Adrian Howell

[shan]

Also I wasn’t sure if I should mention this, but I saw someone say the other day that they sent him a link to this thread I’m hoping they were joking but it didn’t seem like it

I don’t know what purpose whoever sent him the link to this thread was intending it to serve. If they were an Adrian fan trying to alert him to critical spaces, these kinds of threads are not intended for the person they are written about to read and aren’t necessarily going to be good for their mental health to read either. These are safe spaces for people to chat and, in this case, vent their frustration but most people here clearly wouldn’t be wording their issues with him directly in the same way.

I’m going to continue under the assumption that he wouldn’t read this thread, based on his whole spiel and the fact there would be no benefit for him to do it.

If it was someone critical of Adrian, the likelihood of him actually taking the criticism is close to zero, clearly. We’ve already seen how he handles minor criticisms on his insta; snarky and passive-aggressive then backtracking to a 3-video IGTV series to hammer down his message of ‘if you have an issue, it’s a problem you have to deal with’ while also being very ‘I want’ and ending with if you don’t like it, cultivate your social media and leave (with a lot more flowery wording and excessive smiling). That’s not how running a business and peddling life advice on the internet works, especially when it’s for cash rather than monetising views on otherwise free content. His decision to use a social media platform for this means he has to be open to criticism and accept that not all feedback is going to be positive, a lesson he'd better learn quick if he intends to do this for the long haul. The whole ‘sorry if it seems like I lack empathy, I’m actually really compassionate’ bit verged on a Trump-esque ‘humble’ moment to me. Saying you’re compassionate doesn’t make you compassionate, it’s very much an actions speak louder than words trait that he certainly hasn’t shown himself to excel at so far.

I only just caught up on his videos so I’ll also add that I’m really turned off by public figures saying they don’t want to use their space for anything ‘political’. If you can’t bring yourself to post a simple comment on Black Lives Matter for example, just say you’re on the divisive side because that’s where ignoring an issue puts you. I know Phillie-boy isn’t always the best at this either but at least he tries. COVID shouldn’t even be a political issue, it’s a global pandemic. My guess is that the anti-vax comments some people have made earlier in the thread aren’t too far from the truth and he’s trying to cling to a thread of credibility while also not alienating his more out-there supporters (also wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why masks are non-existent in any of his posts).

[obvsly]

Also I wasn’t sure if I should mention this, but I saw someone say the other day that they sent him a link to this thread I’m hoping they were joking but it didn’t seem like it

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THE PEOPLE???

sorry for shouting and swearing but seriously what the fuck is wrong with them

[lefthandedism]

If you google "Adrian Howell", this thread is on the first page of results. Oops! Seriously, as has already been mentioned, public criticism comes with being a public figure, and while this thread is certainly critical, it's also civil. I don't think he should ever look here, but if he did, it might be instructive.

Has anybody put his recent videos on YouTube somewhere?

[obvsly]

Very true that. Though I hope everyone here agrees that bringing a public figure into a “fan” space without consent from both sides is just a no-no.

While what we discuss about here (or how) is never from a place of hate, and we all know it’s public and searchable, it's not worded in a way that we might’ve done if we were to, say, comment on his insta. It’s a completely different story of course if Adrian seeks this out and decides to read. In that case, by all means.

Ah well. With his attitude towards criticism, he probably wouldn’t subject himself to this anyway.

[singularplane]

I’m Portuguese so I thought I could give some context and help if needed!

Portugal was definitely one of the best European countries controlling the first wave when Adrian moved in. Things started to change in September with a worse second wave. Where things reallyyy took the wrong turn was after (and because of) Christmas. Because Portugal was doing reasonably well compared to other countries, the government made the (in insight very wrong) choice of not introducing major restrictions during Christmas. So people were advised strongly to just stay with their nuclear family but theoretically it was legal for people to meet with others.

What happened was that a few weeks after Christmas and New Years the cases just absolutely exploded, like not even the most pessimistic experts predicted. At first everyone was very confused about what the cause of this was, because even if people had met a lot in the festive season the amount of cases should not have risen sho sharply.

The theory now is that the cause of the enormous rise in cases was partially that British immigrants and other people who were infected with the UK variant of the virus ended up infecting their family and friends in Portugal, where they travelled to spend the holidays. Because of how much more contagious (and yesterday we discovered, also more deathly) this variant is, it very quickly spread across the country.

In the month of January we became the worst hit country in the entire world in terms of deaths, and our NHS nearly broke, with dozens of ambulances in front of the hospitals like in Italy in the beginning of the pandemic. Now, because of the lockdown measures, the cases have dropped a lot, but we really had a horrible horrible month.

The lockdown measures are still strict - everything is closed and people can only be outside their houses to get essential services or to go for short walks around their houses.

As you can imagine, as a Portuguese person seeing Adrian’s actions, it really really annoys me. It’s because of the actions of people like him that we are in the situation that we are, with millions of children with no school and hundreds of sick people in the hospital.

No one can say that they don’t care about “politics” or that they don’t have a responsibility over how they actions influence the people who are close or who watch what they post. A person who wants to be a “personal coach” and who is an adult cannot be acting like he is. It is very very disappointing.

[lefthandedism]

I’m Portuguese so I thought I could give some context and help if needed!

Portugal was definitely one of the best European countries controlling the first wave when Adrian moved in. Things started to change in September with a worse second wave. Where things reallyyy took the wrong turn was after (and because of) Christmas. Because Portugal was doing reasonably well compared to other countries, the government made the (in insight very wrong) choice of not introducing major restrictions during Christmas. So people were advised strongly to just stay with their nuclear family but theoretically it was legal for people to meet with others.

What happened was that a few weeks after Christmas and New Years the cases just absolutely exploded, like not even the most pessimistic experts predicted. At first everyone was very confused about what the cause of this was, because even if people had met a lot in the festive season the amount of cases should not have risen sho sharply.

The theory now is that the cause of the enormous rise in cases was partially that British immigrants and other people who were infected with the UK variant of the virus ended up infecting their family and friends in Portugal, where they travelled to spend the holidays. Because of how much more contagious (and yesterday we discovered, also more deathly) this variant is, it very quickly spread across the country.

In the month of January we became the worst hit country in the entire world in terms of deaths, and our NHS nearly broke, with dozens of ambulances in front of the hospitals like in Italy in the beginning of the pandemic. Now, because of the lockdown measures, the cases have dropped a lot, but we really had a horrible horrible month.

The lockdown measures are still strict - everything is closed and people can only be outside their houses to get essential services or to go for short walks around their houses.

As you can imagine, as a Portuguese person seeing Adrian’s actions, it really really annoys me. It’s because of the actions of people like him that we are in the situation that we are, with millions of children with no school and hundreds of sick people in the hospital.

No one can say that they don’t care about “politics” or that they don’t have a responsibility over how they actions influence the people who are close or who watch what they post. A person who wants to be a “personal coach” and who is an adult cannot be acting like he is. It is very very disappointing.

to IDB! And thanks for providing context. I'm sorry your country got so hard hit by the actions of selfish people, many of them unfortunately British with the nasty variant.

I personally don't think Adrian's family went to visit him; we can see from his insta that he likes meeting and hanging out with people, so a local gathering for Christmas makes sense to me. But who knows; we don't really know any of these people we discuss.

[obvsly]

I’m Portuguese so I thought I could give some context and help if needed!
( ——— )
No one can say that they don’t care about “politics” or that they don’t have a responsibility over how they actions influence the people who are close or who watch what they post. A person who wants to be a “personal coach” and who is an adult cannot be acting like he is. It is very very disappointing.

I really appreciate your perspective. Thank you so much for sharing.

[rizzo]

I personally don't think Adrian's family went to visit him; we can see from his insta that he likes meeting and hanging out with people, so a local gathering for Christmas makes sense to me. But who knows; we don't really know any of these people we discuss.

Totally agree. I don't believe that's his family - especially because a Christmas Zoom call was definitely mentioned.

On the topic of Adrian's last few videos - I agree with what most have said, but one thing that especially stuck out to me was about 5 minutes into the second of his 3 videos, he's talking about how he's not gonna discuss politics and vaccines, etc, because "if you're not an expert within those fields, things can get distorted." But Adrian, you're not an expert in life coaching either, but you're DEFINITELY offering your POV there. So, if this is your platform.... If you don't want to talk about things you're not an expert in? Then you can tell people you'll be coaching them in improving their vegan diet and teaching them how to cross-country cycle, because you're certainly not an expert in improving mental health. One self-centered case study does not an expert make.

I just can't with this guy.

[shan]

So I went to check if the next video was up and he's removed the other three from his insta.

While I was there I clicked on the dog photo and I now feel genuinely sick. He took what looks like a semi-staged photo of an incredibly ill dog with a caption about coming across the dog, calling the vet and later the dog being put down because it was too unwell. My sceptical brain thinks this screams of an attempt to prove his compassion but really what he did was the bare minimum of any decent human being and then used it as fodder for his insta. I was shocked to see that all the comments were of people fawning over him like he was a saint or something rather than questioning his need to post about this. It just smacks of someone completely removed from reality. Someone needs to tell him (and his followers, clearly) that one forced post does not a Sarper Duman make.

[singularplane]

God, Adrian posting stories of him outside biking and standing in beaches as if it’s not illegal in Portugal to do this since we are in full lockdown annoys me more than it probably should but ughhhhh. I sent him a rather annoyed, albeit reasonably polite message about it, though I know it’s useless. It’s just ridiculous at this point though.

[alittledizzy]

So I went to check if the next video was up and he's removed the other three from his insta.

While I was there I clicked on the dog photo and I now feel genuinely sick. He took what looks like a semi-staged photo of an incredibly ill dog with a caption about coming across the dog, calling the vet and later the dog being put down because it was too unwell. My sceptical brain thinks this screams of an attempt to prove his compassion but really what he did was the bare minimum of any decent human being and then used it as fodder for his insta. I was shocked to see that all the comments were of people fawning over him like he was a saint or something rather than questioning his need to post about this. It just smacks of someone completely removed from reality. Someone needs to tell him (and his followers, clearly) that one forced post does not a Sarper Duman make.

I really wish I hadn't looked at that dog one. I saw it shortly after he posted it and it made me both so sad for the dog and so annoyed at him for posting it.

[shan]

So I went to check if the next video was up and he's removed the other three from his insta.

While I was there I clicked on the dog photo and I now feel genuinely sick. He took what looks like a semi-staged photo of an incredibly ill dog with a caption about coming across the dog, calling the vet and later the dog being put down because it was too unwell. My sceptical brain thinks this screams of an attempt to prove his compassion but really what he did was the bare minimum of any decent human being and then used it as fodder for his insta. I was shocked to see that all the comments were of people fawning over him like he was a saint or something rather than questioning his need to post about this. It just smacks of someone completely removed from reality. Someone needs to tell him (and his followers, clearly) that one forced post does not a Sarper Duman make.

I really wish I hadn't looked at that dog one. I saw it shortly after he posted it and it made me both so sad for the dog and so annoyed at him for posting it.

He's now managed to hit two of my biggest triggers; mental health and animal welfare. I just can't even fathom how the thought even crosses your mind to take a photo, let alone a good one, of an injured animal unless he already had the insta post planned out in his mind once he came across the dog. Surely if he felt the need to tell the story it could have been with literally any other photo.

I accept it in the case of Sarper Duman because what he does is incredible and, as someone who obviously isn't wealthy, he needs to ask for donations towards help pay for expensive vet bills. By comparison Adrian's decision to take and use that photo comes across as profoundly selfish (to me).

[obvsly]

That dog post gave me so much secondhand embarrassment. It’s... sickening to write in such a flowery way to praise yourself over an event that ended in tragedy. I commend him for what he tried to do for the dog, but the post? Please.

[alittledizzy]

Adrian posted a question about Lena if anyone cat-knowledgable wants to answer. I think I know why she's turning brown but honestly I only have my roommate's cat and what her vet said to go on, and there may be multiple things that cause/contribute to it.

[shan]

Adrian posted a question about Lena if anyone cat-knowledgable wants to answer. I think I know why she's turning brown but honestly I only have my roommate's cat and what her vet said to go on, and there may be multiple things that cause/contribute to it.

Just did a little googling and... they're not forcing their cat to be vegan are they? Surely not... But also maybe?

[dontpanic]

like a lot of people figured out it likely means the kitty has a Taurine deficiency which is dangerous... or she could be fine, she might be eating her daily required protein intake but not enough to maintain the level of melanin to keep her coat black. It also might mean Lena has spent too much time in the sun and bleached her hair, but I'm really worried it's the first point and they're keeping her on a vegan diet which is genuinely animal abuse and will kill her.

[obvsly]

I hope this is allowed? (If not, I’m so sorry and pls remove it for me, mods.)

Saw this and thought of Adrian immediately.

[lefthandedism]

Oh, that's perfect. I almost thought he was roasting Adrian specificly!

[rizzo]

Adrian's latest instagram post is hilarious, considering he purposefully moved his instagram presence over to the account with the most followers. Also, buddy, why'd you bother to travel across several countries and move to Portugal if all your needs were met in England?

Honestly, this has become me every time he posts:

[obvsly]

Probably trying to convince himself that all is fine since he lost hundreds of followers after switching accounts. :/

[shan]

So it’s the end of the work day and I feel like have a teensy petty rant after checking his insta stories (side-note, really gotta stop doing that). I don’t believe for a second that the responses to his ‘cat nerd’ request ( ) didn’t have the majority of people saying lack of protein, especially considering he’s a very outspoken vegan and the genuine alarm I think most people would feel seeing that come up as the majority of answers when googled. I’m willing to bet he saw people freaking out and decided to go with the whole ‘lol I didn’t even bother to check your responses to a concern I raised about my cat’s health but she’s black again’.

[dontpanic]

omg he actually began his post with "we live in a society."

y'all... we've got this all wrong, I think he's running a parody account. Is this the next Dylan Sprouse social experiment?

[Levitating]

Every time I read this thread, I am reminded of who their mom is: a philosopher according to tumblr, right?

It makes me realise that a lot of the culture the boys have come from this lady who may have introduced to such existential questions at a young age, whether consciously or not!

[shan]

So apparently Dan's mum is also a life coach. Not sure if that was already common knowledge, I've just never had any interest in looking her up before. I guess it makes sense now how Adrian would even get the idea to be one considering how young he is and therefore his limited life experience.

I'm trying to say this in a way that's not too presumptuous or personal considering she isn't a public figure like Dan and Adrian but I'll start by saying that I have a strong dislike for life coaches in general. They charge exorbitant amounts for services that would be far better rendered by an accredited professional. That said, one of her claims that really made me raise an eyebrow was dealing with depression using CBT. And yes, anyone who's been to therapy is probably aware of CBT and can explain it to other people but that really doesn't mean that you can or should start using that knowledge to treat others while charging the same as many psychologists per session and CBT is not the only thing a therapist does. I was also a bit surprised to see youth coaching on the list (and another that I don't want to say as it's far too personal but also is safe to assume isn't top notch given things Dan has alluded to in the past).

Every new thing I come across makes it a little clearer why family time is still referenced as being so tense.

Anyway, those were just my thoughts. Not sure if it's allowed and/or appropriate here so mods please remove it if it's not!

[Levitating]

Okay, then, my tumblr resources are not the best lol.

If she's a coach/had a website, I guess it would count as public, digitally wise?

Regardless, no one is a prophet in their own land!