Dana Brooks3 said:What actually causes schizophrenia... to me, it feels like asking what makes a person human in the first place...
Even for older patients around age 50, it's really just a chemical imbalance. It’s a progressive disease that can't be cured... depending on the type, it permanently erodes someone's personality. I'm no expert, but I don't think there's a simple answer to this... A chemical imbalance could be both the cause and the result. Medication is definitely necessary during acute phases when there’s simply no other way to stabilize a patient... I used to believe that all mental health issues were just chemical imbalances that needed to be treated like any other physical ailment. That doctor's perspective—that diabetics have to live with insulin forever—really shapes how we view these things... It’s not that simple. Even with medication, results vary so much from one person to the next. What I really want to figure out is how to preserve someone's actual personality... before we just focus on keeping their body functioning like everything is normal... I believe in healing too. A combined approach... medication paired with psychotherapy. Any quality, proven system that allows for continuous self-work to master the underlying mechanisms of the mind... I really think we need to focus more on studying the brain—not just how it functions biologically, but how it shapes the psyche... The soul and body are inextricably linked. No medication on earth can fix what an emotional breakdown does to you... There isn't a formula out there that could ever explain it...
I've been working on this post for ages, but I just deleted it because I started rambling with too many examples... it was getting out of hand... It’s worth noting that in certain spiritual traditions, like those found in old monastic orders, there are accounts of people having truly terrifying experiences. We’re talking hallucinations, visual and auditory disturbances, intrusive thoughts—all the classic symptoms we’d categorize today as schizophrenia or similar conditions. But back then, they had specific methods to find calm and clarity... and those individuals went on to live peaceful, healthy lives. I mention this because I know a young man who didn't head to a doctor when he hit his worst psychotic break. Instead, he worked through it using a different, more systematic approach. He shared his experience with me while I was convinced he’d end up in a psychiatric ward—especially seeing him struggling on the floor, making these haunting sounds that didn't even seem to come from his own throat. He wasn't afraid, though. He just told me that if he ever lost control completely, there were specific places he needed to be taken. He viewed it as a common part of the journey for some people. It took a long time, but he managed to pull through without taking any medication. To be clear, I am not suggesting anyone stop their prescriptions or blindly dive into a "struggle" thinking they can handle it all alone. Most patients shouldn't try that. I just want to say that there might be something more out there...
I'm not saying that every struggle with mental health is some profound spiritual journey leading toward enlightenment... or someone else's Calvary...
We should view every illness, whether physical or mental, as a trial designed to test our strength and resilience. These struggles aren't just random things that happen to us from the outside; they are rooted within us, often passed down through our families. To truly heal, we have to face them head-on... because it's only through this process that we actually get to know ourselves. Only we have the power to untangle these issues, master them, or learn how to live alongside them...
I went off track again. So, medication? Sure. As a tool... But the real key is understanding how the mind actually works—its underlying mechanics. Once you get that, you can apply techniques to actually solve these issues for good. Also, maybe one day we’ll design a pill that shifts our intelligence exactly how we want (just like drugs mess with consciousness), but you can essentially boil our entire lived experience down to chemistry. Theoretically, you could design a pill for every single thing that messes with our mental state or emotions. But you still have to live life.
Anyway, I'm all over the place. I rambled through a million introductions because I didn't want anyone to misunderstand my point, but we could go on forever about psychology and personal anecdotes... it would be way too long. I just tried to pull out the main points and shift the focus to certain things.
Here blue bird, it isn't as scientific as I’d like it to be or as much as you probably expected😉 but that's my take on it in broad strokes.
We can keep filling them up😉
Dana Brooks3—thank you for putting in the effort,🙂 and I have to say, that's exactly how I see things too. I've actually cited the psychiatrist R.D. Laing before (he approaches this from an existentialist philosophical perspective), so I'll just share a bit of his core philosophy here:
He formulated the view that madness was an attempt by the person to spontaneously cure themselves of the maddening situations in which they had to live, and that as such it was a natural healing process which ought to be facilitated to run its course rather than be arrested, blocked and forever suspended by forcibly feeding psycho-pharmacological concoctions to such people and locking them up in ‘mental hospitals’ in a process of degradation![
Gregory Young3 said:It’s definitely a chemical imbalance. I was actually watching a documentary on mental health disorders just the other day. The current medical consensus is moving toward the idea that all mental health issues are essentially just different degrees of chemical imbalances. Schizophrenia, for instance, would be considered one of the most severe levels. Before that, you have things like bipolar disorder—though there are a thousand different ways to categorize them now. But that's the general idea.
By the way, I'm not sure if anyone caught that show hosted by Mirjana Rakić. They were discussing the link between THC (marijuana use) and schizophrenia, specifically psychosis. They mentioned that for people with a certain predisposition—especially teenagers—it can cause permanent changes in the brain because THC affects serotonin and those neural pathways.
Exactly. Nowadays, everything from bipolar disorder to depression is increasingly being labeled as a "brain disease." But—unless we're talking about an actual physical lesion, a tumor, or some other organic issue—what is it that actually triggers that chemical shift in the first place?
There’s such a massive surge in neurosis and psychosis globally right now, and it feels like it's happening hand-in-hand with how isolated and stressed everyone has become...😕
Tell me, Dana Brooks3, based on how you write—I get the feeling you might even work in this field professionally—what do you think are the actual triggers for schizophrenia?
Specifically, do you believe (as much as modern medicine suggests) that this condition is strictly a brain disorder? Like, just a simple chemical imbalance that's treated almost entirely with medication?
briskgull27 said:When describing how Bleuer ended up with that nickname, he refers to a hypothetical illness called Schizophrenia.
By the way, I have to give props to that Japanese macrobiotist for what he’s achieved—he can talk about aliens all he wants. Honestly, seeing that kind of lifelong energy and dedication is just beautiful. But then you jump over to the politics section of this forum and run into people who make you wonder if you've wandered into the Twilight Zone.
No need to even wonder—it's definitely the Twilight Zone...🤣
I've been thinking about how we approach these kinds of shifts in our daily routines. It’s much like when you decide to switch from a local coffee shop to a massive chain like Starbucks—suddenly, everything feels different, even if the caffeine hit is the same. You have to adjust to a new rhythm. I feel like we often overlook those small, incremental changes that eventually lead to a total overhaul of how we operate. It’s less like a sudden lightning strike and more like the slow tide coming in at Malibu; you don't notice the water rising until your feet are already wet. We need to be more mindful of those subtle transitions. kaže: Brenda Cook4, you’re going to make me weep! Honestly, I feel like my entire perspective has shifted. I finally have all the proof I need to see the world through a completely different lens.😳
Forget all those "official documents"—if you ask me, they don't mean a thing. What I’m seeing here is a highly vibrant, genuinely intelligent personality who clearly has a lot to contribute. Honestly, I’m just eager to hear what she actually thinks.😘
A little bit of Alan Watts here... I really liked this part.🙂
Nowadays, in the United States specifically, having a non-standard state of consciousness is treated as a serious form of heresy. It isn't even so much about holding "weird" opinions; it’s more about having a type of experience that simply doesn't align with the "normal" way of perceiving things.
And just as Ronald Reagan once noted, we are conditioned to understand which experiences are considered acceptable, much like how we are taught which gestures, manners, or social behaviors are deemed appropriate and polite.
So, if someone happens to have these so-called "unusual" experiences—and they try to talk about them, because let's face it, humans naturally want to share what they're feeling—they end up getting some very strange looks. People tend to lean in and ask, "Are you doing okay?"
It’s because people get genuinely uneasy when they realize they're standing next to someone who is perceiving reality through a completely different lens than their own.
They start questioning whether that person is even truly human. On the surface, they look perfectly normal, but because their internal experience is so foreign, you find yourself wondering if they actually belong to the same species.
It gives you that... that specific kind of gut-wrenching, unsettled feeling. It's like meeting a stunningly beautiful woman, dressed in the most elegant gown, but then, as she reaches out to shake your hand, she pulls off her glove and you find yourself grasping the talons of a massive hawk. Pretty unsettling, right? The Value of Psychotic Experience
Buddha koans really are a fantastic way to give your brain a bit of a "stretch" in a totally different direction.
Beyond just focusing directly on the koan itself—you have to let it go. Think of it like dropping a pebble into a pond; you let it sink into your subconscious and just settle there for a while... letting it shift around until we see what eventually surfaces.
Every answer carries its own weight...
Take this specific goose koan, for example: nobody actually specified what kind of bottle we're talking about. For all we know, it could be a rubber bottle😁 that’s incredibly stretchy... whatever... though personally, I find the most compelling part (as I've mentioned before) is how much it comes down to pure perception...😁
1. a = b + 1 2. (a-b)a = (a-b)(b+1) 3. a² - ab = ab + a - b² - b 4. a² - ab - a = ab + a - a - b² - b 5. a(a - b - 1) = b(a - b - 1) 6. a = b 6. 7. b + 1 = b 8. ergo, 1 = 0😁
Or just a bit more mathematical sophistry (just kidding, watch out 😁 )
It could even be that 0=2
Proof: 0 = 2
1. a = b 2. a - b - 2 = a - b - 2 3. a(a - b - 2) = b(a - b - 2) 4. a² - ab - 2a = ab - b² - 2b 5. a² - ab = ab - b² - 2b + 2a 6. a² - ab = ab + 2a - b² - 2b 7. a(a - b) = a(b + 2) - b(b + 2) 8. a(a - b) = (a - b)(b + 2) 9. a = b + 2 10. b = b + 2 10 11. Therefore, by the subtraction property of 0 = 2😁
While in the West we tend to view ontological commitment as nothing more than an intellectual puzzle—basically just deciding which metaphysical boxes to check—Zen sees it differently. To Zen, even obsessing over these categories is just another form of attachment. It’s when we let our inner peace hinge on how well we can categorize the world around us.Moving past the need to cling to these theoretical frameworks is actually a vital step toward spiritual transcendence.
Here’s a really fascinating blog I stumbled upon. It was written by someone who lived through a long struggle with schizophrenia... if you scroll all the way down, there is so much detail about the illness itself—medications, periods of remission, potential causes, and his own condensed yet deep personal history. He’s been updating this since '97, so it’s a goldmine if you're interested.
The blogger himself even puts a face to the words here...
briskgull27 said:Honestly, my hands ache a bit, my back feels numb, there’s this stinging under my ribs, and this chest pressure that comes and goes. Other than that, I'm fine. Since I tend to be a bit too thorough, I always end up feeling terrible whenever someone asks how I'm doing. I just can't seem to find the right way to say it.
How are you doing?
Look, I didn't ask just to be polite or go through the motions😘 so I really do expect an honest answer: how are you feeling at this very moment?😁
That chest pressure sounds truly miserable—it's like carrying the weight of the whole world on your shoulders, making it impossible to catch your breath... but, hey, look at the weather outside—it is absolutely gorgeous!
Johnson & Johnson (the folks behind certain schizophrenia treatments) put together this incredible multimedia simulation. It actually lets you experience what it’s like to see and hear the world through the eyes—and ears—of someone living with schizophrenia.
briskgull27 said:Hey everyone, I really meant well, but honestly, I'm feeling a bit too much pressure to live up to this whole "briskgull27" persona. Just so you know, my handle actually comes from that Elton John song in the Moses cartoon. 🙂 🙂 👋 👋 👋
Is that you? Don't worry, there’s no big dramatic exit or anything just yet.😘
I just finished reading that bit about the breakfast burritos, and honestly, I was laughing until I cried... I’m definitely going to bring it up during our serious debate tomorrow 😘 because it really is such a great topic.
I see you've been popping up everywhere lately—I really need to sit down and catch up on everything you've posted.
But you clearly aren't sleeping! Look, I can tell you're doing great, but please, just take care of yourself. 😘
briskgull27 said:haha, what's the point of sleeping when I'm feeling this good in the middle of the night? The smell of cookies baking and laundry hanging up... honestly, pure bliss. Man, I just swung straight from mania right into depression, and now the pain has migrated. It moved from my lungs down to my back and heart. I deal with all those psychosomatic headaches and nonsense. Oh, and if things get any worse, I might just pass out. No sleep for me tomorrow, either.🙄 I’ll probably have to ask my husband who paid him to stick around me—he won't give me a straight answer! Why aren't you sleeping?
I've definitely been overdoing it the last few days... though honestly, I rarely get more than five hours of sleep anyway...🙏
You hit the nail on the head there—whenever something hits me hard, I immediately feel it in my bones and my neck.