atkion's recent activity
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (September 2026) in ~health.mental
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (September 2026) in ~health.mental
atkion Link ParentThis is a very kind and helpful response, thank you for the empathy and the grace that I'm struggling to afford myself. Your suggestions are good ones, and I'll definitely be incorporating them as...This is a very kind and helpful response, thank you for the empathy and the grace that I'm struggling to afford myself. Your suggestions are good ones, and I'll definitely be incorporating them as I can - particularly one about exercise, as I've lost the majority of my muscle in the down-spiral leading to diagnosis. I want nothing more than to frantically start regaining it all, but I know it would be a mistake to go full-throttle now.
Regarding healthcare, I am thankfully quite privileged to have made it past my early career and into a place where I have decent insurance and can still continue my work without being impacted too much by my new limitations. Having that semblance of normalcy and routine to cling to has been instrumental to my mental health this past little bit. Additionally, you're quite right that medicine is pretty incredible these days, and things would certainly be far less tolerable for me right now if that weren't so. I have much to be thankful for.
The level of empathy I continue to receive is awe-inspiring to me. I think a part of the reason I've historically been so hard on myself is that I believed others might be worse if I didn't beat them to it, and I have been thoroughly proven wrong on that count.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (September 2026) in ~health.mental
atkion LinkI am currently going through an extremely painful transition period, I was recently diagnosed with an incurable and deeply life-altering autoimmune disease, and everything I had planned for the...I am currently going through an extremely painful transition period, I was recently diagnosed with an incurable and deeply life-altering autoimmune disease, and everything I had planned for the future seems so much farther away than it once did. I'm having a lot of trouble not feeling too hopeless about it, especially with the constant management of this condition being a consistent reminder that makes even small reprieves hard to find.
I have also historically had a lot of trouble believing that I am as worthwhile or deserving as others, so actually being 'needy' in a not-imagined way is very challenging as well. This goes double when I look at it through a lens of dating more, which has been a recent goal of mine (though without much success thus far).
I will say though, the outpouring of support from those in my life has been pretty incredible. I am both humbled and incredibly grateful for the people I'm close to, and I'm truly not sure I could have survived this past couple months without their help.
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Comment on Webcomic of the author's experience in an abusive school that was a part of the Troubled Teens Industry in ~life
atkion LinkOh, man. This is one of the most heartbreaking pieces of media I have ever consumed. I still vividly remember first reading it several years ago, increasingly horrified but utterly unable to stop...Oh, man. This is one of the most heartbreaking pieces of media I have ever consumed. I still vividly remember first reading it several years ago, increasingly horrified but utterly unable to stop reading. It is incredible the rawness of experience the author has managed to capture in this work.
I consider myself to have had a fairly abusive upbringing that haunts me still in myriad ways, but nothing I endured ever held a candle to what is portrayed here. My very soul aches for these kids.
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Comment on Moderna, Merck say mRNA vaccine prevents melanoma from returning in ~health
atkion LinkGood news like this is a balm against my fairly negative perception of this modern age we live in. I think I'm going to go register for a medical trial my illness qualifies for, if I can find one.Good news like this is a balm against my fairly negative perception of this modern age we live in. I think I'm going to go register for a medical trial my illness qualifies for, if I can find one.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
atkion Link ParentCurrently doing a Big Walk run with a group of friends from college. We're having a grand time, games like this are often lost on me but this one's got me good. Definitely one of my favorite...Currently doing a Big Walk run with a group of friends from college. We're having a grand time, games like this are often lost on me but this one's got me good. Definitely one of my favorite multiplayer games in years. I love when we're forced to split up across a distance for things and we get far too intricate about making contrived systems to communicate across that distance.
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Comment on Virgin Galactic wants your help naming its new Delta class spaceship in ~space
atkion LinkApeiron is a nice name. The others feel pretty samey to me at this point.Apeiron is a nice name. The others feel pretty samey to me at this point.
That's a great callout, and I am absolutely prone to this (and have spent much of my life thus far not really living). I definitely regret that now, as the flexibility I had back then now feels squandered in a way.
I don't plan on making the same mistakes going forward. I've been in a headspace of far increased risk tolerance the last couple weeks, and within reasonable limits I plan to maintain that deliberately. Just yesterday I asked someone out who I had been vaguely considering for 2+ years without having the nerve to ask!
Who knows, maybe this can be the very costly wake-up call I needed in certain ways.