#8173 http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/mental-illness-associated-shorter-lifespan-more-heavy-smoking

pls don't die as much as I hate to admit it I actually really like all of you guys. I've become attached to all of you confession commenters especially, even though I haven't ever spoken to any of you. Even the ones who have differing opinions from me on things, the fact that you're willing to put out an opinion that may be against the norm and try to actually back it up instead of being a dick about it or just not commenting is really admirable. I secretly look up to all of you, and hope none of you have to lose years off of your life from mental illness. Please, don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

#8172 I'm so mad I fucked up first semester freshman year.
Now I can never get a 4.0. It's ridiculous that I have never gotten a B, but my gpa is still below 3.95. Fml

#8171 I know these Rodgers posts are getting a bit tired, but I think it's really good that we're talking about it. It's great that people are coming out against him and his views. Maybe if we talk about enough, we can figure out what to do about it.

#8170 Perhaps in addition to addressing gun control, isn't it time we also address the over-sexualization of our media, which contrasts the ultra-taboo aspect of sex (and lack of sex ed) in the US? This recent shooter was clearly motivated by a perceived insufficiency within himself, the inability to "get girls". "Yesallmales" deal with questions like "what's your number?" amongst other things, which teach otherwise-loving men, who grow up comfortably playing on playgrounds with women as friends, to put women into a place of objectification, something that can be quantified and achieved. It is in male biology to be competitive, so the outcome of this situation seems pretty obvious to me. If they don't "win" they're going to be mad, and some will act on it (especially if we don't teach them how to manage anger), just like some break sports equipment after a bad game. Shouldn't we teach people that sex is a healthy, normal thing, only best when enjoyed by all parties involved, but not the only thing in life worth pursuing? It could've been guns OR a rape spree with this guy, both of which are horrible and potentially preventable. As 6th graders ask me how to play Bruno Mars "Locked Out of Heaven" and the chorus repeats "your sex takes me to paradise" over and over, I have to wonder. As much as I totally support them and think the world needs to seriously ponder and think on those points, I have a bad feeling the "yesallwomen" tags are likely going to push these particular (key word) types of guys further into feelings of anger, frustration, and helplessness, which will cause more distance between them and reality, resulting in more violence. Hopefully not. We seem to be missing the point though, as much as I totally see where everyone is coming from, and this shooting has been a great excuse to bring up sexism in contexts outside of this specific case. There's a reason objectification and sexism exists: it's taught from an early age. Perhaps we should work on making our society less angry and competitive, or teach healthy competition in schools, rather than discouraging it, which just pushes the need elsewhere. If you continue to tell straight, white, middle-class males that all their problems and frustrations are illegitimate relative to all other varieties of people, they're going to snap, hence the record rates of depression and violence. There's a certain stress that goes along with "privilege" and it's a feeling of obligation and a need to meet certain expectations, all while not being encouraged or even allowed to acknowledge that stress. Curious about other people's honest thoughts on this because there's clearly opinions and pain on all sides. Perhaps there's a solution. Not intending to offend anyone here.

#8169 I'm here to call out some of you on talking shit about what you don't know. I've gone on some of these trips--you know, the ones that have repeatedly been referred to as basically useless and mostly to make rich kids feel better about themselves.

Let's get a few things straight here.

a) We help out people in other countries because they need it. Some of them need help more than any of us in the U.S. need it, and the fact that we spend a few weeks out of the year to assist non-Americans doesn't mean we don't also help out in our own communities or in other American communities.

b) Most of the fundraising we do is for those who are able to provide more help than we can. Both the people living there and those who are able to stay abroad longer than a couple weeks need resources to continue doing their work. And yes, some of it is because not all of us are rich and international flights are EXPENSIVE AS FUCK, but we make that clear.

c) I have done construction work every single time to the best of my ability. Am I a large man with crazy muscles who can lift 500 pounds? No. No I'm not, and I can't. But I do whatever I can, and there is strength in numbers.

d) I'm not a rich kid. I worked my fucking ass off partly to support myself through college and partly to go on these trips. I didn't need a self-esteem boost when I signed up. I wanted to do it.

And before you shit all over the good someone else is trying to do, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself if YOU have even done anything close.

#8168 growing up with divorced parents. My Dad would be mad at me for not pretending to not be poor, which he had the means to fix and didn't. All while making money off an inheritance of mine that he kept secret from me, and used to fulfill some of his obligations to me from the divorce. And even then he didn't fulfill those obligations wholly, forcing me to make life decisions that are and will continue to have a crippling impact on my lifetime earnings.

#8167 I just failed my first class ever!!! All because I bombed the hard ass final that our teacher decided to give us, despite the fact that I got B's on all the other tests and 100 on all assignments! Seriously!? I hate Gentilli!

#8166 I'm a 5'8 male and feel really short. I spent the night researching growth pills.