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Dude, you don't have ADD. You aren't bipolar. You're a normal young man -- or at least within the range of normal for young men. Forget therapists. Forget drugs. Forget everything you've been told, and join the Army. Seriously. Trust me. Yes, yes, I know that you don't know me. But you're describing me in this post, and a lot of guys I knew back when I was in: Smart guys, but bored. Can't concentrate in class. Can't suffer fools. Takes a lot to motivate them. They need to be passionate about something before they will even try it, and then they try it, and things don't happen as quickly as they thought they would, and they get discouraged, and their minds wander. And then they try something else, half-way. Fuck that shit. Become a marine. Try to become a paratrooper. Do something physical that attracts a better class of recruit, and don't stop till you get there. It will teach you to finish things that you start. And along the way you'll probably be doing more good for the world than any ten Peace Corps volunteers. Yes yes, I saw that Collateral murder video. Wikleaks is a bunch of liars. When you finish, you'll have learned an important lesson. Which is that more than anything else, winning requires that you show up.

After that, if you still feel useless, you will have plenty of time to kill yourself.




"you will have plenty of time to kill yourself"

And plenty of opportunities, too, I suppose.

Isn't there another way than becoming a soldier? I was going to suggest going traveling, for example a hike over several weeks. That would also be physically demanding and good for focus.

I tend to agree with the "normal young man" thesis.


A long hike might work. But whatever he does, he needs to pick something that is achievable, and that he'll finish. I worry that traveling might not provide the structure he may need.


Dude, you don't have ADD. You aren't bipolar. [..] join the Army [..] you'll probably be doing more good for the world than any ten Peace Corps volunteers. Yes yes, I saw that Collateral murder video. Wikleaks is a bunch of liars.

Another perfect diagnosis, Drill Sergeant Schoeneman.


When I want to hear your opinion, I'll tell you what it is :) Holy crap, I'm reading your "Beginning Ruby" book right now. How random is that?


I can say that without question the Marines changed my brother for the better. Much, much better. From lost and aimless to driven and motivated.


I assume he still has all of his limbs?


Good for him. If you get a chance thank him for his service for me.


I have a similar story as the OP, and have given serious thought to enlisting.

There's one problem: I don't want to get shot or blown up. Joining the army would mean going where I'm actively wanted dead. Am I wrong?


The OP specifically mentioned that he was looking at suicide sites. Joining the military is by no means a tactic for suicide, but his problem is that he's afraid of living and of making the wrong choices, not that he's afraid of dying. The military isn't for everyone, but can be a rewarding career for many more people than think it can.


What would you recommend for someone sufffering PTSD?


There is no "one fits all" solution. Even if Army has worked for you, it doesn't mean it'll work for everybody else.

For instance, Army would be the worse recommandation you could give to hypersensitive folks, who are paying their exceptionnal creativity with almost perpetual depression. They are invaluable assets to the society if they manage to find the right channels to express themselves. The training of an infantry man seems a wasteful pathway to this kind of personnality.

Army has also the tendency to reveal great men only under great circumstances, when bureaucracy is eventually bypassed because of the dramatic scale of the events, and everything has to be rethinked. Napoleon arised during the French Revolution era, Churchill and De Gaulle during World War 2, but they would never have without the right context.

My cousin went to Irak and he doesn't think about it as a worthwile cause today. He left the ranks as soon as he could, and he is glad to be back in the civil life where he finds the opportunities to grow as a human being much more interesting, at least in our current times.




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