
Labels are incredibly useful for things like organizing your canned goods, knowing what protein/marinade combo you've got in the freezer, finding the right haircare products - that sort of thing.
Not necessarily so useful or appropriate when it comes to human beings.
Reddit user UltimateDiscordMod asked:
"What do you hate being labeled as?"
So here's the thing - there are some labels people just flat out HATE.
Having no control over the way someone perceives you is irksome, at best. But in these cases it's something more.
Let's take a look.
Shy
"Shy. For the love of god stop labeling me as shy just cause I don't feel like talking to you."
- brisnoctis
"Came here to say this."
"I wouldn't mind being labeled as quiet, which is almost the same thing. But 'shy' often has a slightly infantilizing side to it. Like I'm some kind of scared cute little creature."
"There's really no need to talk to me like I'm a lost child at the supermarket, I'd just rather listen than talk right now."
"I also feel like once people have categorized me as shy, they assume I don't have anything meaningful to contribute to the conversation, and I feel like they're not really paying attention to what I'm saying when I do speak. Which is a shame because I really like to talk and give my opinion on things once I feel comfortable."
- migzard
Useless
"Useless."
"It's a word I've been labeled as multiple times throughout my childhood by certain family members. Absolutely ruined my self esteem."
- crowdfear
" 'Oh you aren't helping ME out with every little problem I should be dealing with!? You're useless!!!!!!!' "
"I hate that sh*t."
- Solitary_Stars
"Then again, it's not like you are an instrument or a tool to anyone."
" 'Useful' is not a term you'd want to use for humans, let alone 'useless.' "
- TreborNuh
That Southern Sound
"When people hear my southern accent and learn I'm from Alabama, I'm automatically labeled as less intelligent."
- boadicea-h5
"I live in Florida and people sorta just invalidate the possibility of me having brain cells just because I'm a 'Florida man.' "
- PsychologicalArm8990
"Man I feel this one."
"I'm from a tiny mountain town in North Carolina and once, when I was describing my hometown, I was asked if I even went to school."
"I was like ???? Girl what! this isn't the 1800s."
- psb811
"I'm from West Virginia and once got a similar reaction from a girl that I was talking to from California. She was asking me if I could read and stuff like that, and had all this pity for me."
"When I explained that I went to school and could read she didn't take it as that just being normal, but that I had broken out of the stereotype and achieved something not many people do where I'm from."
"I was just like holy sh*t how are people this ignorant? lol."
- DevilsNDeepBlueSeas
Alcohol Issues
"Alcoholic."
"Haven't had a drink in 9 years. I'm a lot of other things beyond just a guy who once had a drinking problem."
"I don't know why for some people that's the centerpiece of my identity."
- boeheim03
"Well, in my opinion it keeps it real. I'm an alcoholic and part of that is knowing I can't drink because of my genetic predisposition, illuminated by my past is a powerful deterrent."
"It's when people forget how bad they got that they do it again. Just like the cycle of economic strife and the subsequent rise of populism nationalism and fascism."
"Revisionist history serves no one."
- ericdevice
"Dude same. My mom and brother are super into AA and the way they talk about me and my sobriety drives me nuts. AA people are actually the worst. And I say that as a former AA guy."
"I actually believe that sticking hard to that label (which is a HUGE part of AA recovery) keeps people sick, in a way, and prevents them from truly healing."
- Sentientdoing
Big Doesn't Mean Violent
"I'm a big person an people automatically assume that I'm aggressive and violent."
"I don't like having to explain that I have no desire to cause anyone pain, I feel like that should be expected of common people. I can't control how big I am, it's not an indicator of my violence level or anything like that."
- Aggravating_Bat1786
"I'm 7 foot 1 and am not a skinny dude. I'm also Black and I have a lot of tattoos."
"People will switch sides of the street when I'm walking down the sidewalk. But really I'm a gentle dude and I've never hurt anybody nor have any desire to."
"Sometimes it hurts my feelings but at the same time I get it."
- umbrella_CO
"There's a guy who works at my local dog shelter who looks like a hairless bear with more defined biceps."
"Nicest guy. Has my preferred breakfast saved for me whenever I'm late. Two small pups at home. Genuinely curious, thoughtful, progressive, insightful, and articulate."
"Looks like a Rocky villain. Or a Mortal Kombat character."
- Lucky-Definition-189
Pants On Fire
"A liar."
"Trust is the most important thing to me, and I make a point of being honest. When someone goes off on me and calls me a liar (either to cover their ass or just because they do not want to admit their data is inaccurate) it is deeply insulting."
- 8dogsinatrenchcoat
"This, this right here."
"It quickly leads to a short fuse for me because I also make a point to be honest. I've stopped talking to many people because they're pathological liars, blatantly."
"I've been told I'm 'too honest' whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. To call me a liar is wild."
- Simpl3Nik
"I once been called a liar/cheater by a high school teacher. The sole argument and evidence was that they believed I couldn't have realistically done that great on the assignment."
"I had to argue with her for 15 minutes that it was, indeed, possible for me to achieve success."
"Made me hate being labeled as a liar as well as a loser."
- ExWeirdStuffPornstar
"I feel the same, but for a different reason."
"I was a liar. I grew up in a situation that pushed me to lie to protect myself."
"As a teenager and young adult I lied a lot. About anything and everything. To everyone, myself included. I believed some of the lies, I told them so much."
"Toward the beginning of my current relationship, I realized that I wanted to be honest with my partner. I started trying not to lie to her, and coming clean when I did."
"Through this, over the first couple of years of our relationship, I kicked dishonesty. The desire to lie to protect myself is still there sometimes, but I'm conscious of it and I do not lie anymore."
"Being called a liar now irks, because I've put forth (and continue to put forth) so much effort to be honest, something that is genuinely difficult for me sometimes. With one little word, a decade of concentrated effort can feel invalidated."
- Darkhymn
"It's funny because the people who hate being called a liar the most are either honest Abes or mind-numbingly conniving sociopaths."
"I had a close friend who scammed me for thousands of dollars via lies. He had this almost-famous phrase he was always saying:"
" 'I've got thick skin. You can call me a lot of things and I won't care. But if somebody calls me a liar I won't take that. I'm always getting in trouble because I tell it like it is so I won't be accused of being a liar.' "
"Turns out he's a heartless con man so people calling him a liar is bad for business."
- lasertits69
"My ex had a similar stance on this."
"Which would have been fine except for the fact that she was a compulsive liar. It made it incredibly difficult to approach her about something she lied about."
"Crazy right?"
- Classssssic"
People Break Down The Nicest Celebrities They've Ever Met | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
They always say, "don't meet your heroes." But here's the thing, sometimes your celebrities are actually just chill, normal people who are overjoyed to meet ...Casual Racism = Racism
"Different from most Black people or pretty for a Black girl."
"My little sister gets that a lot. She'll say something awful back like 'I got lucky, my mom is light skinned.' "
"What's sad is some people still stay clueless that she is sarcastically pointing out the racism and agree with her!"
- Pscilosopher
"I feel this so f*cking hard. I also get 'one of the good ones' and 'you talk white' a lot too."
- ImJadedAtBest
"This would describe how everyone always seems to describe me. They always act offended when I tell them I find it insulting and nonsensical."
- mrockracing
"A friend of mine posted about how much he hates it when people refer to him as being the whitest Black guy they know and thinking it's a compliment."
"It clearly implies that there's something wrong with being Black. Things like that are not uncommon and really shows how ignorant people are when it comes to race."
- LobotomistPrime
Physically Small Doesn't Mean Emotionally Small
"I hate being labelled cute when I'm angry and having my feelings completely invalidated because of things I can't control like my stature and appearance."
- milkywaymistress5
"This sh*t irks me."
"It stopped me from getting a few jobs that I really wanted because people didn't take me seriously. You've really gotta prove yourself when people think you're just 'small and cute' and nothing more."
- Own-Researcher-5507
"I felt that. I'm rather small and I have this young looking face that make people think I'm just sooo cute and adorable."
"My sister is taller and has a more adult face. We can have the exact same angry behaviour/reaction to something and we get completely different results."
"She has her concerns considered and addressed whereas I am dismissed or infantilized."
"If I get angry I'm either 'cute' or brushed off because 'How can such a small thing be so angry?' "
"Actually, that's the attitude with every emotion. As if being physically small makes your emotional range smaller."
- Ledifen
Living In Japan
"A weeb."
"I've lived in Japan going on 30 years and never had the slightest interest in anime. In the early 90's it hadn't reached US shores yet."
"The real boom happened around 1996 or whenever Pokemon hit North America and the internet fueled a thermanukular asplodey of nerdity after that."
"Until then, it was small quiet enclaves of Studio Ghibli enthusiasts, but now you have entire sections at Barnes & Noble and cable channels dedicated to it, and good Lord did it bring the tourists vaulting over the turnstiles in crazed cultural consumption sprees. And blah blah blah."
"A quarter century later I can casually mention where I've lived for over half my 51 years and nearly always get a response containing some obscure Martian J-pop-culture reference I have no idea how to form a conversation around."
"I came to Japan for a reason and anime ain't it. I was looking for a job in the budding IT industry, not a waifu."
- the2belo
"This one!"
"I have a masters in Japanese history and lived there on an off for years. I do watch some anime but not very much. I specialized in pre-modern history, my nerd specialty is gender performance in Kabuki, not animation."
"I'm not weeb, I'm a historian. I still jokingly call myself one sometimes though…"
- ParadoxInABox
"Picky"
"Picky."
"I am an grey romantic asexual person which means I don't experience sexual attraction and I rarely experience romantic attraction."
"I'm in my late twenties and I've definitely been romantically attracted to one person, not so sure about the other two people. It's a maybe? It's unclear."
"For me being 'picky' is having people you are attracted to and finding faults with them. Whereas I go on dates and meet lovely people but I ultimately feel nothing for them."
- DuckiesBeDamned
Booked Seats Don't Mean Racism
"I was accused of being racist at work (flight attendant) recently."
"An Indian family had booked the last row and were sat together. The passenger in front had two seats booked for him and his partner and they chose to lay down together on their seats."
"Said family at the back accused me of being racist because I wouldn’t force the couple to move out of their booked seats so the family could lie down instead."
"I completely understand that there is a huge issue with racism, but it’s definitely not something to hide behind to try to get your own way."
- jack172sp
Don't Throw The Label Around
"OCD."
"Society throws around this label waaay too much. I don’t have OCD because I like to keep my house clean or color-code my clothing."
"A close friend of mine suffers from severe OCD and it’s a LOT different from what society labels it as."
"Someone being neat is one thing, but OCD isn't something to be made light of. It's a serious struggle."
- Curlyhairdontcarex
Homeschooled
"I was homeschooled up until college."
"A lot of people assume I have a disorder (autism downs etc.), that my mom taught me sex Ed the 'intimate way,' or other generally stupid, disgusting, or ridiculous thing about me being weird."
"The only mental issue I have is occasional depression (just like everyone else) and I missed out on some phrases that were popular as jokes for people in middle school."
"I’m introverted but I socialize well do well in my engineering classes and have a normal relationship with both parents. I'm no weirder than the rest of you."
- dalawre
Combat Sports
"People assume I think I'm some badass bro or hardo because I do combat sports. I hate that."
"I'm a f*ckin neeeerrrrrd. I can blather on and on about fighting technique the same way I can blather on about Warhammer."
"The sports I like are just one more thing to geek out on."
"Don't think for one second that I'm willing to fist fight someone over liquor induced drama either. I don't wanna get stabbed, shot, arrested or kicked in the head by a friend of the person I'm fighting."
"I hate confrontation. If I get in a situation, I'm dropping to my back."
- liquorlanche617
I'm Not 5
"An autist or autistic."
"Though not inaccurate as I have high functioning Aspergers, the way people treat autism like a disease that needs to be cured, or make it clear they think I'm completely incompetent by treating me like I'm 5 is flat out insulting."
"Many people often guess that I'm on the spectrum and either treat me like I'm a toddler or try to sell me on bullsh*t 'cures' for all sorts of diseases while painfully emphasizing the part about autism."
"I don't need to be 'cured.' Stop doing this to people."
- Some_Tiny_Dragon
I Just Have Bad Eyesight
"A geek or nerd."
"I have a huge respect for geeks and nerds, but I’m not one. Honestly, I’m pretty sure geeks and nerds would be dishonored to have someone like me associated with them."
"I’m only labeled as a geek or nerd because of the fact that I wear glasses. Which I only wear because I have bad eyesight. I’m not even smart."
"But yeah it gets annoying."
- VoiceOfNoOneNNN
Personally, I relate HARD to the cute one. I'm (well) under five feet tall and I'm often dismissed as cute rather than having my concerns actually addressed if I'm dealing with someone in person.
I've been working on the internet since 2009, in part, to avoid dealing with it. And the petting. People would CONSTANTLY pet me like I was the office mascot.
I'm older, wiser, and way less shy about speaking up now, though, so I don't imagine things going down the same way if I ever go back to office work.
But please don't make me go back to an office.
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- Introverts Share The Best Responses To Being Asked 'Why Are You So Quiet?' - George Takei ›
- Introverts Share The Best Responses To Being Asked 'Why Are You So Quiet?' - George Takei ›
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- People Confess The One Socially Unacceptable Fact About Themselves - George Takei ›
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And there are just as many grievances for which we are not at all sorry.
Curious to hear about people's track record of their questionable behavior, Redditor NanoPKx asked:
"What is something bad you have done with no regrets?"
Is it petty theft or flat out stealing? You decide.
The Parting Gift
"'Forgetting' to bring back a company ipad after they forgot about me having it. Actually they never asked for it back so I still have it and use it."
– Koetjeka
Furry Companion
"I stole a barn kitten while delivering packages for FedEx. He kept climbing my legs and getting into the van, sitting under the wheel when I tried to back out (it was a steep driveway, no way to swing the van around). I called the number on the package, looked the name up on facebook, called the local non-emergency to get contact info, all failed."
"So I took him. Now, if you're not from a rural environment, you might not understand that barn cats like that are 'no-man's-cats.' For all the owners know, he got sick or got got by a coyote. And he would have died, because when we got him to the vet he had a nasty upper resp infection and some other nasties."
"Now, one deformed nasal passage and the cutest snore later, we have a bonkers little orange cat with the heaviest penchant for snuggling I've ever seen (his name is Monty btw)."
"Edit: I forgot to pay my Cat Tax: https://imgur.com/a/HIXS4us"
"Edit Part 2: Monty loves the attention. Thank you for loving him as much as we do :3"
"MmmmMMMMRrrrrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW" -Montgomerey Valentine, 2022
– SonOfSkinDealer
The Dirty Treat
"A housemate of mine kept eating mine and my girlfriends food and even though I asked him to stop the only thing he would ever say is 'I thought it was mine' then keep eating it."
"Well I bought my girlfriend some ice cream she really enjoys and she put the half she didn’t finish back in the freezer. Well when she want to get the rest it was gone and it made me madder than I think it probably should have."
"The very next time I saw him and somehow keeping a straight apologetic face I told him how he accidentally ate our sex ice cream and that bits of it had been on our parts etc. I told him I felt guilty not to tell him and that I had to apologise for him to eat such a thing."
"I will never forget the face he made when I told him. A face of pure self disgust and shock to which all he had to say was 'I wish you never told me that' and proceeded to move out around a month later."
"Although he didn’t actually eat sex ice cream, like why the f'k would you put it back after use anyway? Sometimes I wonder if I went to far but in that moment I just did not care at all. He still doesn’t know it isn’t true and I’ll probably never see him again."
"F'k you Vitas buy your own food."
– SpicyDolphin74
Vengeance is sweet.
Payback Time
"A drunk driver hit my parked car, left a huge dent in the front driver’s side door, and then drove away. I happened to be looking out the window at the time and saw the whole thing, including his plate number. Cops got there not long after and took my statement. After a couple days and a couple phone calls, I found out nothing was going to come of it because he was the son of the sheriff the next county over."
"Fast forward a couple months, I see his car parked behind a local bar within walking distance of my apartment. I got out my hunting knife and sliced all four of his tires, and made a couple trips around it destroying the paint job. Yellow Pontiac Sunfire, and I still remember the goddamn plate number even after almost 20 years."
– IgnoreMe304
For The People
"I was a GM for a retailer that was going out of business. During the liquidation I let my employees that worked until the end store product they wanted to buy in a closet I claimed I didn't have a key to. Oh the final days I sold them all the items they requested for 95% off. 70" tvs, ipads, gaming laptops whatever they requested."
– Midnights606
Surreptitious Swap
"Years ago I worked for a wealthy dude who was married to someone semi-famous. He would waltz in every morning and talk about the fantastic dinner he had the night before, how he hung out with some other famous person or whatever else."
"He paid me peanuts. I had a hard time making ends meet."
"I was the office assistant and IT guy. So it comes time to get a new computer for one of the designers. I spec something out, and show it to him. It was a ripper of a machine for the time (early 2000s). But it wasn’t expensive enough for bossman."
"So I added a really high end graphics card. Boss was happy then. The card added nothing for the designer: they only did illustrator and photoshop."
"So I came in that weekend and swapped the graphics card for my aging one from home."
"No one ever knew. Or cared. And I got a new graphics card."
– Dudeinairport
When times are tough, people had to do what it took to survive.
T.P. Crisis
"In college I was so poor I would steal toilet paper from the supply closet in our major building."
– Business_Loquat5658
Hungry College Buddy
"I stood watch for a college friend who was going hungry because he’d been disowned and his roommates had made living with him intolerable after he came out."
"I was loosely affiliated with an off campus program with local churches that gave free student dinners on Thursdays. We would go to church to eat, then bring dishes into the kitchen."
"Anyway, he would go in there and steal stuff like peanut butter, literal bread (not an allegory), granola bars etc. while I watched out for the pastor."
"Eventually we both got caught, the pastor for the college students got a bit mad because he was responsible for us while we were there to eat. And I think it was offensive on some level to steal from church. But then he saw what my friend was taking, and asked him if he had enough to eat. My friend shamefacedly said no, not usually."
“'Okay, fine. Put the food back, and come with me.' Took my friend grocery shopping instead, got him connected with the food pantry and community garden at church instead."
– SchnarchendeSchwein
Based on these examples, people didn't twice about their actions in the heat of the moment.
Within reason, we all gotta somehow get by.
But do you think their actions deserve punishment?
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When a person sees someone they care about going through a struggle or crisis, their instinct is to uplift them with positive advice.
But sometimes, the wisdom imparted by friends isn't always helpful or relevant to the situation.
Curious to hear from strangers online who could do without specific knowledge, Redditor Saibotnl1 asked:
"What life advice can just f'k off?"

These Redditors have a problem with how certain people have on outlook on life.
Time To Rest
"Sleep when you’re dead."
"Cool, but you’re going to be dead a lot sooner."
– Tag2graff
Irrelevant Sadness
"People have it so much worse than you so don’t be sad!"
– notrachelmar
"To that I like to say, 'people have it so much better than you so don't be happy!'"
– ___jupiter____
Your Life Path
"Almost anything relating to what age you must be in order to buy a house, have children, marry, have a profession, or do anything else. Seriously, everyone's life is different from everyone else's. Make your life the way you want it to be. If you so desire. Up to you."
– Frn071
On The Contrary
“Cheaters never prosper”
"Yes, they f'king do."
– waqasnaseem07
People can get out of any situation they find displeasing.
But others feel people should just "stick it out."
Ignoring Bullies
"Just ignore bullys or get someone else to handle it for you. I have never seen this work, only makes it worse. The only effective way I've seen to deal with them is by not making yourself an easy target and make them scared to f'k with you again. If going psycho on their a** is the only thing they'll respond to that's their fault. Also want to add in schools they will punish you for self defense but that punishment is only sitting around a few hours in detention or sitting around at home with a suspension. The punishment is temporary boredom, it's absolutely nothing compared to being bullied and when it's over the important message will still stand that you will not tolerate being a victim."
– User Delted
Remain to be Miserable
"Stick it out"
"Whether that's sh**ty jobs, shi**y relationships, shi**y living situations..."
"By all means don't just give up on things when you face challenges, but if something feels wrong or is wrecking your peace then take some control and change it if you can!"
– petitezoey
"Easy for you to say," might be an auto-response to these suggestions for many people.
Invitation For Recklesslessness
"Live like everyday was your last"
Yall know what people do when they learn they have a single day left to live?"
– LimeGrass619
A Possible Consequence
"I did that as a teenager and ended up homeless and addicted to heroin. Didn’t pan out for me too well."
"19 years sober though today."
– Open-Section-7263
A Practical Approach
"If I knew with certainty that I had one day left, I'd double-check all my financials, my will, and my insurance policies, make sure my wife had all of my passwords and knew where all the money was, spend the rest of the day with her and the kids, then call the medical examiner and ask to lie down on the gurney so that when I die they won't strain their back moving my remains out of my house."
– Asteriad
Nose Stuck In A Book
"Work while they sleep. Study while they party"
"That's not a recipe for success, that's a recipe for a lot of white hairs, burnout syndrome and a stroke before your 40s..."
– Khomuna
Doesn't Apply To Everyone
"Do what you love and money will follow"
"I love walking my dogs and grilling food for my friends but That sh*t doesn't pay the bills as well as my engineering degree!"
– Elons_android
While people's intentions are good, they're better off keeping their two cents in their own pockets.
Not everyone likes to hear platitudes.
Sometimes, people just want to know they're not alone with their problems over listening to unlikely solutions that are nothing more than superficial pick-me-ups.
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Kids start going to school from the age of five, and for the most part, they spend more time at school than at home. Because of that, teachers can become very important figures in the lives of their students.
Some students don't have the best home lives. Some keep it to themselves, but others confide in their teachers.
Curious about various situations, Redditor Delicious_Mastodon83 asked:
"teachers of reddit what is the saddest thing you found out about a student?"
In Need of Parents
"Not a teacher but was a school-based therapist. Had a student (7 -8 y/o) I didn’t know knock on my office door and ask if I’d adopt her and “if you have room, my brother too, but if not, that’s ok, we can be split up. We’re split up now. And I don’t take up space. I just need a sleeping bag”. Broke my heart."
– secretkpr
Heartbreaking, But Industrious
"My mom taught at a school in a bad neighborhood in Chicago in the mid 90’s. There was a second grader that would save his milk and ketchup packers from lunch for his mom so she had something to eat when she got home from work."
– PowerstrokeMe
Big-Hearted Mom
"Not a teacher but a parent with a 9 year old son. Every day I pack extra in my sons lunch because he tells me he has a friend that never has anything to eat. It's winter and my son came home and told me his friend was turning up with shorts and shirt and holes in his shoes. So I sent in a jumper and long pants for him to wear and some slightly used but good condition shoes. I have been up to the school recently and the teacher pulled me aside and thanked me profusely for helping this child. Apparently teachers are not allowed to aid kids they teach here in Australia and they have already reported the issue 3 times to child welfare without results so I was the only one helping this child. The teacher told me before I started sending in more food and clothes, this child would steal others food from their lunches and look through the bins because he was so hungry. They doubt he gets fed at home. So now I make sure to always send an extra lunch and some school clothes/supplies when I can. I can only hope child welfare eventually does something but it breaks my heart."
– spetzie55
Amazing Big Sister
"It was right after winter break and before class started I was just talking with some students and asked if they got anything fun for the holidays. One girl said on no, I don’t ever get presents, my mom is a drug addict. But I went out and got some stuff for my little sister so that she can have a real Christmas."
"She just said it so matter-of-fact. She was so used to being the parent to her little sister that she didn’t even care about her own childhood. It totally broke my heart."
– tonydanzascaulk
The Importance Of Human Affection
"Second hand story from my mom, elementary teacher for 30ish years. She had a hug or a handshake out the door policy, just some small contact and a proper goodbye, and had this young boy who always picked the hug. She wondered why he always went for it, most kids would go back and forth depending on their mood that day, so she asked him why he was always so excited for the end of day hug? His answer, "It's the only one I ever get.""
– needsawholecroissant
Coming Out The Other Side
"Two teenage boys (16/14) with learning disabilities were on my caseload, they never missed school but often ditched class. They were homeless mid-year after they went home from school to find the locks changed, their Mom had abandoned them for a new boyfriend. She didn't leave an address for them to find her."
"*Edit: both eventually dropped out, however a couple of years later the younger brother came back to visit. He and his brother were both working construction, and his brother had gotten married, had a child, and was living with his wife’s family."
"The younger had roommates and was saving for a car. He told me it was a shame I didn’t have kids, because I would make a good Dad."
"People often persevere, even with the odds stacked against them."
– Kursch50
True Parentification
"Not me but my daughter is a teacher, she has lots of stories but one that stands out for me is one of her kindergarten kids saying she was tired and her asking why, the little girl explained that she had been up all night with her mums newborn baby. She did this every night, fed her bottles and everything."
– lb47513343
Luckily, He Was Resilient
"This year I had a 17 year old kid enroll at my school. He was sitting in my math class and I could tell he was struggling. After class I took some extra time to go over a concept with him. I asked him to read the question to me, and he sat there silently. He then looked at me and said “I’m not going to lie to you, I cannot read. I have no idea how to say these words""
"Turned out at age 17 he was illiterate and had been kept out of school by his very religious, controlling parents. Over the past few months he has worked very hard! Now he can finally read at an 8th grade level and he is STILL improving!!"
– User Deleted
A Heroic Teacher
"I worked in an inner city charter school. One of my students (`M10) had a sib (M8) in a lower grade. The mom was there every day in the beginning of the year encouraging them, helping them and generally being very supportive... until a CPS agent spoke to me asking about her behavior. After CPS left things went downhill. The boys showed up late to class even though they lived a half block away from school. When in school both boys were tired from sleeping in the car while their mom "went fishing". She also had two very young girls which she dragged around making the boys take care of them. One day the boys didn't show up and their teacher walked over to the house to find the mom had loaded up the fridge, paid the rent for the month and abandoned them. The teacher (a candidate for sainthood btw) took them in, adopted them and grew them up to be great men."
– mopedarmy
This is really heartbreaking stuff! Luckily, teachers aren't just another adult in your life; they can be your saving grace as well.
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TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains sensitive content about depression and mental health.
As the stigma around mental health lessens (however slowly), people are more forthcoming about the problems they are facing. One of the most common mental health issues is depression.
Depression can affect many different types of people. Factors such as gender, race, nationality, and even age have no bearing on whether someone suffers from depression or not.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, "...an estimated 3.8% of the population affected, including 5.0% among adults and 5.7% among adults older than 60 years..."
Depression displays in certain patterns, such as mood changes, physical difficulties, and social isolation. However, depression manifests differently in different people and feels different to different people.
Reddit users divulged what depression felt like to them when Redditor iodineseaspray asked:
"What does depression feel like to you?"
Some of this is sure to sound familiar.
The Worst Kind Of Boredom
"Like being more bored than you could imagine but also not wanting to do anything at all, even breathe. So you want to do something, but you can't imagine anything that you would like to do so you're just sort of stuck."
– BuddhistSlater
"So you then spend literally hours staring at a blank wall hating yourself, your life, and everything around you. Well, as much hate as you can summon in the absolutely mentally numb state you find yourself sat in day after day."
– merryman1
Lack Of Motivation and Energy
"Complete lack of motivation."
"Ignoring people that I love, and who are trying to help."
"Just sh*t"
– HatFromStraw
"I feel it extra at work. Letting things slide until you either get into trouble or trying last minute to prevent it."
"Funny those times when I'm working to save my butt, the depression goes away and i feel super focused and motivated."
"I try to carry that energy over but no, it's rinse and repeat."
– ExtraBitterSpecial
Powerful Insecurity
"Insecure about absolutely everything, no hope for the future, dissociation from society and not knowing how to “act” anymore, feeling like I’m not as good at the things I always thought I was good at or that the “talent is wasted on me”, only food cheers me up and sometimes even that doesn’t work"
– tenamonth
Loss Of Creativity
"This. It's like some numb fuzziness you feel in your brain. It's the worst thing ever for an artist who just wants to create but your brain comes up dry with a dense fog that wants to just lie down for a few hours"
– FinnProtoyeen
A Mental Inability To Breathe
"For me, it feels like I’m in a lake with a ball chain tied to my feet, desperately swimming up for air, the only problem is the chain isn’t long enough. I can only get an inch of my head out of the water to breath, and as soon as a high tide comes, the water just floods over me and I feel like I can’t breath again. I live like this, constantly feeling like I’m struggling to breathe, weighed down by my own mind. It’s a struggle and I can’t really describe it in any other way, I’m jealous of people who don’t worry about depression"
– DrowningInBrokeness
"Like suffocating under a heavy cloak"
– kmartfreak
"Like being crushed. Like if the air was crushing my muscles and bones and I can’t breathe because I’m being crushed…"
"Kinda like that."
– Afreshnewsketckbook
Listlessness
"Scrolling thru your steam library. Thinking you want to play something, either not settling on anything or not wanting to put the effort into the game. Going back to the scrolling."
– Aistadar
"It feels like you're forced to play a game of Monopoly (represents life) and your just rolling the dice to appease everyone but you genuinely don't care about where you go, where you land, what you pick up, what you pay, what you gain."
"You kind of just watch it happen without interest and while people are cheering or oh no-ing for you, you genuinely don't care. Everyone is a piece on this board that hardly matters and you feel like we're all just running in a circle over and over again and it's boring and disinteresting as hell."
"You lose all curiosity for everything and just let everything happen and pass by you. No motivation, hardly any love, hardly any care. Feels like the world is in black and white and your waiting for the game to end became it's so absolutely boring and disinteresting, but it never does."
"You come to resent the game and eventually hate it because it feels like you're being forced to play it and suffer it's consequences when you never asked to play it in the first place."
"That's what depression felt like for me. Since then I've been medicated and recieved therapy. I'm doing a lot better now and I don't feel this way anymore, thankfully."
- KnlghtLlghts
A Relation To Fantasy
"You know that scene in the Lord of the Rings where Bilbo is describing to Galndalf what having the Ring all those years felt like? "I feel thin. Like too much jam spread over too much bread." That's honestly the best way I've seen to describe it."
– Electrical_Age_336
"I always say the closest thing to compare it to is a dementor in harry potter. It sucks every ounce of happiness out of you until there is only darkness left."
"Side note: chocolate always helps"
– sunfacer
Fear Of Lack Of Justification
"Like someone close to you died yesterday. Expect no one has, and nothing has happened to justify how you feel."
– AlterEdward
A Physical Pain
"Physical pain in my heart, will start crying just by attending to the physical sensation in my body."
– sagieday
Help Yourself
"I've always described it as having a shadow fixed to your brain which fuels things like indecision and negativity. You can do things to temporarily help but you can't truly shift it. Previous normality is forgotten. But it's amazing how much you can mask it."
"I found I didn't realise how bad I was until I started to get better"
"For anyone suffering with depression. Please, please speak to someone. Best thing I ever did"
– DavosLostFingers
Depression isn't something you can just deal with or get over. Learning to cope is not easy. However, as Redditor DavosLostFingers pointed out, talking to someone can literally save your life.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression, contact the American Psychological Association by phone at 800.374.2721 or 202.336.5500.
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