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Did I just employ the "Treat Them Like You are A Kindergarten Teacher Again" method with my insurance company today? I surely did. Did it work? Probably better than intended because I made an actual doctor feel contrite.

So, my insurance has been trying to not cover my SNRI because it is new on the market and no generic available yet, so pricey.

I apply for a refill and the request gets locked for review. Again. For the 3rd time.

This time I call and immediately ask to speak to the actual doctor making these clinical decisions. Very politely. Must be a slow day because they allow it.

ME: [Teacher voice] I'm calling in regards to the SNRI you have placed a lock on. Why was this decision made?

DOC: Well, there are dozens of other medications on the market in that tier, and far cheaper for you and [insurer]. We have sent a request to your doctor to consider alternatives.

ME: I am aware of that. So, can you do me a HUGE favor and look up my prescription history really quickly and tell me how many SSRIs and SNRIs were only filled once in 2022 for me, showing they were poorly tolerated?

DOC: It looks like eight.

ME: Great job! Now, can you please look at my genetic test for psychiatric drug tolerance and tell me how many medications are listed in the safe category?

DOC: Two.

ME: Awesome! Now, can you tell me what type that other drug is that I'm not taking?

DOC: Yeah, totally, it's an MAOI.

ME: That's correct, you're really knowledgeable! Should I be taking something as dangerous as an MAOI with my other medications, or even just in general?

DOC: It's contraindicated for sure.

ME: It is! So true! So, last question since you've been incredibly smart and helpful. Is it less expensive for [insurer] to pay out for the medication knowing they already get a huge manufacturer discount anyway, or is it more expensive for them to pay for me to need potentially long-term inpatient psychiatric care?

DOC: I'll clear the code, ma'am and flag it as medically necessary. I'm sorry about this.

ME: I appreciate you SO MUCH. You have a great day now.

WALGREENS PHARMACY TECH WITH 5 NOSE RINGS AND PURPLE HAIR STARING AT ME: ........... OKAY! It'll be ready in five minutes. You wanna come work here?

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Casual reminder that the Palestine Children's Relief Fund has a 97% on Charity Navigator and you should donate to it if u can. Despite the limited external aid that's been allowed into Gaza, they've been able to distribute a lot of aid internally. And they are providing needed aid to Lebanon.

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Uncaring

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After years of observing these caddisfly larvae, French naturalist and artist, Hubert Duprat, wondered if the caddis flies would use any materials to build their cocoon. He introduced flakes of gold, pearls and opals to the caddis flies and they did in fact use them for their cocoons. They use their own silk as the glue to hold their pupal constructions together.

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The only thing that has ever improved my mental health in any measurable capacity is making more friends. That's literally it

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if you’ve ever kept any kind of bug as a pet (i used to raise madagascar hissing cockroaches, myself), then it is pretty obvious that they have feelings and are capable of great individuality and even personality among members of their own species. there is a tendency to not be willing to admit this, which i think comes from a place of convenience moreso than of ignorance. it’s not that people don’t know bugs are little animals, it’s that thinking of them that way makes life a bit more complicated. still, it’s not like i’m going to give up fly paper…

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where are those startups that are disrupting the glasses industry

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the way atla fans and especially the males in this fandom talk and joke about katara will never not piss me tf off. katara really seems to be the only character that has been mischaracterized to such an extreme while at the same also having her character reduced to absolutely nothing but being a whiny angry little teenage girl.

like the amount of times i've seen memes where aang toph and sokka are portrayed as being cool and chill and having fun and then katara is for some reason always crying and getting angry at someone and nagging at her friends about dumb stuff. and everytime i see those memes that are supposed to be funny i'm like "??...did we even watch the same show?...." cuz WHAT. literally who is that supposed to be? katara??? be fr

like we all obviously know why they do that to her (it starts with an m- and ends with -isogyny) and this has been discussed a hundred times by people who can put it a lot better into words than i could but i do find it funny that it's always only her being portrayed as the annoying little killjoy that can never let the gaang have any fun (even the show implied that at some point and even made her feel insecure abt it bc she wasn't okay with them cheating people out of money) while sokka is literally the one who's like "no we don't have time for that fun little side trip" "no we can't go there we have to stay on schedule" "we can't relax we're already running behind schedule" yadda yadda for like..the whole series and yet i don't think i've EVER seen him be portrayed as anything but the fun chill guy. like those ppl would neevverrr talk abt him the same way they do with katara and it's so annoying.

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cruelty is so easy. youre not special for choosing it

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One day, western leftists will need to come to terms with the fact that Arab and Islamic colonization very much did and still does exist and that the negative impacts are still felt by ethnic groups that have been and still are violently colonized and brutalized by that colonial power.

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Wanting to be prescribed pain medication so that you can have a better quality of life with chronic pain does not make you a bad person.

Needing pain medication for your chronic pain does not make you a bad person.

Life with chronic pain is difficult. It is not bad to wish for things to be a little easier and to utilize the tools you are given to help.

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my best medical tip is that if you call a medical office to get a piece of information, if you don't like the answer you get, call again another time. sometimes you just run into one receptionist who is having a bad day or doesn't know what they're talking about.

today i called an infusion company to find out if they take my insurance. the agent said they could only tell me that after my doctor sends the referral. i said my doctor isn't going to waste their time sending a referral if we don't even know you take my insurance. she said too bad so sad. i said i am pretty sure you have a list of what insurance you take. she said wahh wahh boo hoo so i hung up.

called back immediately. spoke to a different agent. immediately told me they take my insurance.

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i'm afraid to live my life, i feel guilty, i feel—shut the fuck up. step 1. shut the fuck up. step 2. shut the fuck up. step 3. focus on your breath. ruminating doesn't do shit. it just makes you feel bad. you're not accomplishing anything, you're not even being introspective, you're not being a 'good person' by telling yourself that you're a bad person; you're just sitting there exacerbating your anxiety. feel the cool air going in and out of your nostrils. feel your neck, arms, legs, shoulders, jaw, and whatever else that is tense. relax that shit or at least release some of the tension, if possible. stop clenching things. remember breath. remember cool air. fix posture. relax shoulders. sit or stand or lay comfortably. remember breath. remember cool air. don't try to avoid the thoughts but, rather, acknowledge them and move on lightly. it's ok if you can't. but remember that they are just there. they are guests who have overstayed their welcome. they are just thoughts. you will be ok. remember breath. remember cool air. you will be ok

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saw a post talking abt how the south “deserves everything it gets” bc they’re poor and vote republican and i do not understand how you can sit there on your computer and say things like that right in the middle of an unprecedented natural disaster that has destroyed millions of lives and killed who knows how many people. i’ve seen some of the footage from hurricanes helene and milton and they’re just. they’re fucking apocalyptic. no one deserves that. there is something very very wrong with you if you think anyone deserves a natural disaster.

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They found that the bat noises are not just random, as previously thought, reports Skibba. They were able to classify 60 percent of the calls into four categories. One of the call types indicates the bats are arguing about food. Another indicates a dispute about their positions within the sleeping cluster. A third call is reserved for males making unwanted mating advances and the fourth happens when a bat argues with another bat sitting too close. In fact, the bats make slightly different versions of the calls when speaking to different individuals within the group, similar to a human using a different tone of voice when talking to different people. Skibba points out that besides humans, only dolphins and a handful of other species are known to address individuals rather than making broad communication sounds. The research appears in the journal Scientific Reports.

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“Do it scared” but please realize that, if you Do It Scared too much and don’t let yourself rest + relax + have fun in between, you will fuck yourself up. If you “do it scared” all day every day, you will burn out badly and quickly. Sometimes this is temporarily necessary but please keep this in mind.