u/Nice_Entertainer_887

tl;dr: what should I expect, what kind of gear is a necessity, what common mistakes to avoid

Hello, I've recently been wanting to get into swimming as I have some physical health issue (POTS) that makes more traditional exercise challenging for me. I know how to swim, and can do whatever the basic stroke is called, but I've never swam laps before. I'm planning to find a gym when I move city that has a pool, but I'm a little intimidated and have a few questions:

firstly, gear -- what is essential? I have no idea how long I'll stick with this hobby, so I'd prefer not to ball out on a bunch of gear I may not use in a few months, lol. Secondly, what are typically the peak hours people swim? Because I don't really know all of the etiquette, I'm hoping to avoid going when it's busy just so I don't bother more experienced swimmers. Lastly, what are the mistakes you see most beginners make?

I'm pursuing this very casually, I really just want to get back to doing cardio again and its hot as hell where I live. Anyways, thanks for any advice! <3

Hello!! I'm very new to this all, so please bare with me.

I (21F) just found out as of yesterday that apparently, I have keratoconus. Yay. I'm kind of at a loss for what to do, my vision has significantly worsened since I last got my prescription 4 years ago, and my doctor blamed it on rubbing my eyes. I hardly rub my eyes. Her advice was basically just to stop rubbing my eyes, and use allergy eye drops.

I'm kind of at a loss for what to do, my new prescription can't even fully correct my vision and it's kind of depressing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated ❤️

Hiii :) just curious about other's opinions, as I myself have very mixed feelings about being referred to as sensitive.

Tl;Dr I hate being referred to as sensitive in any context

I will preface to say that being referred to as sensitive already has some negative associations for me due to childhood experiences, but recently I had a therapist refer to me as a "highly sensitive person," (yes, in reference to Dr. Elaine Aaron's research, and no, I do not agree with her philosophy). But I found the lable surprisingly hurtful, and now I'm wondering if I'm taking that sort of terminology too personally. Does anyone else feel similarly or otherwise?

Hello everyone :) sorry to complain, it's just always nice to hear responses from people who get it, lol.

I was supposed to go to a concert tonight with friends, but I ended up cancelling because I'm not feeling well. The thing is, I feel like I could've reasonably gone, my symptoms weren't awful I was just feeling nauseous and worried it was going to get worse.

I just sometimes feel like I'm in a weird limbo where I'm very fortunate to have manageable symptoms, but I feel like I'm not actually disabled. But I also don't feel able bodied, since I can't keep up with my able bodied peers. It just leaves me feeling weird and guilty, like I should've just gone since things weren't THAT bad. I don't know.

This is a very privileged thing to complain about, I feel extremely fortunate to have manageable symptoms, but sometimes it all just makes me feel guilty.

Anyways thank you for reading, I hope you all have a great week !! ❤️❤️

I'm just curious about how much other potsies sleep, as someone who sleeps a lot, lmao. Most of my friends hardly get 7 hours of sleep per night, but if I don't get 10 hours of sleep then I feel pretty awful the next day. I also am a pretty big nap-taker. Is it the same for yall too??

Hello, obligatory disclaimer that I am not an audiophile, so I don't know much about headphones!

I was just looking for advice regarding a comfortable set of bluetooth headphones, ideally under $300. I won't be using them for anything crazy, mostly just for when I'm out and about as well as when I'm studying, things like that. I'd just really like a pair of headphones that are sturdy and don't suck, lol, so I can hopefully use them for a long time. A lot of the music I listen to is like listening to a fork in a garbage disposal, a lot of noise rock, metal, and things like that (if that matters?).

Thank you!!

hello :] I honestly have no clue how to talk about this, lol. When I was about 19 I was told by my psychiatrist that my depression is considered "treatment-resistant" (awesome), and I found it extremely discouraging at the time. I honest still find it very discouraging. I've been in talk therapy since I was 16 (21 now) and I still really struggle with symptoms like SI and that sort of thing.

How do you not become discouraged? Maybe coming to a subreddit full of people with depression isn't the best place to look for hope, lmao, but I just want to talk to other people who understand. I was such a happy and bubbly kid, and now I feel so empty all of the time. I feel like I'm so draining to everyone around me and I wish I could just be that happy kid again.

Idk. Not sure what else to say. I don't want to do TMS or ket therapy because they both scare me, but I feel like there's not much else left to try.

Sorry for the bummer post and thank you for taking the time to read it ❤️ ❤️

Hello! I've been very interested in cluster B personality disorders for some time now due to how stigmatized and misunderstood they are, and was wondering if anyone would have any good book recommendations for books about narcissism? From the majority of what I've seen online, it's most books about recovering from narcissistic abuse/parents/etc. Obviously, I can imagine those books are very helpful for some people, but I am looking for a more objective or at the very least empathetic perspective. Thank you!

edit: just to be very clear -- I am NOT looking for books on subjects like surviving narcissistic abuse or growing up with narcissistic parents. I'm specifically looking for books to help me better understand narcissists as people and not immediately portray them all as abusers. I feel there is a profound lack of understanding and compassion for these people, and I just (maybe naively) want to better understand where narcissism comes from.