I envy people with strong nerves - do you have them?

[noname223]

I am such an overly anxious nervous mental wreck. I could not even do a low level office job I made so many mistakes. However, i was going through a major depressive disorder to that time. When I was a manic student at school I could swallow a lot of stress. I will never be the same. I have to be so cautious about my sleep since I know I am bipolar.

I read the working schedules of mangakas, managers or many politicians (not Trump lol). It is insane with how much pressure they have to cope. As if we were a different species. Or surgeons. One minor mistake and you will end up in prison, your career and life will be ruined irreversibly. How can one have such good nerves. I am scared of driving a car. Honestly, I think if i drove a car I would end up in the news mental idiot accidentally kills 20 people by driving into them. Honestly, I cannot cope with stress and pressure. I don't think it would be a good idea to let me drive a car. I failed the driver's licence before someone asks how old I am. I wasted so fucking much money for it. I think I am not meant for driving.

Main take away or main question. How do you think can for example surgeons cope with the insane pressure they have to endure?

 

[qualityOV3Rquantity]

I can relate to this. My grandpa always talks about 'nerves', as in some people have strong nerves and are able to cope with lots of pressure and others aren't. He also says health problems that come with aging are a result of nerves - if someone has a bad back and can't walk anymore, they just had bad nerves. And he says you can't change nerves, you either have good nerves or you don't. If this is true, I feel like my nerves are so bad that I can't even cope with day to day life...

 

[GlassMoon]

I can relate. But maybe it is not so much about nerves as about believing in yourself? Then I guess a lot of the stress will fade on its own...

 

[Overwhelmed52]

I am an anxious nervous wreck, too. It is because I make a bad impression on people so I am constantly worried about getting rejected. I'm intelligent, and do well on things like tests, but I don't speak well and I come across as unimpressive in person. I am a loner, not by choice, and concerns about the future have totally shot my nerves. I'm willing to work hard but people are generally don't want me. If I was accepted and needed, I'm pretty sure I could handle the pressure. I would really love to be a wanted part of a group, but it's never going to happen.

I don't drive, either. I have never liked it, and I got yelled out when I was learning and that really turned me off of it. Plus, I'm bad with directions.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm a total nervous wreck. I worry about everything. I was the same as you. I was terrified learning how to drive. I ended up quitting because I couldn't get over the fear that I could (and probably would) kill someone. Even learning CPR, I became so nervous when they explained that performing CPR on a person who's heart hadn't stopped could potentially stop it! Plus, break ribs I assume also- which is why CPR scenes look so fake in films. But yeah- I became fixated on that. Like- what if you actually kill them instead of rescuing them? But, our tutor was like- no one would ever know! That didn't comfort me at all...

Now, I'm not saying this about all people in positions of extreme power and responsibility but, I imagine some at least are sociopaths! So- I get the impression they aren't as affected about making decisions that can make or break people. Look at the disgraced surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. Netflix did a documentary on him: 'Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife.' He pioneered a supposedly revolutionary new surgery involving stem-cell infused windpipes. The Theranos scandel is another example. People so convinced by their own importance and talent that they will ignore the clear evidence that their inventions don't work! Worse- both were willing and did put people's lives at risk to save face. Honestly- if you watch documentaries about them, you'll be amazed by the sheer callousness.

I've also worked for people like it. Mostly at the middle management level. You'll often see employers take on the odd one or two people like it to do their dirty work. Sack people, reduce their hours, cut their pay, put people through disciplinaries. It may be the top management that makes the decisions but, they'll get these 'henchmen' to reveal the bad news. And honestly- none of that seems to bother them. It's all about 'the needs of the business'. Some even seem to enjoy it! Again, it's not to say they're all like that but some certainly are.

I'm not sure what there is to admire there really. Like the CEO of Boeing during the Max disasters. They knew their product was unsafe. The first crash confirmed that but they chose not to ground the fleet at that point, so a further 157 people lost their lives in the second crash. The judge made the guy turn around during the inquest to face the relatives of the people who'd died. Many had brought photographs. To me- he didn't seem too bothered. In any case, he left with $80 million worth of stock and other assets. That's what I hate most about this world. People like that rise high in the ranks. Even when they've effectively enabled their company to kill people, they get rewarded! Like- seriously? WTF?

That's not to say it's everyone though. Surgeons have a very high suicide rate I believe. That's so sad. I imagine a mixture of the pressure they're under plus, I'm sure some are actually incredible people who just want to help others.

I know what you mean though. Sometimes, I wonder where I'd be if I had less worry and self doubt. It's held me back so much. I think I'd prefer to hang on to humanity though if it meant losing that. I actually kind of hate people who are so callous as to not care about others.