A Basic Talk About Mental Health and the VHL

[Aimee 1,134]

Today I want to talk about mental health and the VHL. One of the first things that I was warned about by Shindigs when I joined was that I should make sure that I don’t push myself to the point of burnout. I had been quickly producing a lot of content every week, maxing out, and always writing both .com articles and media spots. I was so into it that I wondered how I could possibly burn out. It’s not like I was putting the effort in daily or how I put effort in at work. I was simply creating some content at the start of the week during my down time, and it took maybe an hour total of my whole day (aside from a few where I pulled stats and had to use my big person brain). Now, I’m not saying I’m burned out. Clearly, I’m sitting here writing a media spot. But I have taken to doing the occasional podcast because it does take less time for me to make a 15-minute audio file vs figuring out what to write 500 words about and how.

Of course, all of this to say that I’m not going anywhere and that I’m perfectly fine would be a half-truth. I’m not going anywhere. But I wouldn’t say that I’m doing perfectly fine either. Between my personal life and work, I’ll admit that lately it’s been hard to keep myself coming back every day. Now, I can explain it all in 4 simple letters.

ADHD.

For those who don’t know, ADHD comes with a wonderful thing called hyper-focus. Wherein, a person with ADHD finds a hobby, subject, activity, etc. that piques their interest. They then dive headfirst, 100%, into that thing and don’t come up for air until their gremlin brain decides that one day they no longer want to think about the thing or do it. So of course, as someone who was diagnosed a little over a decade ago (too late if you ask me), I went into this knowing that I was going to hyper-focus and I felt it when it happened. I will say that thankfully, my decline in hyper-focus was gradual instead of a cold turkey crash. That has allowed me to want to continue with the VHL and all of its aspects. 

But it has made me realize that slowly over the last few months I have either a) struggled to find the time and energy to write so I take Welfare, or b) produced content later and later in the week. Originally, I had started shifting to writing and posting mid-week because someone had told me that most content gets dumped early and late in the week and that the mid-week was usually lacking. So, I pushed off until Wednesday or Thursday. Now, I find myself writing and posting on a Friday because life is just messy at the moment and when I come home from work, I rarely have the energy to do anything but read or scroll TikTok endlessly. I’ve also been struggling to figure out what to write when Jesse’s story is the same season in and season out with only a few changes here and there. I have lost some of the passion that I had when I joined a little over a year ago and I do find it hard to keep making original content every week.

All of this to say that there is no shame in losing that hyper-focus or even the love for the VHL and that you should do what is best for you mentally. I have seen a few instances of people come and go in this league who very much have some mental issue that they are working through or dealing with, and I just want to remind everyone that it’s just a sim league and if you need to step away for your mental health, you can. There is no shame in becoming a clicker for your own benefit if it’s what you think works for you. I have taken Welfare a few times and yes, I feel yucky about it, and I feel like I’m letting my team down by not max earning. But honestly, after getting into a car crash 2 days ago, and while being in the middle of wedding planning, I’ve accepted that there are things more important than how much TPE you can earn in a week.

Step back. Evaluate your mental status. Take a break if you need to. But don’t over-produce content just to make others happy. 

If anyone out there needs someone to talk to, you can always shoot me a message.

 

778 words for week ending 9/3/2023
 

[Will3 465]

That happened to me the first time I discovered sim leagues. Also explains why I quit. It took about a year away then came back with a different Discord handle. Came back slowly to some of my other leagues. Thank you for posting this.

[Aimee 1,134]

25 minutes ago, Will3 said:

That happened to me the first time I discovered sim leagues. Also explains why I quit. It took about a year away then came back with a different Discord handle. Came back slowly to some of my other leagues. Thank you for posting this.

Glad you were able to come back! But yea, I think it's important for people to know that this is just fun and that there's no shame in taking time for themselves. 

[jacobcarson877 2,541]

This.

[Triller 1,669]

Yeah, I can feel this.  I am running out of unique ideas and I could lay back and reuse some stuff but I don't yet want to fall into that.  I want to challenge myself but at a certain point I need to take the easier road.  I plan on max earning till Leonard retires but after that I will definitely be taking a break to think about what more I can bring to the league.  I've got bigger ideas but not the time to flesh them out so they are on the backburner until I decide to come back.  A week is never long enough to put in the effort I want to put in for certain things.

 

Everyone has their threshold and knowing what it is and when to pull back is important.  Glad you are keeping track of yours!

[Aimee 1,134]

1 minute ago, Triller said:

Yeah, I can feel this.  I am running out of unique ideas and I could lay back and reuse some stuff but I don't yet want to fall into that.  I want to challenge myself but at a certain point I need to take the easier road.  I plan on max earning till Leonard retires but after that I will definitely be taking a break to think about what more I can bring to the league.  I've got bigger ideas but not the time to flesh them out so they are on the backburner until I decide to come back.  A week is never long enough to put in the effort I want to put in for certain things.

 

Everyone has their threshold and knowing what it is and when to pull back is important.  Glad you are keeping track of yours!

It's probably also a first-gen mentality. We both came in with ideas and really successful content and players and so then, when you're up and coming and are getting all this praise, it feels like there's an expectation to continue to produce high quality content every week. 

[Triller 1,669]

5 minutes ago, aimkin said:

It's probably also a first-gen mentality. We both came in with ideas and really successful content and players and so then, when you're up and coming and are getting all this praise, it feels like there's an expectation to continue to produce high quality content every week. 

Definitely!  I set my bar high and would like to keep it there but overall, it isn't very realistic.  These season reviews I am doing are a nice way to slowly put something together for end of season that will allow me to relax for a few weeks and ride that word count.  Subject and I need to get on doing some more podcasts as well.  I will have to pull back on the production of those a bit too just cause that first episode took longer to put together than I wanted lol

[Aimee 1,134]

1 minute ago, Triller said:

Definitely!  I set my bar high and would like to keep it there but overall, it isn't very realistic.  These season reviews I am doing are a nice way to slowly put something together for end of season that will allow me to relax for a few weeks and ride that word count.  Subject and I need to get on doing some more podcasts as well.  I will have to pull back on the production of those a bit too just cause that first episode took longer to put together than I wanted lol

Agreed. I definitely think, for me at least, that podcasts tend to be easier but it is harder to think on the fly vs having time to edit what I write. Obviously I don't put a lot of effort into mine besides having a decent mic but I feel like that's all you need lol.