So I've been rejected for conscription in the IDF because the psychiatrist thinks the Asperger's diagnosis I received as a child means that there is something wrong with me. Never mind that I've been examined very recently and been recommended for enlistment, he thinks that even though I probably don't have Asperger's, there must be something wrong with me because in the past I've had trouble socially. Of course I have no such problems now, but it's not as if he's going to risk his job in the face of anything less than perfection.
(This, btw, is what I meant when I said there was no such thing as a competent mental health professional- the entire system works against evidence-based methods.)
There has to be something wrong with this, some way that I can appeal. I have no idea of the Israeli legal process and I'm not sure if I could just write a letter to someone, or if I might need a lawyer. I can definitely prove that there is nothing psychologically wrong with me. I just have no idea where to turn, no idea how to do anything, and have no allies whatsoever. I feel like my life is collapsing, and I do have very good reasons personally for wanting to join the army. It's not just something I felt like doing.
This community obviously has better things to do than this sort of thing. But I feel like I'm going to explode if I can't talk to anyone, or get some idea of what I can do. I feel almost as if I'm becoming mentally ill.
Your purpose is what? Why is it so important to you to enter the IDF?
Catastrophic self talk is a sign and a generator of depression.
No there doesn't. Sometimes, you just lose. Sometimes, you don't get what you want. It doesn't have to make sense. It doesn't have to be fair. Shit happens.
But it doesn't have to mean that your life is ruined.
Feelings of helplessness and powerlessness. Feeling alone. Feeling like something horrible is coming, and you can't prevent it.
These are all the marks of depression.
Did you read HPMOR? Do you remember when Harry figured out that he was under the Dementor's influence?
His life was ruined.
I suspect that symptoms of depression may be rather frequent among rationalists.
Most people are more optimistic than would be epistemically rational; they systematically underestimate the risks and overestimate their abilities. However, this kind of bias may be instrumentally useful: it makes people do things, even if most of the things will not bring the outcome they imagine. Because of some quirks of human brain, people who perceive reality better often have problem to motivate themselves. This hypothesis is called depressive realism.
But I believe that i... (read more)