socially-awk

> So, if I may, get off your fucking high horse.

You asked why the down-votes, but clearly didn't parse what I wrote.

I made no statements as to the efficacy of your proposed remedy, just that the problem is giving medical advice is dangerous, even if the substance is ultimately harmless (or even beneficial!).

There's nothing wrong with pursuing your own treatments, and I'm glad you've found things that work for you. I don't wish RSI on anyone.

It is, however, extremely wrong to give medical advice to strangers based on a single comment on an internet forum. You know virtually nothing about the individual, their symptoms or really anything at all about the specifics of the situation at hand.

Experts will want to know more about the specifics before providing advice. Fools tread where angels fear to go.

I'm sure you're in an expert in something. Whatever it is, think about the people who think they're experts in that from reading a wikipedia or newspaper article. Or heck, the newbies just starting out learning about that something. They are almost always so confident that they know the answer and share it with everyone around them. That confidence can be endearing and usually nothing horrible in consequences.

Not in the case of people's health. Consequences are too severe.

You are diagnosing and recommending medical treatment to a complete stranger based on a comment on an internet forum.

Worse, you're doing so with all the experience and wisdom of an avid googler of nootropics.

Getting shitfaced on beer and Scotch works for some people as they self-medicate their social anxiety. For some people that turns from harmless social drinking to alcoholism and can destroy their lives.

In this particular case, excessive energy drink consumption (I personally tend to self-medicate with coffee to avoid the sugar in red bulls) can lead to heart attacks, high blood pressure and associated complications.

"Taurine is involved in a number of crucial physiological processes. However, its role in these processes is not clearly understood and the influence of high taurine doses on these processes is uncertain"

L-Theanine has more studies and is slightly better understood, but there still have not been full human trials and studies sufficient for you to provide medial information to a stranger.

Advancing a supplement as a cure can be harmful even if the supplement is harmless. If a person takes it for a cure instead of, say, talking to a therapist/doctor/psychologist, they could be missing out on an approach that actually DOES help. You may be familiar with Steve Jobs who delayed medical treatment for his cancer in an effort to use "alternative" cures.

What, and have to TALK in FRONT of a group of people. :)

I've not actually been diagnosed, and honestly not sure if I would be. The key for me will likely be just practice in areas that work well for me. It will make the work into habit and probably make me more comfortable.

Now to find the energy/courage to walk out that door to practice...

Eh, in my case I think the problem is that I'm interested in things other people aren't and other people are interested in things I'm not.

In other words, being myself is generally the ticket to eye-rolling, exasperation, and boredom from others.

My trick has been to keep others talking about what they're interested it in as long as possible. That usually works well because it's fun to hear what people are passionate about.

Then again, last week that got me trapped in a conversation with a person who advised me to buy gold and bury it around my yard because paper money isn't real since we left the gold standard. Nice guy though.

Just stop breathing.

That roughly how the first part of your advice comes across. You are not the first and won't be the last. I bear you no ill will for saying it, but it's on the level of telling a depressed person to just stop feeling sad.

I don't know if I'm diagnosable as actually having Social Anxiety. Heck, I never even heard those words until some drug commercial came on TV, so I'm a bit suspicious of the label.

I do know that I see social experiences as different than most people. I've always been that way. Just a bit different in the head I guess. I like different things, think differently, and behave differently. It's part of who I am.

I'm very much the old-school nerd. The one that everybody rolls their eyes at when he starts speaking. I care about things they don't. I don't care about things they do. So it's work for me to communicate with others in a way that doesn't make them roll their eyes. Yes, it's a skill. I'm better at it than I used to be. I could probably be even better at it. But it sure won't be because I stopped caring. If I do that that I'd become an oblivious blowhard.

I find the idea of providing mental health to people as a startup somewhere between horrifying and intriguing.

They are essentially offering to provide a doctor-patient relationship with "coaches" to make it so that "in just 12 weeks, you can lead the life you deserve".

I suspect no serious practitioner would be willing to state it quite that boldly.

Their copy reads like homeopathic/vitamins/magic/juju gobblygook filled with cherry-picked facts, figures, and good intentions.

On the plus side, the site has clear pricing information!

Except for the effort with non-verbal communication, I feel like I wrote this.

I read non-verbal communication about as well as spoken word. I hate getting just the voice. Phone conversations are the worst.

Here's the thing... other people really do judge you. Some people make everyone else in the room feel at ease. I'm not that way. Sometimes I can fake it, but generally people don't seem to enjoy conversation with me.

It's very stressful alternating between saying nothing and too much, which unfortunately makes it harder to practice this skill of conversation that some people just find so easy.