Posts by Noah Jackson79

shadowgardener12 said:Split personality? Sure, fine—but Sophia Johnson43, what exactly is splitting? For a personality to fracture, there has to be some kind of underlying structure, some "constituent parts" involved, right? Where does that even originate? Look, just be consistent here and try to take a step beyond the symptoms—maybe we should be looking all the way back at the dark, root cause of it all?

😕 😕
I think... yeah, I’m actually with you on this one. And if my memory serves me right—which it usually does—I haven't even touched on schizophrenia yet. Like I said right at the jump, that's a whole other massive topic for another day.
What I'm really focused on here is Ibogaine and how it can actually be used to treat heavy drug addiction.

Bradley Fisher20 said:Come on, just admit you were actually interested in the schizophrenia aspect.😉.

Look, I'll give you that—the idea of using psychedelics was definitely what pulled me in.😉

Bradley Fisher20 said:When it comes to how it actually works, it’s not bad at all. For the first part—that methadone-heavy phase of detoxing—it hits incredibly hard. They claim over 90% of people don't even feel the urge for drugs for more than three days. But then there's the second stage of getting clean, where you actually have to provide a better alternative for the brain to latch onto. And that's where Ibogaine can't do the heavy lifting on its own. It’s just a tool, right? This is where we run into those "shamanic" vibes that you usually only see with those alternative practitioners. But seriously, why can't this start being applied through actual scientific methods? Why hasn't it become real science yet?

If I remember correctly, it’s supposedly easier to quit something like heroin directly rather than trying to kick a methadone habit—though they describe that transition as something totally vague and hard to pin down.
Unfortunately, I only know one guy who tried Ibogaine (up in Canada) and it didn't really do anything for him... maybe lasted a few days at most.
Anyway, I'm with you on this—we need to learn more before we just toss the whole concept aside. And let's be real, methadone isn't exactly a "choice" anyone makes willingly. I know plenty of people hooked on it, but I don't honestly know anyone who successfully transitioned off via standard weaning methods. Maybe the catch is that proper psychotherapy is often completely missing from the equation...

Bradley Fisher20 said:As for the schizophrenia stuff, I honestly think psychedelics would mostly just help doctors who are tired of pretending behaviorism is the holy grail.🙂.

That is a completely different conversation. Over here, they almost exclusively use psychodynamic-oriented therapies (if they use therapy at all) alongside medication. Personally, though? I bet even behaviorism would be a step up.🙄

You’re throwing two different topics at me here, and honestly, both of them are massive, complicated subjects in their own right 😉

Regarding Ibogaine—look, it isn't some brand-new discovery (at least not for us over here in the States).
People have been flirting with the idea of using it to treat hardcore addicts (especially heroin users) for decades now. And if you know anything about anthropology, you probably already know that certain tribes in Africa have been using the root in their rituals for ages, just in a more "low-key" way.
A few years back, I did a deep dive into Ibogaine research, and most of what I stumbled upon suggested that maybe just one—possibly two—sessions could be enough to completely kill someone's craving for drugs. That idea absolutely blew my mind! I had to dig deeper to see if there was any truth to it. It turns out that among people using this hallucinogenic stuff, the majority ended up relapsing within the first month.
What I do know for sure is that a "session" absolutely has to be supervised. There is a very real danger of someone "losing themselves" or totally disconnecting from reality—I’m not entirely sure what the actual percentage of risk is, though, so if you happen to have any data on that, please let me know 🙂. Now, there’s also some chemical trickery involved that acts as a risk factor, but I’ll be honest—I can't quite remember the specifics (some doctor was trying to explain it to me—as much as she could, given my aging brain—but it went right over my head 😉).
Besides, Ibogaine stimulates the central nervous system, and if the dose is too high, you're looking at potential seizures, paralysis, or even respiratory arrest.

So, the bottom line for me is that this seems like something that needs a lot more serious study, even if we should definitely be considering it as a potential treatment option.
Bradley Fisher20, if you’ve got more intel on this, please, lay it on us 🙂

Bradley Fisher20 said:Right now, Ibogaine is being used to help people kick hard drugs for good.

When she talks about Ibogaine, she’s just pointing out the massive potential of hallucinogens. Look, addiction isn't some minor habit—it's a brutal disease. More accurately? It's a mental disorder. Just like schizophrenia, you know? Same ballpark. And so on and so forth.

Anyway, anyone else interested in diving into this territory?

Well, if you're only looking at it from one specific angle, sure. But honestly, I don't know how much you actually know about Ibogaine—it's definitely not some harmless little pill, and the effects aren't always positive. In fact, the side effects can be downright nasty...
If you actually want a real discussion, why don't you walk me through your hypothesis a bit more?

Bradley Fisher20 said:. Just like schizophrenia. And so on.

Just like what? 😕

Carl Bennett78 said:Seriously, can someone please, PLEASE explain to me why "la stanza del figlio" is supposedly such a masterpiece?

I actually really loved the film. I mean, okay, I saw it in theaters about a year ago, but I'm just going off my gut feeling here... 😉
Life—both the beautiful parts and the absolute disasters—just happens. It doesn't always need a grand explanation or some neat little moral at the end... and that's exactly how it works in la stanza del figlio. What really hit home for me was that parallel he draws between actual, real-world struggles and those purely imaginary ones. It’s pure absurdity.
The psychotherapist's whole world basically falls apart, yet he spends all his energy—his supposed "expertise"—wrestling with problems that aren't even real.
Then you have that moment where his suicidal client undergoes this total transformation upon finding out she has cancer. To me, that part really forces you to sit there and actually think about life, what it's worth, and how we're supposed to face it all.

btw, I also thought B. Eno and By This River were great additions to the soundtrack. 🙂

Look, it’s actually way easier if a kid (and you’re already pretty much an adult 🙂) just can't hit that "R" sound at all—like, they learn to say it with that fancy French flair instead. In that case, it just means you're using your vocal apparatus the wrong way when you try to force the letter out.
If it really bothers you, go see a speech therapist; they'll give you a whole bunch of exercises you can mess around with in front of a mirror to fix it.
Otherwise, you might as well just lean into it and make it part of your whole persona 😉

John Thomas2 said:So, I figured I had to get this thread started because there’s something that’s been eating at me—something I just need to pick your brains about.
Look, I haven't even started drinking them yet—and to top it all off, my doctor didn't even bother sending me in for blood work! 🙄I swear, I was just sitting there and suddenly they started shouting at me—honestly, I thought my head was actually going to explode right then and there! 😲 😲

Look, this is just one of those totally standard, common-sense things—seriously, why isn't everyone doing this? If you’ve actually got some sense, you should always keep that little box and the instruction sheet tucked away somewhere safe. It sounds basic, I know, but honestly—if you have those handy, you can just sketch out a quick little cheat sheet for yourself. That way, you aren't left scrambling when you need to know exactly what you're dealing with or what all the possible hiccups might be. It’s just good prep! 😲 😁

Look, just a bit of advice—by the way, once you’ve had your fun and you finally head back home... honestly, it’s a very individual thing. You've got to be careful, though—you really don't want to let your libido take the driver's seat and run you off the road. It's all about balance, you know? Don't let the impulse dictate the whole trip. 😉

Potala said:Maybe we should try working backward... using an elimination system.😉

Is what we call "average" even actually normal?

Not necessarily—because that assumes every single trait used to define "normal" is perfectly distributed across the population, which, let’s be real, is almost never the case (especially when you're talking about things like intelligence—specifically fluid intelligence).
To put it in plain English, take medical standards for example: being "healthy" (normal) is often defined simply by the absence of disease symptoms, but that doesn't always hold up when you look at the actual statistics.
Statistically speaking, we're talking about individuals who hover around some central mean—basically just a mathematical average (while accounting for standard deviations). There are endless criteria out there, and honestly, listing them all would be a complete waste of time.
The truth is, "normal" is a wildly subjective concept. Any claim to objectivity is questionable at best; it usually just boils down to whatever is broadly accepted—whether that's a legal mandate, a scientific consensus, or just those unwritten social norms that we all follow (which, by the way, shift over time, even if it doesn't feel like it's happening overnight).
Ultimately, it's up to the individual whether they categorize a phenomenon as "normal" based on their own gut feeling or some arbitrary standard imposed by science or the law... and people are going to disagree on that, big time.

Ryan Ruiz said:Look, you can't just slap a single definition on this. Sure, maybe in some narrow contexts you can draw a line between what’s "normal" and what isn't—but once you actually start digging into the literature and really studying the subject, you realize pretty quickly that everyone is playing by a different set of rules. People have wildly different ideas about where "healthy" ends and "abnormal" begins. It’s all subjective.

Spot on. And honestly, that’s exactly why we’ve ended up with all these different ways to measure "normalcy"—whether it’s through a religious lens, medical standards, or just basic morality...

But at the end of the day, most people are their own damn yardstick. We’re all just walking around using a personal measuring tape shaped by every bit of information we've absorbed and every opinion we've picked up along the way.