Seriously though. I know you can’t educate away irrational beliefs and cognitive dissonance, but do these kinds of people reject germ theory? Like, do they not believe in viruses and bacteria? Or do they believe, but just think that eating healthy will kill the infection? If so, how? I mean, the way the immune system…

That’s because for these people, it is all about THEM and their insistence on a particular worldview. It’s classic cognitive dissonance. The whole damn thing- the focus on the birth experience, the belief in the power of natural foods, the mistrust of vaccinations- all of it. I think it has something to do with the…

I agree, and I almost posted the same thing. But we don't know the context. They could've called the nurse friend about it immediately before calling the ambulance or something. Maybe she'd just found out, like if they got desperate and called her over there and she was like, "that's meningitis, you fools." For…

Yes, that is part of it, but there are studies too on how often people need transport. There wasn’t a lot of solid research until the last five years or so, but now you can look up stats on all sorts of home birth situations. The death of baby stats are scary enough that people often forget to look at injury and…

Oh, well if there is more to the circumstances, then that's even more horrific! But I thought they said it was closed for holiday?

Yup. But in the US, we do it every day with cars, and they are far more dangerous and probably cause just as much suffering. It’s that risk-benefit analysis thing again, I think. Although probably most people just don't think about any of it which might be more sane.

I immediately panicked. The moment it happened I panicked. Not outwardly- not like I was screaming or anything- but the sort of physical panic that you feel like when you almost get in a wreck- heart rate elevated and skin on fire and shakiness and time slowing down and all that fight/flight response. After that, I…

Generally, I’m far more afraid of long-term helpless suffering than I am of death. It’s one of my biggest fears- being incapacitated in some way and then suffering a slow death. My husband has standing orders to err on the side of pulling the plug and killing me every time, lol. Death isn’t something I want- obviously…

It’s about risk-benefit analysis, in my opinion. The benefits to elevators (usually): not having to walk up stairs. The risk of elevators (very unlikely but still possible): being buried alive. I’d much rather walk up stairs every single time for the rest of my life than open myself up to even the slightest risk of…

That sounds terrifying. Thanks for telling it. I’m scared of lifts too, and for some reason, reading stuff like this helps.

The building was closed for a month. Who would have heard her?

Horrifying.

Where is that quote from?

Yeah there are major problems to say the least. But it's worth noting that 1.5 billion people live there. So, just according to random distribution, even if everything else were the same, freaky things are going to happen there with more frequency than in the US or whatever because more than 1 in every 7 people live…

Yes, I'm curious too. If it's not too terrible for the poster to talk about it.

I hear you. In the hospital though, you are with other people in the elevator, including people that work there. And it’s a busy place with high building standards and oversight, so I don’t mind in places like that. In skyrises of busy buildings, too. Especially since you really can’t take 20 floors of stairs…

Yea, a similar thing happened to me. The feeling of helplessness- just being cut off from the world. It's terrifying. I got stuck in one before too, and I won't ride in one now unless it's absolutely necessary. I like to think that cell phones now make them safer.

I don’t know about this individual case. None of us have enough details. But there is a widespread problem in China right now regarding building safety regulations and accountability. It’s something that’s a major issue there now- just scan the news for elevator and escalator malfunction in China also structural…

Yes, we had a similar thing in our family. Thing is, the friends aren't the ones dealing with the abuse, raising the person's children for them,

In defense of the term "mentally different"- keep in mind that there are all sorts of things that can make a person mentally different, and mental illness is only one of them. It is not a PC way to say mentally ill. It is a quick way to include all sorts of atypical neurological possibilities, including cognitive…