LukeLee

I'm pissed off, just got a tax bill for the year April 07 to March 08, claiming I owe £460, saying I was working two jobs at once (which I have never done).

I really wasn't impressed by this film. I have to admit if I wasn't with my boyfriend, I would of walked out. I know i'll be the exception, as I was with disliking Inception. I don't like films with no clear plot or ones which become complicated just for the sake of it. For 3/4 of Black Swan I felt like was waiting for it to start.

Any Pokemon game after the original Gold / Silver!!

I am officially hyped!! I was very dubious about the 3d. I've seen quite a few 3d movies at the cinema and so much of the time I've been left unimpressed, found my eyes never fully adjusted and often felt the glasses dulled the image too much. So with the 3DS i wasnt sure what to expect. I can now safely say I have no concerns and I can finally let myself be hyped. My eyes didnt need time to adjust when I started on my first game. The viewing zone wasnt as narrow as I expected, standing at the booths I didnt feel I had to hold my head completely still, but it isn't really something you can easily have two of you viewing. So I can just imagine how comfy and enjoyable it'll be to properly play the 3ds at home when you can relax on the sofa. I got to play quite a few games, but didnt really allow myself time to settle into any of them. Few points; My eyes could cope with full 3d on most games except pilot wings, that took a bit of adjusting. Moving the DS around to mirror your ingame view in Zelda was amazing. I was very impressed with the AR card. My view of the 3d camera was a bit mixed, I think the low level lighting put it off a bit. Wish I got a bit more time with it. So now the question is... what launch games do I get?

Going against popular opinion, but once they have reached the 4th layer i didnt feel the film. It felt to me like it was being convoluted for the sake of it. Also, can someone explain to me why the 3rd layer took place in a snow mountain setting? One other key thing for me....I felt nothing for DiCaprio's wife in the film or the emotional pain associated. But that was probably because in every scene she was in she was trying to kill or knife someone.

So my name is LukeLee; - Real name David - 27 years old, im starting to get comfy with aging - kinda, maybe-ish - Have a 2.1 degree in Psychology - Currently working as a mental health therapist, want to become a clinical psychologist - Favourite game is OOT, looking forward to the 3D version, but liking PS3 games lately - I like going to gym, cinema, cooking, travelling, meals out. - Just got back from a trip to egypt and I'm feeling poisoned right now. - I'm gay and got a great new fella who gets my very individual sense of humour. - And I've gone too long without posting in what is still the best forum I have found on the internet.

I am having an awful time at work. I feel ungrateful complaining seeing as many are still looking for work here. But its really bugging me, so much bitching and backstabbing, i keep hearing about people saying stuff about me behind my back and raising unjustified complaints, its going on week after week. For a group of therapists working together, it's very dysfunctional.

Thank you guys! I'm currently in Majorca, trying to get a tan for my new job starting on Monday. The birthday wishes mean alot though! Thank you everyone.

well i've had an amazing couple of days! I'm currently learning to swim and last night was the first time i've truly floated with my head under the water. 3 weeks ago I was getting nowhere, now i'm like a real kinda beginner swimmer so I'm chuffed. And I have been offered a great job, they'll send me to a local uni for 5 weeks to train and when i'm done i'll get a qualification and i'll be running my own CBT / Counselling clinics across doctor surgeries in my local region as well as some promotional work. So i'm chuffed, i've been waiting so long for a job to love and I think this has amazing potential. So i'm kinda on cloud 9, the only downside is that once my confirmation letter comes through i'll have to break my news to my colleagues of 2 years that i'll be gone in just over 2 weeks. I've never had to hand in a notice to terminate before, so this is all new ground.

Hello Tobes, how are you? long time no chat. Many of us struggle to focus and do coursework, even when it is a subject we love. Just doesn't feel as fun when we're forced to do it and by a certain time and life is full of distractions. Try sleep well, eat well, the biggest part is the writing of essays, actual revision and planning can be done in small chunks unless you've left it too late. I'd advise planning out your structure and argument (leaving some room to flow while you're writing). Then when you're ready, go for it, spend a small amount of time on things that you really like so it doesnt all just feel like work, but crack to it. Once you have that deadline looming you'll find you'll be working. Just plan it better than I did; in my last month of uni I barely left the house and many nights I got no sleep because I was just writing my essays. If you are one of those people, get a time table and plan how much time you want to spend a week on your academic work (doesn't work for me, but know some it does work for).

well i did my 9 day detox again and lost 8lb this time. Gonna switch to the weight watchers diet now mixed with wii fit, also learning to swim.

Happy Birthday ickle Ash man!!

Can't say I'm up to much this valentines, my other half is working all day and night. Shame, as I like getting all loved up whatever the excuse.

Surprised how low you guys are. I dinged 67 last night, looking forward to getting my flying mount at 70, then i can mine alot quicker and make money easier. I'd help you guys out with gold and questing but I'm on 'The Maelstrom' server.

Don't worry about it, I was kicked out a few days ago. 2009 isn't a great start for all of us. Hope things work out for you.

believe it or not quotas exist to try and make things 'fairer'. If they believe statistically that 25% of drivers pass first time then they will try and make sure that test centers fall somewhere within the region. Suppose a test center has it where 70% of drivers are passing first time it is natural to assume that the examiners are too slack and passing unroadworthy people. But people are individual, some may have a huge amount of lessons before going for a lesson, some might not, some people could get highly nervous, other may not. These kind of approaches are so commonly used in so many departments. I come from a semi-statistic background myself and while I can see the value in these figures, they are often used far too rigidly. The ceiling and flooring effect occur in statistics for a reason.

well, i guess i'll give my 2 cents. I did my time at uni and now i've been working the past year. It has to boil down to what you want from life. Sounds like common sense obviously but taking into consideration how a degree relates to that. Firstly forget the idea that a degree stands you out from the crowd, it doesn't. Are you doing a subject like me (psychology, law, medicine) where a degree is a required for any progress? If so you have to lump it and there will be parts you don't like. Job prospects following a degree? You have the mickey mouse degrees where it wouldnt make a difference to have them or not. Some degrees are required but it wont let land you straight into a great job. Then there's a few niche careers where you can almost go straight from a a degree to a relevant job. I have to say working full time now I don't feel any richer really than i did at uni, there's always something waiting to take your money away. I did enjoy doing my degree but there were modules I did not like or found too difficult and when essays were piling up it did feel like i was reading / skim reading more for essays rather than learning and enjoying my subject. So yeah it depends what you want; If you choose the right subject then uni can be interesting, a laugh, make good friends, enjoy studying to an extent and it will usually pay off eventually. But there will be tough times, subjects you don't like and deadlines which feel near impossible. But you do get to stay in bed till late on quite a few mornings. For a job you are theoretically getting more money so you should be better off, but it doesnt always feel like it. You are out there gaining more experience which usually looks better on a cv. And it is possible to climb up the ladder and be successful in a job without a degree, but less likely, especially if you work for a rigid firm. I suppose my bottom line of advice would be if you have a subject you are passionate about that requires a degree to get a good job in it, then go for the degree, you won't love every minute but in the long run it will pay off. If you're highly unsure then dont rush it, get a job, make some money, you can always go to uni at a later stage. There's no point putting yourself into thousands of pounds of debt if it's not right for you.

Gutting news, he was an amazing doctor! So we lost Tennant, Rose, Donna The ER actress doesn't impress me if she is coming in as an assistant

What a load of old shit! I agree it was probably a distressing thing for Mr Sachs to hear, but it is not worthy of this level of attention and if was offended he should have approached the police. Although I am not a fan of either Ross or Brand, when they were recording it they will have been under the supervision of a director / producer / whatever and the editor was responsible for filtering it out before it went on air. There are a million other more newsworthy items we should be more focused on, but i think this is just a distraction from the fact the country is going downhill fast. Same with that news item about the conservative member meeting a dodgy possible sponsor, which he is getting flack for even though he said no to any sponsorship.

believe it or not, you don't have to be a bps member at all just 'eligable to be' - sounds silly but i know loads of psychologist / assistant psychologists who aren't members - i'm not anymore, rip off membership fees.

Okay, guess this is turning into a psychology thing. There are a few websites, the BPS and psyclick. Assuming you want to go into Clinical, I have to say generally it's a right bitch to get into. For jobs there is the nhs jobs site, bps and a site called indeed.com which is a good collection site. Finding a way of getting a foot in the door is very hard though. Here's the tip, be VERY persistent, write to psychologist, find the listings on bps site and on jobs advertised on nhs jobs. Get as much cv and covering letter advise as possible and dont expect it to happen overly quickly to get into it. Psychologists have drawers full of cvs so yours has to really stand out. I sent out so many cvs i couldnt remember the people who eventually contacted me back months later.

So what are you after? Sadly, being a new graduate rarely gets you the best jobs straight away. Are you wanting to go into Psychology or something else? Depending on the area where you live it varies how hard it is to get into it. Really you need at least some idea of what area you'd like to work in.

Yeah, another thing that is interesting and a bit scary is that people who suffer from depression for a very long time actually experience brain damage.

Yeah, the statistic wasn't properly referenced, I have read into it, but to be honest I was too lazy to go searching for the statistic and posting it on here. So yeah, besides the personal background and experience, I'm a psychology graduate and work as an assistant psychologist, I am mainly working in psychosis but depression and suicide often comes into it my work. Eventually I'd like to become a clinical psychologist specialising in depression. Yeah I agree that some people can use self-harm / suicide to try and manipulate and get their way and i believe they deserve a kind of attention, probably not a stereotypical sympathy but a professional attention as it is obviously still unhealthy. Also, I probably should have worded the part about attempting suicide for attention, its usually more of a knowingly worthless attempt, but this can also backfire. As said earlier, i did one of these 'attention attempts' when i was 15 by taking what seemed to me like a low number of paracetamol. However, the doctor told me that it was enough to be borderline to making me seriously ill, so people don't always know. I'll try explain my thoughts at the time; I tried approaching people about how unhappy I was, I tried talking to many but I wasn't being taken serious, no one was listening, so i guess I wanted to make them see that i was serious and did need help. I think one thing this thread highlights for me is people have the attitude of life is positive, they shouldnt do it, they are shameful, selfish and horrible people who would do it. You can't hope to help people and expect them to be okay and not do it anymore by spitting at them. If we make suicide such a shameful thing that it makes someone bad for thinking about it then people who are struggling with it will find it so much harder to turn to someone and seek help. There is a timeframe where people are struggling with it and thinking about it before they take any action. I'm not saying suicide is good or okay, but it should be acceptable that people get these feelings and they're not bad for having them. There was an interesting piece of research I encountered in my last year of uni which showed that individuals who were strongly suffering from depression or who had previously suffered from depression had changed their perceptual processes and intially diverted their attention towards upsetting stimuli. However, those who hadn't experienced depression diverted their focus away from sad faces. Seeing these differences in cognitive processes may highlight why people who are suffering are drawn to seeing the sader /darker side of life and may only see this. Whereas those who haven't been depressed may try to avoid upsetting circumstances. Of course I dont believe thats the only factor, I believe culture has a part, but from my position working in research I think it is noteworthy.

It's still a bit of a taboo subject, our culture places alot of emphasis on the value of life more than other countries. Anyway, I read this topic last week and had alot of things I wanted to say but was too busy to write at the time, so here goes. So far from what I have seen in this thread I'll be the first to openly talk about personal experience and semi-professional viewpoint. There are many reasons causing suicide, besides the sacrificing element in other cultures where it is seen as honorable or expected, it usually boils down to a deep feeling of hopelessness. In a way it is a scary thing to do, not just about how much the method could hurt but the questions about what happens afterwards, but usually things build up so much that dying feels the best solution. Someone earlier said they could understand more for someone who is suffering from a physical illness like MS choosing to end it because of what they were facing in the future. Think of it this way. Your day is shit, you're lucky if you can motivate yourself to get out of bed or out of the house, you cant find any pleasure in anything, the things you enjoyed before are just flat now. You spend most of the day thinking about how crap you are, you cant look in the mirror without being upset, you cant see any solution to your problems, you can only see them getting worse and worse, you cry frequently and you truly believe that people wouldnt care if you was gone and may think some people would be releaved. Now imagine that pain, mental anguish and you felt that was all your life was ever going to be, you saw no hope - you would begin to question whether you wanted to continue. Keep in mind that some people do suffer from unexplained depression linked to brain chemicals. That was my life above, I went through serious depression for a long time and i struggled to function. I ended up trying to kill myself a number of times. Here's the thing and I believe this is the case for many people who get to that place and why there are many non-successful attempts - I didn't want to die, I wanted to live and be happy, but I was so miserable and depressed with my life that I couldn't cope and I just didn't want to live because I felt things would never get better. Imagine not wanting to live but not wanting to die? It's a right head fuck. Thankfully, things did improve for me, it took some time but i've come a long way since then. One other thing I'd want to point out is about failed suicides or 'attention seeking'. Firstly, it may seem like the people who say nothing are the ones who end up dying - statistically the ones who have said it at some point or have had a failed attempt are the higher percentage to end up dying. Can you also say the guy who never expressed his feelings to you didn't express it to someone else? Also, why is there a bad reputation for those failed attempts / attention seeking? In most cases they are seeking help for a serious reason, shouldnt we stop and listen? I admit my first attempt was more of a desperate way of showing how badly I needed help rather than wanting to die. After the reaction I recieved at the time i then chose not to speak to anyone when i was on the edge and about to try kill myself.