u/IngersollsOrdinary

I have been on 100mg Zoloft for about a year. While it’s working well, one of my side effects is a sharp decrease in motivation levels. I am a student and am finding it difficult to stay motivated to do assignments and otherwise to engage with course material.

Before Zoloft, I think a lot of what fueled me was anxiety. Thankfully, the anxiety is gone, but unfortunately, so is the sense of urgency that made me a good student. My grades decreased drastically on Zoloft.

I’ve looked into the accommodations process at school, but I guess I’m more interested in increasing my intrinsic motivation.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you address it?

Thank you!!

I saw someone’s comment in r/TwoXChromosomes. It was about how wearing makeup changes how people treat them. The commenter said something like “still the same person, but different treatment.”

That comment reminded me of the story of Ben Barres, the late Stanford neurobiologist. He gives an incredible firsthand look at how deeply ingrained sexism is in STEM.

He spent the first half of his career working as a woman (Barbara Barres) and dealt with constant, blatant gatekeeping. For example…

From the article:
“When he was the only person in an MIT class to solve [a] […] problem, the professor scoffed and insisted his boyfriend must have done the work.”

At age 40, Barres transitioned to male.

From the article:
“During his decades as Barbara, Barres had known what exclusion felt like, but he was unprepared for the drastically different treatment he got once he presented as a man.

“All of a sudden, fellow researchers began addressing him more collegially. ‘It was only changing sex at the age of 40 and experiencing life from the vantage of a man that I finally came to be fully aware of these barriers,’ he writes. ‘People who don’t know I am transgender [now] treat me with much more respect. I can even complete a whole sentence without being interrupted by a man,’ Barres wrote in a Nature commentary in 2006. After Barres gave a talk as Ben, he heard an audience member remark, ‘Ben Barres gave a great seminar today, but then his work is much better than his sister’s.’”

Having experienced both sides of the gender divide, he spent the rest of his career using his voice to call out institutional sexism and advocate for women in science. His perspective is such a powerful counter to anyone trying to pretend systemic bias in academia doesn't exist.

I came across this clip from the current season of 90 Day Fiancé. My immediate thought was that this doesn’t sound like any kind of OCD I’ve ever heard of (though please correct me if I am wrong.) I know OCD can manifest differently and encompass different themes, etc., but what she’s describing did not really seem ego-dystonic?

It’s frustrating to see reality TV stars throw around terms like "intrusive thoughts" and "OCD" to explain away messy behavior. Real OCD is a nightmare of terror and exhausting compulsions. It is not a convenient excuse for crossing boundaries after a few drinks.

Even if giving the benefit of the doubt and assuming that the show’s editing cut out some of the context, it is still unfortunate that millions of people watching the show are walking away with a distorted and inaccurate idea of what OCD actually is.