WEATHER AND CLIMATE

IMPACT RATING 85

Before I start, I will NOT be converting temperatures to Degrees Fahrenheit, ok!? All you Americans can go suck an egg with your stupid units.

I have lived in the United Kingdom my whole life. Which has a famously mild climate due to the AMOC and Gulf Stream. Summer highs hover around 20-25°C and lows 15-17°C. Winter highs hover around 5-10°C and lows 3-5°C.

I like having distinct seasons, but 5-10°C of difference just doesn't do it for me. Plus the humidity makes the summer temperatures feel a lot hotter than it actually is. It is a well-known phenomenon and isn't exclusive to the UK, but it is definitely one of the main regions.

The coldest temperature I have personally experienced is about -10°C. Which I felt extremely comfortable with. It gave the indoors a cosy vibe and it made going outside a unique experience. Another reason why I do well in the cold is that I am not that affected by it. I always found it weird why most people around me are in full thick coats and hats when it's only 1° out there. Or why my parents always go on about "oooh you're gunna freeze to death it's like 0° outside!!" but the reality is that I don't feel that cold. 0°C for me is hoodie weather. Put on a hoodie and I'm fine. -10°C was a winter coat, but I felt hot after a few minutes of walking, but my parents simply would refuse to let me out if I wore anything less.

Another big part of the climate and weather issues for me is FOMO. I have had 3 winters where there has been enough snowfall so that it would turn the landscape white. 2012-13, 2017-18 and 2022-23. The rest have all just been a small brushing if anything at all. Plus seeing it all white outside makes me feel cosy inside. I swear I'm not Danish, but the concept of Hygge is extremely appealing to me and these conditions really up that vibe. I love it, but I can't have it.

I may sound insane, but my ideal winter temperatures are highs of (-10)-(-5)°C and lows (-35)-(-15)°C. I used to be really interested in Canada, but do I really want to be in North America, especially with an increasingly violent United States on BOTH sides in the south and in Alaska? You could say the same with Russia with Finland, but at least Finland has Sweden and Norway on the other side. Plus Canada is still too dependent on cars. I want a place where I can easily get around on a bike as well.

The main takeaway from weather and climate is that I often find myself feeling too warm and hot in the "winter" temperatures of the UK, and I don't feel like the season is distinct enough. Most of the time it just looks like the default season but the trees have no leaves. I want something more distinct, something that makes the seasons feel like their own experience! But sadly I don't get that.

DISABILITY

IMPACT RATING 55

Luckily being either mentally or physically disabled isn't as stigmatised as it used to. It isn't necessarily a current problem for me, but it does carry previous trauma, mainly due to negative experiences mostly from my first ever school.

Let's go to Year 1, when I was met with a teacher who I had a... difficult time with to say the least. Let's call her Everett.

It was very clear to my mother that Everett did not have experience working with deaf kids. I would constantly be called out for "not listening", my brother in Christ, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!

"because she can't hear! She's deaf"
"but [mother's name] she just doesn't listen"
"because she's deaf!"
The argument goes on!

She also wouldn't make arrangements to help me catch back up if I fell behind. I don't like calling out prejudice, but wow I wouldn't be surprised if this would be considered audism, mainly as assumption of competence.

Even after she no longer was my teacher, the chaotic and crowded nature of the school made it an incredibly overwhelming environment for me, add in a few rough kids and I am forcefully resisting to go, sometimes having to take multiple weeks off due to heavy vomiting which my doctor said was mostly anxiety-induced. Which likely was a result of my autism not doing well in crowded environment.

I give it a low impact rating because it got almost entirely fixed when I moved to a specialist school, though the trauma and PTSD still lingers and is a big reason why I have a natural tendency to avoid crowds of people, not for any practical reason other that trauma.

HEALTH

IMPACT RATING 95

I might just be the #1 patient in both NHS Scotland and NHS England.

Nah I'm kidding. But I have probably accumulated nearly 2 years just in hospital alone.

Those who have talked to me or have known me for even an insignificant amount of time know that my immunity kinda sucks. (understatement of the century)

The actual thing is that I have a condition where my immune system mistakenly attacks my joints (and recently my lungs). Which even normal medication wouldn't fix it, so I was put on immune suppressants. I was originally on a mix of MTX and Cyclosporine. However, after my lungs started to get affected, I had to go off MTX and start taking a very high Cyclosporine dose in late 2025. Since then I have to be extremely careful when I go outside, I wear a thick mask. And if there is a bug going around, I have to isolate myself because catching illnesses is extremely dangerous for me, so I just stay in isolation unless I absolutely need to go out, in which case, I'm putting on both a mask and a full face shield.

I also have ARFID which makes it really difficult for me to enjoy food, and most of the food I tolerate are from my childhood. It isn't helped by the fact that my stomach is very weak so it is very easy to make me nauseous.

Oh, yeah did I mention COPD? So basically I have a gene that makes you susceptible for it. I used to swim a lot and live in a household with vapers who are former smokers, so I have also been long exposed to respiratory irritants like chlorine and cigarette smoke. It doesn't make me constantly cough uncontrollably, but if I have a cough it makes it very unpleasant.

A slightly shorter rant, but that's because there's not much complexity to my health situation, it's just very severe. On the bright side, I can find masks that are expressive :3

FRIENDS AND SOCIAL

IMPACT RATING 90

Due to extensive bullying and prejudice in early secondary school, I have since found socialising to be one of my biggest challenges. I have absolutely zero confidence at any form of irl conversation. Since I left school, it has been nearly impossible for me to talk to anyone other than staff. As a result, I am extremely lonely irl.

It can show in my online self, as this lack of irl socialisation is a key factor as to why I may appear persistent or clingy. It may be annoying, but it's essentially my way of signalising to you that I feel comfortable around you and that I am free to express myself as the true me, rather than this heavily restricted version of myself.

The bullying impacted me more heavily because the people who bullied me were my friends initially! So now even if I were to end up in a friendship, I would still feel on edge because of the possibility of betrayal.

When this happened, I isolated myself on my smartphone and tablet to an unhealthy degree. While I am much better now, my screen time is still above average. It is also this reason why I find it so difficult to express new interests because I am so insanely scared of humiliation. It's gotten so bad that I am nervous to google something because I will get what I'm looking for. In essence, I am now bullying myself how I was bullied in Y7 and 8.

FAMILY TENSION

IMPACT RATING 70

This mainly stems from my mother's side of the family, and with my stepdad.

There appears to be multiple points of conflict between my mum/stepdad that make the relationship between and especially my stepdad feel tense. We have significant disagreements over the way we live, household jobs and political issues.

Let's start with our way of living:
One of the biggest gripes I have is communication style. The way I talk is very direct. I like to just get to the point, no beating around the bush. Let's say there's a conversation about my mother, she has already been mentioned by name in the conversation previously. Judging by that, I will refer to her using the pronoun "she". But that's a problem for my stepdad, and my mother. And they turn around and call me rude. Why should I refer to you by name every time I refer to you in a conversation?? It's blocky, its clunky and if your name is more than one syllable then it's just a waste of time! The other problem I have is "please", I understand it might sound rude if you grew up in 20th Century Britain, which they did. But again, it's just a waste of time. And you can show gratitude with a "thank you". Why should I waste time extending my question just for it to sound nice. This isn't necessarily my stepdad, my dad does it too. It's a cultural thing of the UK and it pisses me off. It's just useless fluff, let's just get to the point. Same goes for critiquing stuff. I cannot fathom why I have to sugarcoat my criticism. If you did it wrong, I will say that you did it wrong! None of this "ooh that's a very good try but.." NO JUST LET ME SAY THAT IT'S WRONG!! We are never going to progress as a society if we cling onto values that existed hundreds of years ago and are now becoming redundant!

Let's talk about household jobs:
Specifically, washing kitchenware. My stepdad doesn't always fully wash up plates, bowls, cutlery, etc. And it's fucking disgusting, and a biohazard. Everytime I point it out or confront him about it, his response is always the same: "do it yourself". Fine. I'll do it myself! The next day I have my brother telling me that my stepdad is complaining that I washed it when he was going to, and that I used too much product. My brother in Christ, do you really have the audacity to say that I'm using too much when you haven't washed it fully? Come on! Also they like to leave it until the last minute. Why not wash immediately after eating? That way the food is usually still soft and is much easier to get off the plate or whatever it is! The longer it gets left, it's going to harden and stick, making it harder to wash, and the problem worsens! Also a pattern I find is that when we have an argument about it, the following day, it is always worse! I dunno if he's weaponising incompetence to spite me or whether it's just a coincidence, but wow!

Finally let's address political issues:
It's fine to disagree on politics. I respect different political opinions! But when I express concern for my generation, how dare you say that we are lazy. I don't think we're lazy if we're at a time when unemployment and underemployment are at concerningly high numbers. My generation was told that we should get a degree and start a career! I love that idea! Work hard for education and get a good job! So why can't people in my generation with advanced degrees even get a job as a fucking barista. They have the gall to say we lack experience, since when did you need experience to work at an entry-level job? I thought you'd take an entry-level job to get experience and then if you're loyal work your way up the company, or if not, get a higher level job at a different one! And he also says that we're greedy for more money! Have you seen the wages and cost of living against time graphs? The wages adjusted for inflation are stagnant and have been since 2008! But the cost of living is going up and up and up! At a time when even the smallest houses cost like 300k, and the wage we get if we even get a job is something like 25k per annum! Oh, I'm very sorry for complaining about pay when I can't afford to live comfortably and be able to live on my own, granted rent doesn't cost like 30% of my total pay! Meanwhile the corporations we work for and purchase from are making record profits! You say to work with the system and not against it. Why would I work with a system that is actively rigged against my generation! You're not going to make a difference for the better if you stay silent about the problems we face. And luckily the tides are turning with the 2025 Generation Z protests, we now need those protests to start hitting countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the United States.

PHYSICAL VIOLENCE

IMPACT RATING 75

When I was a main target at my school, one of the main methods of bullying I faced was physical violence. The worst incident I can remember is being forcefully pushed off a chair, but they held my feet in place so that it would snap my ankle bones. A week in hospital and a cast for 2 months. The rest was the usual physical bullying, pushing, pinning, kicking, you know the drill. The biggest issue I had was hair pulling. It made me so upset that during the COVID lockdown, I actually cut my hair short. I have regretted it ever since, because I saw my hair as my main tool of expression, and I got rid of it because of a few kids pulling on it occasionally.

SEXUALISATION AND BODY IMAGE

IMPACT RATING 75

During my adolescent growth spurt, I never really grew in terms of height, but more significantly in tissue, the biggest problem I had at the time was high breast growth, which instantly made me a target for sexualisation, and it got to a point where I just started to feel uncomfortable. This was in Year 9 mainly so when I was 14, I had grown to a 34D, which I was originally fine with, but it was the constant sexual remarks, especially behind my back, that made me super uncomfortable and so embarrassed that I’d just want to curl up and just die. Luckily, after I left school and went to college and now university, I don't have much if any sexual remarks, which I am a lot more comfortable now, despite growing more to 36FF; the only reason I put it here is that it does carry a trauma that I still sometimes struggle to get along with.

SUICIDE

IMPACT RATING 100

This was a huge problem during the second half of 2020, when I would start intentionally injuring myself. My excuse was as a form of distraction and self-punishment. Which, in hindsight is fucking stupid. I will not share the methods I used, but I still have very visible scars on my forearms, thighs and abdomen.

The biggest reason I put this here was in the Spring of 2023 where I made 2 separate attempts on my own life. I survived them both. Thankfully. I would make another attempt in January 2025 which thankfully also failed.

Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, I will not mention anything more. While I am in a much better position mentally now to a point where I don't feel as strong an urge, the scars that I left behind are incredibly damning and I will have to live with this reminder of these periods of time permanently for the rest of my life.

EVENT:

2022 United Kingdom Heatwave: 40°C

We heavily suspect that the summer heatwave in 2022 and the erratic autumnal weather patterns are the key driving factor to my serious health decline in November.

I would catch the flu at the end of October, which would last about 2½ weeks. Less than a week later, I'd catch it again. We suspected that the summer heat had affected the immune system as a medium-term effect of heatstroke, as a flu started going around, I was more susceptible to catching it, which I did, but I caught it again before my body had recovered, in early December I started collapsing, which my dad took me to hospital when I got tested for staph which came back positive, and I was kept in the hospital due to early symptoms of septic shock, which left me in an ICU for about a week before I would be sent home for the holiday season, though it came back and I had to go back after the New Year, though it wasn't as severe. The reason it lasted so much longer than usual is because of my RA and other medications, which we were always concerned about a potential conflict, so I had to have very frequent tests and they didn't want to discharge me before they were absolutely certain I was fine, which thankfully happened in early February, though I was still heavily monitored until mid-March when I was declared healthy again.

The hypothesis by my doctor is that my immune system was stretched thin by multiple variables going in different directions, leading it to overreact:
- The heat pushed it into a dysregulated state
- My medication pushed it toward suppression
- My RA pushed it toward chronic inflammation
Those 3 factors essentially came to a head after being further pushed around by bacterial and viral disease. Sadly, I never fully recovered back to what I was like before. I have since had to slowly reduce my MTX dose and am now only on CyA for immune suppression, largely due to the fact that they suspected the potential for MTX-induced pneumonitis, but they didn't want me to suddenly stop due to the withdrawal effects. This all happened in October - December 2025, so whether it is related to the Winter 22-23 episode I dunno. But still, since then I have been getting sick more commonly. Life isn't fair sometimes..