I work for a state government with open salaries to the public. It causes lots of friction due to a couple of factors:
1) De-facto lifetime employment
2) No raises without a new position
3) Vastly differing levels of compensation
I make something like 50% more than the guy sitting next to me, but I manage an interdepartmental project and have a different employment category. It's hard for people to honestly evaluate themselves so it becomes a pride issue.
Zoloft helps me live a normalish life. I'm not on a high dose and don't experience any emotional numbing. Every year or so I try dropping the dose or quitting and have a massive relapse. It seems to be a genetic issue in my maternal line.
These type of articles follow a couple of archetypes:
1. I beat depression by (insert value-signaling method here). These people are usually in denial and/or in the initial positive rush of a life change. The latter produces transient changes that are far outlasted by internet posts.
2. SSRI's don't work and have horrible side-effects. The side-effects trash-talk causes a nocebo effect. Sexual or sleep related side effects are produced in the general population by gusts of wind, and now you read mainstream papers talking about them. The meds work as well as therapy for far less money and opportunity cost. Poor and even middle income people don't have therapy as an option for mental illness. Check out: http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/07/ssris-much-more-than-yo...
Good schools push children into actually learning a second language. The poorer schools around here don't offer as much of an emphasis on foreign languages.
I didn't see a reference in the article about acquiring a second language via upbringing and through other means.
This is my life. The ancient codebase that doesn't use Objects because "They didn't see the point" with no unit tests. The pay is more than I could possibly hope to achieve at another employer in this area and, accounting for the cost of living, more than I could hope to get anywhere. I'm attempting to improve the place from within, but the long-term employees are resisting change.