Posts by David Vaughn75

Michelle Evans said:I never mentioned forced treatment, nor am I saying emergency services are synonymous with it. Please, try reading more carefully before jumping in with a condescending comment that misses my point entirely.

The math is simple: he refuses help + calls 911 when things go south = forced treatment.

I know guys like this personally because—let’s be real—I used to be one of them. Just totally losing my mind, hitting a breaking point, but acting like, "Nah, I'm fine, I don't need anyone's help." Honestly? Looking back, I’m actually glad I ended up in the psych ward against my will back then. It was exactly what I needed.

Michelle Evans said:Based on what you described, I would say it is.

And Larry Lewis makes a good point. These symptoms could escalate even further.
The longer he goes without help, the more he'll resist medical intervention. Some people still have enough grip on reality to seek a doctor on their own. Plus, recovery takes much longer if you wait too long...

Is an emergency room visit really out of the question?
Do you know if he's currently on medication or has any sort of stability right now?

The reality is, they don't even bother rushing patients to the hospital until things get genuinely dangerous—either for themselves or everyone else nearby.

Look, vividorca9, just sit tight and wait for them to drop a line where they explicitly threaten to hurt themselves or someone else before you call 911, because honestly, that's about the only way you'll get a response. ☕

Ryan Nelson5 said:Childish simplification...
Of course they won't lend money to someone with no collateral to guarantee repayment. What if he spends it on himself instead of the project?
And what does it matter if the other guy inherited a company, provided he knows how to run it and generate billions?

I have zero clue which part of my post you’re actually pushing back on.

James Nguyen13 said:The reality is, they just don't have the knack for selling their own vision.

Nah, it’s not about that—it’s about the fact that Chase won't just hand over a $100 million loan to some 30-year-old kid with zero assets to his name. Period. That kid's only shot at making anything is selling his vision to a massive conglomerate like Amazon or Google just to scrape together a 1% payout. Meanwhile, you've got some entrepreneur who inherited a massive empire from his old man, and he’ll just swoop in, grab that idea, and turn it into billions while the original creator gets crumbs.

George Booth58 said:I think this premise is flawed. I mean, what kind of company is actually set up where 1,000 people gather and then just roll dice to decide who gets which job or where the hierarchy sits?

Intelligence isn't necessarily the same thing as ability. It more or less measures potential—how someone handles new situations, maybe. There was once a waitress in the USA who recorded the highest IQ ever measured.

The market tends to reward those who know how to actually produce something. Anyone could work a line, but only a handful out of thousands will have the idea of what to make and how to sell it. To me, the idea is really the most vital part of industry.

But here’s the kicker—those big-shot entrepreneurs and managers aren't usually the ones coming up with the genius stuff. It's the engineers. And yet, those same engineers end up fighting for nothing but crumbs while everyone else takes the lion's share.

James Nguyen13 said:Look, man, that sentence doesn't actually mean anything. A worker is just selling their labor on the market, and an entrepreneur is the one buying it. It’s a two-way street—it's a mutual exchange where neither side can function without the other.

It’s that specific balance—the cost of that labor weighed against the entrepreneur's profit margin—that ultimately dictates the relative value of the worker compared to the business owner.
Look, if you take a thousand people who are all genetically identical—just a massive group of clones—and they decide to start a business, someone’s gotta be stuck on the assembly line while someone else sits in the corner office running the show. Inequality isn't just a bug in the system; it's baked right into the recipe.

I mean, look, kapitalizam is an unfair mess, but honestly? We haven't come up with anything better yet.

James Nguyen13 said:

Look, man, that sentence doesn't actually mean anything. A worker is just selling their labor on the market, and an entrepreneur is the one buying it. It’s a two-way street—it's a mutual exchange where neither side can function without the other.

Gregory Peterson2 said:I’ve got absolutely nothing against the wealthy. In fact, I’m all for it if they’re more capable, more driven, smarter, or better educated... and consequently end up with more cash than everyone else.

The real issue pops up when people who don't fit that description—simply because the deck was stacked against them from birth—end up with way, way more money than someone who is objectively much more talented but just didn't get the same head start in life.

If we all started at the exact same finish line, I wouldn't have a single complaint about wild capitalism or the "survival of the fittest" mentality. But let's be real: that's impossible. Since we don't all have the same opportunities, I believe the total wealth should be distributed as fairly as possible. We need a system that still rewards hard work, discourages laziness, and tries to give everyone a fighting chance to make it big. Now, don't get me wrong—I know a kid working on a ranch in Wyoming will never have the same path to success as Prince William. But the government should at least ensure that through fair wealth distribution, even that kid has a shot at climbing the ladder if they’ve got the grit and the drive to earn it.

The thing is, an entrepreneur isn't some 1,000x smarter or more gifted version of a regular worker. Even the absolute brightest human being on this planet is maybe only 2 or 3 times smarter than your average Joe.

The whole essence of capitalism isn't about "merit" or some "survival of the fittest" nonsense—that's just bad math. It's actually about meeting human needs (demand). You've got a customer who wants something, and you've got a producer stepping up to fill that gap. It works the exact same way with jobs. A manager doesn't pull in a massive paycheck because they're some kind of genetically superior superhero; they get paid that much because there's a huge market demand for a manager who actually knows what they're doing.

Larry Lewis said:I’m telling you, we really lucked out being born in an era where modern medicine actually exists. Sure, the social stigma is still heavy—it's everywhere—but at least they aren't treating us like monsters or pariahs the way they used to back in the day. We aren't being crucified by society for our chemistry anymore.

As for me, the schizophrenia isn't even my biggest hurdle right now—since I don't really deal with the psychotic side of things—it's the OCD that's killing me... just constant, endless loops.🙂

And I’m telling you—back in the early 1900s, they were out here trying to "cure" schizophrenia with straight-up lobotomies. It’s absolutely mental when you think about it—just some doctor with a tool and zero regard for what they were actually doing to someone's brain. Honestly, looking back at how far we've come (and how much we still have to go), it makes my skin crawl. Just pure, unadulterated madness. 😵

Honestly, I’m not even sweating the SCH as much anymore—those panic attacks are finally under control, thank God—but man, those massive, soul-crushing fears from back in the day? That stuff stays with you. It’s like a permanent scar on your psyche that you just have to learn to live around for the rest of your life. 😢

Larry Lewis said:It truly baffles me—honestly, it leaves me somewhat stunned—just how much normalcy a person living with schizophrenia can maintain. And I’m not just talking about my own experience here; I’ve seen plenty of folks in my own circles navigating life with that diagnosis who seem perfectly composed. Believe me when I say this: if it were a choice, I would take a diagnosis of schizophrenia over chronic depression any day of the week.

Look, depression is pretty much the same boat as schizophrenia—if you catch it early and actually get on top of treatment right away, you can usually get things back under control.

Kevin Nguyen3 said:Illness... it’s a heavy thing, isn't it? A truly heavy thing. Of course, medications can leave you feeling quite unwell—unsettled, even—but it is nothing compared to the actual weight of the disease itself. There is no comparison! And long-term treatment—when it is handled correctly, mind you, strictly by the book—can actually suppress the symptoms of schizophrenia. It can suppress them so effectively that, sometimes, you wouldn't even dream of suspecting that the person standing right in front of you is struggling with an illness at all. Would you even know? Could you tell? Often, you simply wouldn't.

Spot on.

People have this huge misconception that medication just turns your brain into mush or tanks your IQ. Look, meds might slow you down or make you feel a bit numb, but all those nasty psychological symptoms? Those usually stem from the fact that the medication isn't hitting the mark for certain people. It's not about losing intelligence; it's about the treatment not working effectively enough.

And at the end of the day, it all boils down to quality of life.
Think about it—if someone is battling schizoaffective disorder and hasn't held a job in ten years, doesn't hang out with anyone, and just sits there staring at the TV all day... honestly, anyone would be mentally checked out after a decade of that lifestyle.

Jason Vaughn482 said:I’m not taking it yet; I have it sitting right here at home, but once I start taking those small doses of Calixt, I get this creeping fear about combining it with Prozac. My doctor is incredibly vague, which is frustrating; she hasn't given me a straight answer on whether they can be mixed, even though I have the Prozac on hand because my GP prescribed it. I asked her, but nothing. And tonight was just another repeat of the struggle. Tell me, if I simply skip the sedative tonight, what am I supposed to do? I have Calixt and I have Prazine, but 25 mg of Prazine doesn't touch it, and I'm terrified that 50 mg might be overkill. I just want to sleep through the night without these interruptions. Right now, everything feels chaotic; I end up taking the sedative in the morning and sleeping until 10:00 AM... anyway, I have been tapering my Xanax, dropping from three 0.5 mg pills a day down to three 0.25 mg pills... perhaps that shift is part of why things feel so unsettled, since I've been doing that for the last eight days.

Look, 50 mg of Prazine is basically nothing. I know people out there pulling 500 or even 600 mg without blinking.

It’s an Antipsychotic, sure, but at doses that low? It’s really just acting like a sedative—just knocks you out and keeps things quiet.

redharbor11 said:I have a family member dealing with residual schizophrenia. He’s currently 58, but he’s been battling this since he was 21.

The early symptoms were pretty much what people have mentioned on here before—things like mania and such—but there was one thing I can't quite wrap my head around: a swelling at the back of his head, specifically near the cerebellum.
Back then, he saw this alternative practitioner who told him straight up that he had been poisoned, expressing genuine shock that he was even still alive. 😢
It sounds like a bizarre way to handle medical issues, but apparently, it worked: She told them to use a rabbit's head and wrap it in a cloth over the swollen area at the back of his head.
He kept it wrapped there for 24 hours, and when they finally removed it, the rabbit's head had supposedly sucked all the blood out of that swollen spot, causing the inflammation to vanish for good. These days, he is managed on Handol and Akineton.

Just to be clear, there are witnesses—family members who were right there with him—so this isn't just something he made up in his mind.
I'm wondering, is it actually possible🤷 for someone to have been poisoned, like this alternative healer (an elderly woman who uses bioenergy and things like that) claimed?
Also, what actually triggers schizophrenia, and what does "residual" specifically mean in a clinical sense? 😕
Thanks.

Residual schizophrenia is basically what happens when the illness... eats away at your brain over a long period of time.😬 Like, if you've been battling it for 20 or 30 years, you end up slowed down, emotionally blunt, pretty much wiped out. As for what triggers schizophrenia in the first place, science hasn't quite cracked that code yet.

As for that poisoning theory... honestly, it sounds a bit shaky to me, but hey, if the guy is better, then whatever works, works.

Larry Lewis said:They’re both so young—it’s that classic youthful arrogance, really—thinking they can just breeze right off their medication. It seems to me that because they haven't lived through enough cycles yet, they still fundamentally misunderstand what illness actually is. They view it as some sort of personal flaw, a failure of character, rather than a biological reality. They harbor this misguided fantasy that if they just stop taking their pills, life will suddenly transform into some cinematic masterpiece where they are all strong, capable, and brilliant overnight. It's pure naivety. There is no magical "golden future" waiting for us on the other side, whether you're medicated or not; life remains life, regardless of your chemistry.

And look, it’s always gonna be this way until society finally stops acting like mental illness is some kind of moral failing and starts treating it like any other medical issue. I mean, seriously—if you lose a leg, people feel for you and offer help, right? But if you've got schizophrenia, people just steer clear because they think you aren't "tough enough" to keep your head straight. It's a joke.

Kevin Nguyen3 said:But isn't the kicker right there in those two little words... "most"?
I've been on the Associated Press meds for ages upon ages, and have I gained an ounce? Not a single one... or maybe just a tiny bit, who can say?😁
Breaking a bad habit is such an uphill battle, isn't it? And let's be honest, our diet is one of those hardest ones to fix.

You didn't stay thin because you're eating less—it's just that most patients eventually cave once those APs kick in and the hunger hits them like a freight train.

Kevin Nguyen3 said:Less depression, more laughter.
They say laughter is medicine, right? Because when you're laughing, you simply can't feel fear. Who knows...
As for the appetite, that's really just a matter of habit. You aren't inherently hungrier because of a pill... a little self-control and everything will be fine.
At least things are better for someone...😉
Take care.🙂

almost every antipsychotic out there is going to spike your appetite

Eric Mitchell55 said:Man, I really feel that.
I'll get there too—stripping everything back when the time is right.

Just please, don't go trying to play doctor on your own 🙂, because if that sickness decides to crawl back in, it’s gonna hit you way harder than it did the first time around.

Harold Anderson3 said:Thanks for all the input!!
My son never had those delusions about being followed or someone orchestrating his future. He used to hang out with friends like any normal kid. The fears he actually dealt with were based in reality. After that first traumatic stay in the hospital, he felt totally cornered by the doctors. He lived in constant dread that the cops would just swoop in and haul him back to the psych ward. As a parent, I think that kind of fear is actually pretty understandable. One time, a private psychologist told me he’d love to meet someone who *wasn't* terrified after going through what my son went through—something the psychiatrists dismissed as paranoia. He wasn't scared of spies or conspiracies... his anxiety was tied to the treatment itself and how he was being handled. He’d wake up in the middle of the night screaming, "Let me go, I didn't do anything wrong."
The voices started showing up after he got the Risperdal injections, and they haven't stopped since. They're always negative, telling him he's useless, that he's a failure, that he won't amount to anything in life... you know the drill.
What I really wish we could do is get him into a long-term observation program at a compassionate clinic, but honestly, I don't think places like that even exist to help figure out what caused this versus what happened later.

Thanks for all the input!!
My son never had those delusions about being followed or someone orchestrating his future. He used to hang out with friends like any normal kid. The fears he actually dealt with were based in reality. After that first traumatic stay in the hospital, he felt totally cornered by the doctors. He lived in constant dread that the cops would just swoop in and haul him back to the psych ward. As a parent, I think that kind of fear is actually pretty understandable. One time, a private psychologist told me he’d love to meet someone who *wasn't* terrified after going through what my son went through—something the psychiatrists dismissed as paranoia. He wasn't scared of spies or conspiracies... his anxiety was tied to the treatment itself and how he was being handled. He’d wake up in the middle of the night screaming, "Let me go, I didn't do anything wrong."
The voices started showing up after he got the Risperdal injections, and they haven't stopped since. They're always negative, telling him he's useless, that he's a failure, that he won't amount to anything in life... you know the drill.
What I really wish we could do is get him into a long-term observation program at a compassionate clinic, but honestly, I don't think places like that even exist to help figure out what caused this versus what happened later.
You see, I'm also on risperidone—which is called Risperdal here in the States—and it’s honestly been my lifeline. I've been on it for four years now, getting an injection every two weeks; I started at 50 mg, moved down to 37.5 mg, and I'm at 25 mg now, and I haven't missed a single dose in all that time. Personally, I find it hard to believe that the medication itself causes hallucinations; it's more likely that if there were hallucinations, they were already present and just didn't subside because of the meds. Maybe seeking care at a private clinic might offer better options; in our experience, private care is often a significant step up from the public system, and I imagine that gap is probably even wider over in your neck of the woods.
You see, I'm also on risperidone—which is called Risperdal here in the States—and it’s honestly been my lifeline. I've been on it for four years now, getting an injection every two weeks; I started at 50 mg, moved down to 37.5 mg, and I'm at 25 mg now, and I haven't missed a single dose in all that time. Personally, I find it hard to believe that the medication itself causes hallucinations; it's more likely that if there were hallucinations, they were already present and just didn't subside because of the meds. Maybe seeking care at a private clinic might offer better options; in our experience, private care is often a significant step up from the public system, and I imagine that gap is probably even wider over in your neck of the woods.
Risperdal is basically a garbage medication overall

It turns my head into a spinning top—seriously, 180 degrees—and girls sometimes don't even get their period, while guys? Yeah, "down there" stops working entirely. They usually only throw this stuff at patients who aren't responding to the newer, more modern meds. Honestly, I wouldn't even be shocked if it caused hallucinations as a side effect.
All those old-school drugs are just straight-up disasters.

That’s just how it goes in this brand of liberal capitalism—where the government won't lift a finger to fund anything remotely social or community-oriented. 👎 I mean, seriously, getting fired just because you were hospitalized? That’s absolutely monstrous. 👎 Damn this whole Western way of life; you’re basically treated like nothing more than a machine designed to churn out cash and nothing else. 👎 If there’s one silver lining, I guess it’s being glad I'm here in the States, because back when I was in a facility in Chicago, they actually treated me like a decent human being—like a gentleman, even.

briskcyclist40, does your son ever get these ideas that people are following him, or that everyone around him is out to get him—like everything is staged against him and stuff? Honestly, looking back at your posts, I haven't seen anything that screams paranoid schizophrenia to me. Aggression can stem from a hundred different things; it doesn't automatically mean he's dealing with psychosis.

Man, I finally managed to hunt down some decent Wi-Fi while hanging out by the coast 🙂