Posts by David Vaughn75

Noah Garcia4 said:Right, because clearly, we’d all just be chained to stone walls like people were 300 years ago. I get it.

🤦I keep running into people who claim they've "healed" themselves while still popping daily meds.

What can I say? Even my antidepressants barely touch the surface, yet this condition is chronic and stays with me for good. 🙂

Look, sure, a clean, organized life is supposed to be the "cure," but how is that even possible when you've got millions of people out of work and everyone else is drowning in massive mortgage debt just to keep a roof over their heads? It's a joke—nothing actually helps. 😢

Larry Lewis said:Teddy, man, I really hope you make a full recovery—I honestly have a feeling you will.

Given that it’s been five years since the absolute worst of it, things really ought to be looking up by now. I was actually talking to a friend today—she was suggesting I switch up some of my medications—and honestly, I feel like I have nothing left to lose. I just want to live a normal life for once, if you catch my drift. It's exhausting.
These damn symptoms... they just won't quit. It's a mess.
I've been dealing with this illness for so long, yet I feel like I've barely even scratched the surface of what it can do... maybe 20%? It’s unbelievable.

Thanks for the kind words. 👍

I'm doing great regarding the psychosis stuff, but man, the lack of motivation is hitting hard—I just can't bring myself to do anything. Part of me wants to just head down to the Gulf, catch twenty pounds of tuna, flirt with some tourists, and then, once I've finally recharged my batteries, dive headfirst back into real life.☕

Noah Garcia4 said:Just get married and find a job eventually, maybe once you're feeling a bit more stable.
If things aren't hitting a breaking point right this second, just move forward. Personally, I’ve been through two marriages, which isn't exactly a certificate of sanity; if anything, it was pure madness.
Now, I'm just looking for "friends."🤣

And I am working, sort of. I could certainly be doing more, but time is plenty; as long as I'm okay with myself, that's what matters.😉

The way I see it, it’s better to just be upfront about your health before someone else starts gossiping about it behind your back. ☕
Everyone gives that well-meaning advice to keep everything under wraps, but that's total bullshit. People always find out.

I was recently stuck in the hospital, so everything is still pretty raw and fresh in my mind.

But once I get back from my trip to the coast, I'll be hunting for work. 👍

Larry Lewis said:Turning aggression into something "useful" is easier said than done—it's a monumental task. Sure, you can suppress it with twenty pushups or... well, a few other private distractions, but that isn't "useful," and it certainly doesn't break any stigmas. You've actually given me something to chew on here... hmm.

Don't go copying anyone. You're at your best just being exactly who you are—good in bed, a little bit "off" in the head, and infinitely more interesting than 80% of those superficial types who only come out of hiding when the weather gets warm.

David Vaughn75: People who don't realize I'm schizo tend to smile at me; they find me interesting, both guys and girls. But the ones who actually *know* me... most of them keep me at arm's length.

I remember this one guy who killed a taxi driver, and the moment he got out of the psych ward, my crowd flocked to him—while I was treated like I didn't even exist.

Personally, I think the answer lies in love, but even that isn't a total cure—heaven knows it can bury you alive if you aren't careful—so I just watch beautiful women from a distance and deal with my mental baggage. God, what a mess.

That’s why I haven’t told most people about my diagnosis.

But man, there’s a dark side to keeping that under wraps.
I constantly have to spin these elaborate lies just to explain why I'm unemployed or why I'm not settling down and getting married...

Honestly, giving someone a reward works way better than just slapping them with a penalty

Larry Lewis said:Sure, but let’s be real—people with schizophrenia tend to push away anyone remotely "normal" because, frankly, they find us bizarre. And from their perspective, we aren't exactly saints either; we're out here cheating on our partners with random strangers, hitting up the local dive bar for cheap beers every single night, and dealing with all sorts of questionable substances.

They think we're freaks just because they already know the diagnosis is coming down the pipe.
If they actually hung out with you without knowing anything about it, they'd probably just think you're a regular, sane person.

The whole suggestion thing is total BS. 👎

Larry Lewis said:I totally get where you're coming from regarding trying to socialize with "normal" people—honestly, half the time I can't even wrap my head around them. And once I realize I'm just staring at them in confusion, I usually just tune out entirely and start scanning the local pub for some attractive women just to give my eyes a break from all those mundane, half-drunk faces.
It’s not like you’ve descended into schizophrenia or anything; it’s just that the whole vibe was grating on you, and you couldn't stand it.
Take me, for instance—I can manage maybe two or three sentences with a "normal" person before my mind starts drifting off into a daydream about... well, let's just say more shapely figures (it’s a tactical maneuver I developed to combat my own social anxiety)

Whenever I spot a guy who is significantly better looking than I am, I lose my grip—I either spiral into a deep depression or, occasionally, I just get straight-up aggressive.

If you ask me, there’s a very clear distinction between being high-strung and actually having a mental illness: you’re just nervous if you haven't had sex in a month or two, but you’re clinically unwell if it's been months or even years. That’s why they say people with real issues make the best lovers. Didn't you know that? It’s a scientific fact, really.

I’m loving the flow of this thread so far.
First I’m supposed to be some kind of genius, and now suddenly I’m a pro in the bedroom—talk about a wild pivot. 🤣

On-topic: what’s the harm in hanging out with folks dealing with schizophrenia?
I mean, as long as they haven't totally lost their grip on reality, you can actually have a pretty decent time with them.

Noah Garcia4 said:I actually heard this back before I lost my mind—that the truly insane people are often brilliant, which is probably exactly why they ended up that way.🙂 🤣 ☕

Man, I feel that. Can't exactly sit here and claim I'm not a genius myself while I'm spiraling, right? 🥳

Noah Garcia4 said:Alright, that’s it—I’m retiring terms like schizophrenic, stupid, crazy, psychotic, or disordered. From here on out, I'm just using the word "sick." 🙂

Honestly, we're all just acting like total morons. 🤣😂😁

Noah Garcia4 said:I was under the impression that any significant event effectively rewires your brain chemistry.

Look, what I was trying to get at is that science still hasn't actually pinned down the exact trigger for psychosis

We all know there's a genetic component—it runs in families—and obviously, massive stress spikes the odds, but the actual "why" behind the onset? That's still pretty much a giant question mark

Noah Garcia4 said:Alright, let’s play devil’s advocate for a second and assume we aren't looking at a genetic blueprint here, but rather some traumatic event—or maybe a cascade of them—that fundamentally shifted someone's brain chemistry.
In theory, if specific circumstances triggered this chemical imbalance, shouldn't we be able to use specific circumstances to steer that chemistry back toward a baseline?

We already know this works through psychotherapy when dealing with "neurotypical" individuals.
If someone is living under constant pressure, the logical fix is to lower the stress levels, right?
What I'm getting at is that our brain chemistry reacts to every single thing that happens to us. So why does schizophrenia seem to be such an irreversible sentence?

Stressful events might crank up the odds of sliding into psychosis, but they aren't the actual cause.

It's kind of like how having a bunch of different sexual partners increases your risk of catching an STI, but the behavior itself isn't the disease—the virus is what actually makes you sick.

Eric Gray2 said:Theoretically speaking—if just one parent has Sch, there's about a 10% chance the child will too. If both parents have it, that jumps up to nearly 50%.
Keep in mind that people living with Sch can be highly functional, so it really varies from person to person—it's hard to make broad strokes here.

Personally, I don't really support the idea of many "neurotypical" people having kids 🙄 but honestly, that’s just my own issue talking 😳 a highly functional person with Sch can actually be a great parent. They just need to be fully aware of the risk that their child might develop symptoms down the road.

Just to throw another thought in there—there isn't a single person on this planet who doesn't have at least one psychotic relative somewhere in their last seven generations. Basically, anyone could potentially have a child with psychosis.

Noah Garcia4 said:It’s one thing to deal with things that aren't actually there, 🧐

But honestly, what's really eating at me right now are these "negative symptoms."
The house is clean, dinner is made, and I’ve even managed to squeeze in a little workout this afternoon, yet I still feel like I'm failing. My psychiatrist actually sat me down and told me that just hitting the baseline isn't enough; I need to aim much higher.
Specifically, she pointed out that simply being free from hallucinations isn't the finish line.

(Schizophrenia is often categorized by its positive and negative (or deficit) symptoms.[17] Positive symptoms involve experiences that most people don't encounter under normal circumstances but are present in those living with schizophrenia. These can manifest as delusions, disorganized thinking or speech, and various sensory hallucinations—auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory—which are generally viewed as hallmarks of psychosis.[18] Hallucinations are frequently tied to the specific themes of a person's delusions.[19] Fortunately, positive symptoms usually respond quite well to medication.[19]

Negative symptoms represent a deficit in normal emotional responses or cognitive processes and tend to be more resistant to medication.[8] Common examples include a flattened or blunted affect, alogia (poverty of speech), anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure), asociality (a lack of drive to form social connections), and avolition (a lack of motivation). Research suggests that negative symptoms contribute more to poor quality of life, functional disability, and the burden on caregivers than do positive symptoms.[20] Often, individuals with significant negative symptoms have struggled with adjustment even before the illness fully surfaced, and their response to pharmacological treatment is frequently limited.[8][21])

And as a person, I feel stuck in this limbo. How am I supposed to just go back to being my old self after everything? Sure, I'm getting older and that takes its toll, but I feel like I've managed to hold onto about 80% of my actual personality. I can live with that. ☕
On a side note, I've noticed that exercising helps immensely. It’s almost like I get a shot of those "positive symptoms"—well, more like a burst of mania—that actually manages to lift my mood for a bit. ☕

Stop obsessing over the clinical symptoms of the disease and start focusing on the actual quality of your life.😉

I honestly don't think that weed was the actual cause—it was more like the spark that lit the fuse for whatever was already brewing deep in your subconscious

Noah Garcia4 said:Fine, I went ahead and deleted it. Honestly, I don't know; I'll fight for whatever battles are worth the effort, and if they aren't, then they aren't.
You'll make it happen. As they say, where there's a will, there's a way. 🧐

It's all about finding that sweet spot, you know? Finding that balance. 🧐

Noah Garcia4 said:I know exactly where you're coming from. I actually found myself sitting there in my psychiatrist's office, trying to explain that I’m not being aggressive enough. It sounds absurd when I say it out loud, but it’s the most honest thing I've said in a session. I don't know how else to put it, if you catch my drift.

It’s not even that I need to go out there and start picking fights, it’s just that I need to stop letting people walk all over me and actually fight for what's mine.

Noah Garcia4 said:Only in the bedroom. 😁

Oh, and by the way, yeah, I am aggressive. I mean it. There was this one poor guy on a forum once where I went so hard on his full name that if you searched him on Google, every single one of those posts would pop right up. Was that aggressive? Absolutely.
Was it crazy? Sure. Did he hold a grudge? You bet.
And did I eventually make things right with the moderators and work to get all that stuff scrubbed from the internet? I did.
So what's the big deal now? Nothing. 🥳

Honestly, if I were actually more aggressive, I probably would've gotten way further in life 😢

Noah Garcia4 said:I'm just saying,🙄

It's funny watching how aggressive people with certain mental health issues can get when they're online.🤣 🤣
though I suppose it makes sense when everything eventually hits you with a wave of depression.🧐

And honestly, I’m just wondering 🙄 why are you being so aggressive? 😁 😁

I don't know what to tell you guys—some people just live in a complete fantasy land. I’ve been watching this thread spin in circles for hours, and honestly, it’s exhausting. You’ve got people acting like everything is sunshine and rainbows when we all know how the real world works. It’s pretty much always a mess behind the curtain. Anyway, I’m just sitting here with my coffee, watching the chaos unfold. Some of you really need to wake up and smell the reality of the situation before you start making big promises you can't keep. It's the same old story every single time. kaže:
Honestly, I don't even have much to say—just the same old crap, different day, you know? Just spinning the wheels in the same rut like always.Just wanted to let you guys know I’m lurking and reading everything—I see you all.

Preach, brothers—you hit the nail right on the head.

Look, let’s be real for a second—we aren't just your average, run-of-the-mill crowd. We’re operating on a completely different level than the rest of the masses out there. 😬

Eric Mitchell55 said:I honestly feel like I have "schizophrenia" written in giant letters right across my forehead. It’s like everyone can see it.
Even the people who don't know a thing about it somehow seem to know everything.
Maybe I just smell bad, too, since people tend to give me a wide berth.
Who knows what the future holds...

Screw them, man—stick with us.😍