Twitter 0nMyWay Nov 5, 2018

pro tip: if you can’t get a girl in the states, head back to india, your chances will be better there even though there are more guys than gals.

Parallon Ty12 OP Nov 5, 2018

What has this got to do with being Indian?

Uber meowimacat Nov 5, 2018

Depends if they want to be arranged or not...

Sirius XM HsajiwI56 Nov 5, 2018

The trouble is, if you can report something like this and have it reach the right people that can help that person, it proves Blind is not truly anonymous and kind of invalidates the whole platform. It’s nice to see some people chime in on those posts offering support, positive thoughts, and the suicide hotline. Unfortunately there are also a few tone deaf neckbeards coming into each of those posts and asking for TC or telling the OP to kill themselves.

Parallon Ty12 OP Nov 5, 2018

Correct I thought of the anonymity thing, but couldn't find a way around it.. But then at what cost is that anonymity. It could just be some positive signals sent out by the blind team or just some people who could ear mark themselves as contributors of mental health issues. I'm sure people would want to help.. Instead of having Tc or gtfo kind of top contributors, actually have a badge for someone who may have gotten positive help from someone who was in need.. Not sure if I have solution here, just feeling so sad to see so many people just hanging by a thread.. and these people are working at the 'respected' FAANG which I know everyone seems to be obsessed with but just proves that mental health doesn't discriminate.

LinkedIn Gynfrugs Nov 5, 2018

OP, thanks for understanding someone else’s unknown situations that are making them depressed. We need more people like you. Many people depressed are just dying to talk to some one, including me. We have all tools and apps to keep us connected, but they are all trash. There are very less friends in present world. Wish i get some friends with whim i can talk without being judged

Parallon Ty12 OP Nov 5, 2018

I know.. This app can be used in a great way. For people belonging to top companies, it necessarily doesn't have to burn out, or anxiety, it could be a bad phase in personal life. I wish there was a separate channel for mental health, and some of the folks would surely love to contribute.. I really like using blind.. But this Tc, gtfo culture on serious posts is just ticking me off. And I hope you feel better too. If you feel low, feel free to drop a message.

Facebook qIDT81 Nov 5, 2018

Hey if you need someone to talk to, message me. Let's talk

Boeing Airbus Nov 5, 2018

Bless your heart bro

Twitter 0nMyWay Nov 5, 2018

90% of suicides are by single people.

Clover Health doenfh Nov 5, 2018

Stop that

Google larrydavid Nov 5, 2018

Idiot spotted

Twitter 0nMyWay Nov 5, 2018

blind is depressing as hell, let’s all take a week break from it.

Facebook 5'6"Indian Nov 5, 2018

"All jokes about 5'6"Indian aside..." Being 5'6"Indian is depressing enough but being excluded in a thread about depression makes it much worse. :'(

Symantec haik Nov 6, 2018

Great thread. One of the few meaningful ones. Respect. I tried asking the op of that suicide thread if he was ok. He/she didn't respond. The same thought as that of the original poster came to my mind, we should do something, but I didn't take the step the op took, glad he/she did. Perhaps blind can introduce a ranking aystem like traditional message boards where ppl who contribute positively get more points and badges, where as those who are here for tc gtfo get penalized. In times of crisis the better ranking folks can maybe help. In general, answers by them would be taken more seriously in threads full of trolls.

Parallon Ty12 OP Nov 6, 2018

Thanks! I hope that person is okay too.. Kept thinking about him/her throughout the night. And yes.. A ranking system might be great. Or even if points don't exist, I think it can be used as a great medium. I wanted to tag blind but I guess that isnt an option. Anonymity is a great power this platform has--yes it can be used for gossip, and career prep and what not, but lots of potential in having conversations which people wouldn't have had normally. Senior people at big companies, the 'FAANG' folks, entry level folks - the spectrum is wide when it comes to people who might be battling mental health issues. Some people might not be talking because they don't have good friends, or because if your 500k earning Facebook engineer friend talks about how his/her life sucks, some people might ignore it. There are many reasons anonymity can be used as a great advantage. I hope they can do a better job of weeding out trolls.