Posts by Matthew Castillo5

Nicole Barrett76 said:I am a perfectionist.

When I purchase a bag of snacks and prepare to tear them open, may God forbid that I should somehow manage to open them upside down.

First, I make sure to check if they are oriented correctly. Only after that am I permitted to give them a gentle shake in peace before finally opening them.

Okay, that’s a pretty harmless example of perfectionism right there. I have my own version of this; before I put my headphones on, I always make sure I know which one is left and which is right, even though, honestly, it barely makes any difference which ear gets which side.

Nicholas King, did you actually bother putting an explanation for those abbreviations in the thread title?

On a different note, look, I’m not going to sit here and lecture anyone about swearing when they're genuinely pissed off—even if the language gets pretty colorful. But when someone isn't even angry, and just starts dropping F-bombs or invoking God just because they feel like being obnoxious... well, honestly, that really rubs me the wrong way.

Robert Harris5 said:Then what is it? What's the real issue?

It’s hard to pin down, and honestly, even harder to deal with. Look, I consider myself pretty sharp—I know nobody's perfect and making mistakes is just part of being human—but I definitely lean toward perfectionism in certain areas. It isn't really a cognitive thing, though; it feels more like an emerging emotional struggle, and I suspect my upbringing probably played a huge role in shaping it.

Robert Harris5 said:If you ask me, I think perfectionists actually lack the necessary intelligence to truly grasp their own potential and act on it effectively. Someone with real insight understands that making mistakes is just part of being human—after all, nobody is actually perfect.

Well, I have to disagree. I think you're missing the mark entirely here. This isn't about a lack of talent or someone failing to grasp their own potential.

I find myself landing on pretty much the same page as you when it comes to animals. But honestly, for the people in my life—even the hardcore animal lovers—they usually just view my attitude as some minor personality quirk they have to deal with. 😁

And don't even get me started on that ridiculous cliché: "If you don't love animals, you can't love people." Give me a break! I am living proof of how completely wrong that is. I love people—well, at least the ones who actually deserve it—but when it comes to animals, I’m just indifferent. I really don't need slobber or scales crawling all over me.

William Thompson82 said:Listen, kid,

I really want to help you out here, so I’m just gonna give you the best advice I’ve got. Regarding the stuttering—which I know can be incredibly awkward and frustrating—there’s actually a specialist over in Cleveland who works alongside his daughter, and they have a nearly 100% success rate with treating it. I can't recall his name off the top of my head, but honestly, just ask for him at the hospital front desk. I don't know where you're located, but if there's any way you can make the trip, go see him. He’ll get you sorted.
Just start somewhere—do a little bit every single day and you'll pull through. You're way too young to throw in the towel; you've got a whole life ahead of you, and trust me, it's going to be a good one.

It's Dr. Novosel. For more specifics, check out the stuttering thread over in the psychology subforum.

Kenneth Scott41 said:Honestly, I have to wonder how everyone else is managing to cope with this relentless heatwave. I’m asking because between all the various medications I’ve been taking lately, I feel like I’m sweating twice as much as usual, and my mouth feels perpetually parched. It seems like a constant struggle. If I have to step out for any reason, I feel an urgent need to carry something cold to drink with me, but then I run into that other annoying issue—how quickly the water just turns lukewarm in the heat.🙂

I do the exact same thing. I always carry a water bottle with me, but during the summer, I fill it about halfway and throw it in the freezer. Then, right before I leave the house, I top off the rest with cold water. That way, you’ve basically got ice water; the ice melts slowly as you go, so the water stays chilled for a really long time.

John Stewart9 said:What exactly got under your skin there?
Well, I'm still a student, unfortunately... haven't snagged a Nobel Prize yet and probably won't, but I do have certain intellectual standards and I don't see the issue with that. My struggle with communicating with women is a bit more complicated than that—I've mentioned it on the forum a few times before. It's a tricky thing, and if I had to pin it down, I'd say intellectual incompatibility plays a huge part in it. I know "intellectual" sounds a bit pretentious, but I can't really think of a better way to put it... specifically, I'm talking about that part of someone's personality where they're either engaged with or totally checked out from the world around them. So, some girls might catch my eye physically, but as I get older, I find myself totally losing interest once I realize how indifferent they are to everything... and honestly, I'm starting to notice that for some of them, my own passion for things like movies, music, science, politics, or social trends isn't exactly a turn-on for them either. Look, I'm not expecting to sit around having deep philosophical debates about nothingness all night, but man, it absolutely kills me when I'm sitting at a coffee shop having to practically hunt for a single common topic just to keep the conversation from dying...

I didn't quite catch your last question, but if I'm reading you right, you're asking about that second group of girls I mentioned in my post. Whether I attract those types is really up to them to decide, but it feels like I usually don't... though I already touched on why earlier...

If intellectual compatibility is a dealbreaker for you (and based on what you wrote, it clearly is), you might need to dial back the physical requirements. Or, you can keep hunting for that unicorn who hits the jackpot of looks and brains, but honestly? They're pretty rare. Personally, I’ve poured almost all my energy into my own mental growth and haven't given my appearance much thought at all, which means most guys write me off immediately just because I'm not exactly a supermodel. That’s probably why I’m still single, but hey, at least I have plenty of fun arguing with people on this forum. 😁

coppermarlin13, I’m glad you at least managed to get a response, though honestly, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. 🙂

I’m lodging a formal protest regarding the decision to move the thread about Ronald Reagan out of the Political Landscape subforum and over into US Domestic Politics. My guess? It was moved because a few pages drifted into some nonsense discussion about the intersection of sports and politics—specifically, some chatter about changing the name of a local pro football team here in Chicago. In my opinion, a moderator's actual job is to clean up the fluff and keep the topic where it belongs, rather than relocating an entire thread just because a few irrelevant posts hijacked the conversation.

Bryan Smith5 said:A whole year?! Give me a break.☕
I mean, I was head over heels for one guy for ten full years. Honestly? That final year felt just as intense as the first day..😳

As for me, I’ve been crushing on the same guy for thirteen years now... yeah, I actually fell for him back in the last millennium. 🙈 😁

Richard Rivera30 said:Hey everyone.

Look, I’m really not sure if this is the right subforum to start a thread, but I couldn't find anything better suited.

I'm curious about how much these small, simple, or even drastic changes actually help versus how much they might hurt.

I’ve decided to treat this year as my big fresh start.
I made a choice to hit the gym and get back in shape after all those holiday feasts and just being lazy for a few months. I also finally got serious about school. I started studying more, and I actually decided to change my major. It turns out what I was studying just didn't fulfill me. It wasn't even hard; I just didn't care about it and couldn't see myself doing it long-term.
Then there's the social side. I decided to cut ties with certain people. It wasn't because of any huge fights or hatred or anything like that. It's just that I'm tired of dragging things out—meeting up once a month, sending the occasional text, playing the part. I let go of those draining relationships that weren't necessarily "bad," but they were just exhausting my energy.
On top of that, I landed a great job through a recruiter. The people are super interesting and nice, the workload isn't too crazy, and the pay is solid. I’ve even started saving money, which used to be nothing more than a dream for me.
I also deleted Facebook. It was eating up all my free time, and some of the people on there were honestly just exhausting. I used to be glued to it 24/7. I feel so much better now that it's gone. The people who actually matter have my number and know where I live, so they can reach me easily. I don't need some silly app to stay in touch with my friends.

Right now, I am happy. New job, new habits, home life is good. I’m genuinely happy, in the truest sense of the word. Not too high, not too low. This is the first time I’ve done so many productive things for myself in such a short window, so it’s all very new to me. I'm in a bit of a positive shock.

How much do these kinds of massive shifts actually benefit your life? So far, everything is hitting me positively, but for how long? Maybe there aren't any downsides to making these changes, but what should I expect moving forward?

Hope you guys get what I'm saying. 🤣 👋

Seriously, props to you for pulling off so many positive changes. I really hope you can stick with it! 👍

James Young87 said:Does anyone feel okay staying on a 10 mg dose of Paxil, assuming they aren't currently in the middle of adjusting their dosage or tapering off?
I've been taking it for about two weeks now to manage my GAD, and when I attempted to bump it up by 5 mg, the side effects were honestly pretty unbearable, so I ended up dropping back down to the 10 mg level.
I suppose I wonder if maybe this dose is actually just right for me?
Or is it possible that I simply tried to increase it a bit too soon?

It’s entirely possible that 10 mg is perfectly fine for you; honestly, that was exactly my experience. Obviously, the real test is whether this dosage actually manages your symptoms effectively. For me, it worked, and now I’m actually on an even lower dose just to maintain a relatively stable state.

vividorca9 said:We aren't all cut from the same cloth. Nobody ever tried to force me into therapy. Sure, I was being a pain in the ass, but there weren't any violent outbursts involved back then. 😁

I already told him the one thing he can't do is let her drag him down into her mood swings and those "memory gaps" she claims to have. He needs to stay level-headed and make it clear he knows he might be getting manipulated. Let's see if she suddenly develops "amnesia" after that. 😁

I'm with you on that. And I don't think you're all the same. You seem like a genuinely sweet person to me (at least from what I can tell through a forum screen), and my prediction was strictly about the specific individual we were talking about.

vividorca9 said:Look, this isn't exactly a fun situation to be in. If she actually has BPD, God knows how she’s going to react if he suggests seeing a psychiatrist—especially since they haven't even known each other that long. The guy doesn't want to pull away because he clearly cares, but let's be real: a relationship like this, if you can even call it that, isn't going anywhere.

I don't know. If I were in his shoes, I’d pull back completely. I wouldn't even think about sex or a relationship again until he went and saw a professional.

I think she’s gorgeous and sharp, but honestly? She sounds like a total ticking time bomb. 🤷 No matter how much damage the author tries to inflict on others, they’re actually doing ten times more damage to themselves.

Maybe she really is screwing him over. If someone treated me like that, I’d immediately suspect they were playing games. Plus, she doesn't even remember the sex they had right before all this went down... But hey, who knows. 😁

Look, we aren't all some polished, charismatic crowd. Some of us are just plain awkward and socially clueless. 🙂 🤣

My prediction? A total meltdown, maybe an attempted murder, or a suicide attempt. Honestly, it’s a toss-up. 🙄

Jeremy Roberts5 said:This might sound harsh, but I can't sugarcoat it no matter how hard I try... there was a time when I had plenty of those "internet friends" from various forums, chat rooms, online games, etc. But the end result? I never actually met any of them in person, nor did they ever want to meet up (I even asked some of the ones I felt closer to, and they weren't interested, even though we lived in the same city and didn't talk about the kind of deep stuff we're discussing here). I'm left with the impression that the old saying is true: "out of sight, out of mind."

I actually have pretty positive experiences with most of my "online friends." There are several I’ve never met face-to-face—folks from North Mexico, Mexico, and Germany—who were actually there for me when none of my "real-life" friends or even my own family realized I was struggling and needed help.

Jamie Lee67 said:I have another question for the group... I was handed a box of Zyprexa at the hospital, and I just realized I didn't notice the expiration date printed on the packaging says 12/2011, even though there are still tablets inside that are technically valid until January 15, 2012.
Should I go ahead and take them all given that expiration window, or would it be wiser to head back to the hospital and request a fresh supply dated after January 1, 2012?

Honestly, you can probably just finish off the ones you have left; being a few days past the date isn't going to make a difference. I once took a pill that had been expired for a year (maybe even longer), and I didn't experience any side effects—it worked exactly the way it was supposed to.

Jamie Lee67 said:Could I ask a quick question here without being judged? I’m looking for some insight from anyone who might be more knowledgeable than I am... Given that I'm currently taking 10mg of Lexapro and 2.5mg of Zyprexa daily, how wise would it be to consume a little bit of cannabis?

Not smart at all.

ruggedmaker7 said:Hey,

I'm currently on day six of taking 10 mg of Paxil, plus I've been taking 0.5 mg of Xanax twice a day—once in the morning and once at night. Before starting this regimen, my main symptoms were physical tension in my back, neck, and legs, along with a tendency toward emotional outbursts, crying, and just feeling heavy with sadness. My question is: while some of those symptoms have subsided, I’m experiencing this strange, intense nervousness and irritability. Could this be related to my body adjusting to the Paxil? Also, according to the side effects listed in the pamphlet, it's almost as if the world starts spinning in reverse the moment you swallow one of these pills.

Yeah, that's definitely linked to how your system adjusts to Paxil. That’s exactly why doctors usually prescribe Helix alongside it—to help dial down that initial restlessness. After a while, that side effect should taper off, and then you can gradually lower the Helix dose or stop it altogether.
Honestly, the doctor who prescribed the Paxil really should have given you a heads-up about this.

ruggedmaker7 said:Greetings to all you good people. I’m curious to get your thoughts on a regimen consisting of half a 20 mg Seroxat pill combined with two 0.5 mg Xanax tablets. My diagnosis is hypersensitivity and anxiety, specifically regarding self-concern. It manifests through these overwhelming bouts of sadness that just leave me weeping. The trigger seems to be the summer heat; once the temperatures spike, my muscles tense up, and within about two weeks, I inevitably spiral into a deep depression.

Honestly, it sounds like a solid plan, but if I were you, I'd probably save the Helex for when you actually need it. Taking it long-term can definitely lead to dependency issues.