▲ 1 r/whatbirdisthis
Gray bird seen on Olympic Peninsula in WA
My friend sent me this very poor-quality photo of a bird she saw on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and it's bothering me because color-wise it looks sort of like an Eastern Kingbird but it's the wrong shape (wings too short, etc) and out of range. Merlin thinks it's a Canada Jay but I can't seem to find any photos where the coloration looks like this on the head. I thought it might be some specific stage of a young Spotted Towhee or some kind of a young Junco variant or...idk, even a Robin or something in a specific stage of development. Anyway, it's just bothering me because I generally know birds around here pretty well. Thoughts?
u/deerwater — 23 days ago
▲ 307 r/olympia
This kayaker accidentally got the best possible view of the first Tufted Puffin on record in Thurston County yesterday
u/deerwater — 1 month ago
▲ 10 r/BipolarReddit
I feel like I finally make sense
Hello everyone. I don't have a question, I just wanted to share my recent experiences.
I (41F), just met with a competent psychiatrist for maybe the first time after 30+ years of being on medications. I have always been a mess, & had trouble with things other people seem to find easy. I was diagnosed with ADHD in third grade, given Ritalin, which didn't work & made me feel crazy. Been on nearly every ADHD med, stims made me super productive for a few days then depressed. Nothing worked.
I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and PTSD after my first divorce. She was an alcoholic of the kind who yelled & threw things. I married a second alcoholic a few years later. We broke up because of their drinking and because I started having sex with other people, which they had sort of said was okay but not totally. Very serious periods of hypersexuality starting from puberty, many of which led to bad decisions. I tried to count my sexual partners at age 31 and lost track at 100. I've also had suicidal times, had a lot of trouble keeping jobs. Some drugs.
I always thought I had seasonal depression and ADHD and was just generally a bit intense and wild, but when this new psychiatrist started asking questions recently it all just seemed so clear. Antidepressants never worked for me and the only thing that has kept me from being too suicidal was Gabapentin/Pregabalin, which was prescribed off-label for anxiety. My new psych said Gabapentin had probably helped me because it can have some mood-stabilizing effects, and that I should try an actual mood stabilizer, so I'm going to be taking lamotrigine soon, and he's going to diagnose me formally based on how I react to mood stabilizers.
I have been diagnosed with many things over the years, but this feels like we finally cracked it. I'm feeling very excited but also vulnerable and crying a lot. The idea that maybe my life could have been easier all this time is really fucking with me, but also feels like there's maybe hope finally? I sort of had resigned myself to thinking everything would always be this hard.
Thanks for listening.
u/deerwater — 2 months ago