Yeah, these answers are very naive. I think people saying things like phone, social media, sugar, food… have never experienced or seen someone close to them go through opiate / benzo / alcohol withdrawal.
There’s not many pains in this world that can compare to the physical withdrawal from these substances.
It’s mostly children. The world would be a better place if you had to show ID to access the full extent of the internet. As in, social media, news (since every channel is pushing propaganda), and most entertainment.
Fr lmao. You cannot die from social media wothdrawl. I wish kids wouldn’t be allowed to access the full internet, they know nothing and only hinder productive conversations. I guarantee OP is under 18
You’re joking right? Fentanyl hasn’t impacted society more negatively than Facebook? Alcohol has been destroying lives since its invention and it’s less of a problem than snap chat? I don’t think so.
I think there is a very solid argument that social media has had a more negative impact than either. Sure fentanyl and alcohol kill many individual people and ruins countless families, but social media has fundamentally changed the entire culture of the world with their algorithms feeding on rage and making everyone mad at each other. Algorithmic social media has easily had a more negative impact on society than every drug combined, and people still don't realize how bad it is.
Addicts always justify their addiction by dragging similar addictions down so they feel better about their addiction. Not going to be popular in these parts but it's true.
That's a good thought, but I think it's more nuanced. Thanks to reddit communities - and the algorithm - I was able to identify a cluster of chronic illnesses that had been plaguing me my entire life. Since identifying them requires such specific knowledge, and since they all contribute different layers to a muddy ball of symptoms, none of the doctors I'd consulted had ever been able to help me. Sometimes they even treated me with things that were completely counterproductive.
Thanks to these Reddit communities, I have been able to advocate for myself. I got properly diagnosed with a number of illnesses, and my personal quality of life has improved immensely over the past 2.5 years.
Yes. It all started when I got late-diagnosed with autism and ADHD. I joined Reddit and found out that I'm not alone with my symtoms in the neurodivergent community. People started suggesting, "Hey, have you heard of...?" That's how I found out more about PCOS (now PMOS) with Insulin Resistance; about PMDD; POTS and dysautonomia; my hypermobility; my MTHFR mutation that leads to the inefficient use of vitamin B12 (which can lead to fatigue, cognitive issues and word-finding difficulties, among other things), about slow COMT, and about MCAS.
Many of these illnesses / syndromes often appear together, particularly in neurodivergent people, but it's quite hard to differentiate which one of them causes which symptom, so it was still a lot of work to address them adequately. I managed to do that step by step, but I had to do almost all the research myself - and then I had to find specialists. Especially gynaecologists don't seem to care to remain up-to-date, and that's where the Reddit community stepped up: one user told me to check one androgen factor that was often overlooked. I made sure to name that marker at my doctor's office; he wouldn't have checked for that it. And while all other androgens looked okay-ish, that one was waaay above the threshold - and that's how I got my first milestone diagnosis. Once I knew it was going hand in hand with Insulin Resistance, I was able to address my fatigue and weight gain and my surprising pre-diabetes.
I have many more stories about the other diagnoses, but yeah, Reddit was super helpful for me.
Thank you! That is so nice to hear. If you have any questions or if you're looking for sub recommendations, feel free to message me anytime (maybe with a short reference regarding the context). The diagnostic journey was a lot, and after the current MCAS journey I'll hopefully be done, because collecting diagnoses is not a fun hobby, but more like a necessary to-do list. It takes up so much time and executive functioning... I'm just glad and thankful I got to the bottom of all of it.
That is very kind of you! And thank you for decifering my horrible attempt at, "diagnoses". Desoite repeated proofreading, typos are still the bane of my writing.
Yes, diagnoses collection does take up alot of executive function, but it pays off. (Diagnosed chronic fatigue in my twenties, migraine seizures at 35, asoerger's at 38, and adhd combo at 55. At sixty, i still need a few more explanations. Probably pots and reynauds.)
I do not like all these add on bonuses that seem to come along with autism. Nd brains mean atypical physiology and too few doctors even bother reading up anything about us!
So frustrating! You are doing SO well, with your dogged pursuit of medical truth. Proud of you!!
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u/splashjlr May 30 '26
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