Honestly, I’m starting to think this whole "new" persona is just a projection—like, it's being manufactured specifically to "filter" things through this artificial identity...🙂
It’s like when you tell someone you actually enjoy being totally blunt... you know, like, way beyond what polite society usually tolerates. If you feel like you've been treated unfairly—and you truly believe it was an injustice—that frustration just spills out through some choice words...
That’s precisely what Laing is getting at... the idea that the root cause lies right in our own backyard... usually tied to family dynamics, simple misunderstandings, or deep-seated trauma...
Wouldn't psychotherapy actually be a huge asset here? I mean, the core issues don't just vanish, plus you have to deal with the threat of "stigma" and the weight of the stigma itself.🙄
briskgull27 said:I'd be perfectly happy settling for a solid 3 out of 5. How about you?
🙏 A 3 sounds pretty good to me.👍
Honestly, I play along and pretend everything is a 5 even when it isn't. 😁 ....basically, I'm just trying to reach some sort of Zen state where I can accept everything—the highs and the lows—with the exact same attitude. After all, life is just one big cycle of things shifting back and forth anyway.
* And regarding what you mentioned about your doctor suggesting antidepressants just to "make reality easier to handle"—man, wow. Just look at the sheer scale of it. Between the pills people pop, the recreational drug use, the endless cycle of uppers and downers... not to mention how intensely everyone stays busy just to cope... it's wild.😉
On the other hand, briskgull27 says they live for the internet, their computer, and a good cup of coffee—but maybe there’s a bit more to it than that. Perhaps, looking at it from another angle, even more openly we find ourselves talking than we ever would in real life.🙂
briskgull27 said:Honestly, dealing with family right now is enough to drive me absolutely insane. The worst part is when my period hits and my libido just goes through the roof. I actually ended up finishing once in a broken-down car while on vacation in Maui.... And if I had the cash, I’d smash this stupid computer—just like that jerk Kosti did to his phone—into pieces.🤣 Then I'd buy a brand new one that responds to voice commands instead of a keyboard. In fact, I’d set up a home system like the Voyager computer to take care of everything for me. I could just spend a whole year living inside the holodeck. Then, I'd step outside like Tom Green in Freddy getting fingered. And then immediately retreat back into the holodeck. You can see I'm truly losing it when I start preferring virtual reality over the real world.😘
You aren't crazy, so please don't tell yourself that.... Seriously, who actually enjoys visiting relatives, especially when you're on your period?
Just tell them that it doesn't work for you right now.😁
On the whole, I think you just need to force yourself—learn how to, or whatever you want to call it—to be HAPPILY INDIFFERENT toward anyone you feel is threatening your peace... because the more you push back against them, the more they're going to obsess over you and your "situation."
Though, honestly, maybe even with that intense urge to be blunt or talk about "taboo" topics, you're just trying to pull their attention back to yourself.... perhaps because you feel that they are somehow (regardless of the degree) responsible for what you're going through... for all this "injustice." But regardless, you're better off without that attention if they're only treating you like a "case study." That's why I say "happy indifference."...
briskgull27 said:Alright, first things first—let's talk about Aspirin. I don't quite follow—could you clarify what you mean by that? I want to make sure I'm on the right page before I jump in!Then there's the whole driving situation. I’d love to get back behind the wheel, but after that incident where I nearly took out my husband and mother-in-law, I'm stuck with a restricted license. Honestly, I just want to get away—somewhere far, like at least ten states away from here. 000 miles I’m trying to stay away from the computer during the winter months. Since that isn't really an option, I've been thinking about ways to stay connected online without being glued to a screen. It's a bit of a balancing act—trying to find something meaningful to dive into without letting the digital world take over my whole life. There are a few possibilities I'm weighing right now. 😁 😁 I was actually planning on heading over to AMC to catch Kill Bill, but since that’s not even an option right now, I think I'll just settle for grabbing a coffee instead. I’d love to just land a house out of thin air—you know, without having to wait for someone to pass away first. If I could just sell a place like that, I’d dump every cent into intensive physical rehab. It would honestly do wonders for my spirit. 🙂
Listen, sisters, I don't know about you, but I feel like nothing is quite clear right now.😁 🙏 Grab a cup of coffee and just start typing... write whatever's on your mind.
And this whole thing about working from home—I mean, come on, who wouldn't want that? Honestly, if it were up to me, I’d jump at the chance to boost my productivity right away!😍
Alright then—let’s dive in... how are you feeling right at this very moment?
Is there a bit of a tug-of-war going on inside? Like, a mix of feelings that might actually be contradicting each other?
What would bring you a sense of satisfaction or peace right now?
Is there anything specific weighing on you at this second—something acting as a distraction or a disturbance? Can you pin down exactly what that is, if something like that is present?
****** honestly, who can really say where that "healthy" baseline is supposed to be or even define what it looks like... I personally think it's all about finding a center point, just viewed through a slightly different lens....
briskgull27 said:My diagnosis changed back in 2000, right before I moved to Kansas City in 2001. So, it's a mix of schizoaffective and bipolar. That's why I'm on Lithium—ever heard of it? I've got a follow-up at the clinic in Kansas City tomorrow; I just can't deal with this anymore.🙂 🙂 🙂 The doctor is on call.
Oh, I've definitely heard of Lithium—but could you walk me through how it actually works?
Please don't be so down on yourself... life is tough, but you're such an open, smart, and soulful person, you know!😘 You really have the strength to push through all of this!
briskgull27 - I wanted to weigh in on that post of yours, the one where you mentioned inheriting that "wild streak" from your grandmother...
But look at it this way:
* You mentioned struggling with depression back when you were a teenager—honestly, so many kids go through that phase...
* Then you said you had to rely on medication—well, after losing your mother, who wouldn't? To be perfectly blunt, I can't even imagine how anyone could stay afloat without some kind of help during a time like that.
* And now, as you get older—it all seems more than reasonable to me.
briskgull27 said:Look, you're just clinging to those old habits because they remind you of your glory days or some ex you can't let go of. You're basically using smoke to cloud your vision so you don't have to face the real issues—like the fact that you aren't even eating enough. .................................................. ................. The truth is, you're overeating emotionally. You're starving for love, craving attention, and trying to swallow happiness whole instead of just grabbing a sandwich. Get it!!? Goodnight. 🙂
That’s what happens when you call the real causes a "conspiracy."
A person who's been misled is basically playing a game where the rules were rigged from the start. Because they're working with a flawed premise—even if they can't quite put their finger on why they feel so unsettled—they end up backed into a corner. To try and claw their way out of that trap, they often just double down on the very illusions that caught them in the first place.
I'm right there with you on this... mostly because I don't buy for a second that this kind of "madness" just drops out of thin air. It’s clearly a reaction to...
briskgull27 said:He’s definitely the one! The criteria? Honestly, you’ve gotta be completely out of touch with reality. So, let me get this straight: you get trashed, throw up everywhere, and then go ahead and smash your buddy's face in, and suddenly everything is just fine? Seriously? Look, if you go swinging at your own brother just because you've convinced yourself he’s some kind of extraterrestrial, you aren't exactly winning any awards for sanity.
The real question here is—what kind of defense mechanism is actually driving that kind of projection? It’s almost like a psychological survival tactic. Maybe it’s just how some people cope when they hit a wall; when certain truths become too heavy to carry, they project them outward instead. It’s like a way of "going crazy" just to navigate a situation they simply can't accept.
Statistics tell us one thing....it’s almost a certainty that in massive, bustling metropolitan areas—where stress levels are through the roof, life moves at breakneck speed, and people feel increasingly isolated from their families and support systems—mental health struggles tend to show up much more frequently.
When you look at developing nations with sprawling cities... I honestly don't know how much of this actually gets reported there, or what those percentages even look like.
But regardless of the specifics, everything keeps pointing back to the same conclusion: we aren't just dealing with some isolated "psychotic" individual who suddenly became "unusual" in a vacuum, completely detached from their surroundings.
There’s a massive overlap here with what we consider the "typical" population, especially since most research focuses on individuals with extensive histories of drug therapy. But here's the kicker: psychiatric journals haven't really dug deep enough into whether the medications themselves might actually be triggering these neurological changes.
That said, the data shows that a huge chunk of people experiencing a psychotic episode don't respond to meds at all. On top of that, a significant number of patients relapse even while staying on long-term prescriptions (clinical trials show relapse rates hover around 30%), and just like anyone else, they might exhibit antisocial behavior when they aren't in the middle of an active psychotic break.
Whether you call them "major tranquilizers," "neuroleptics," or "antipsychotics," these drugs are the backbone of schizophrenia treatment. They're marketed as targeted tools against delusions and hallucinations, but skeptics argue they work through much blunter means—essentially acting like a chemical lobotomy or a pharmacological straitjacket that shuts down all creative thinking.
We really need to revisit the absolute disgrace faced by the scientific community back in 1949 when Moinz was awarded the Nobel Prize for lobotomy (it's estimated over 50,000 people underwent the procedure in the USA, and in Japan, there were even suggestions at the time to lobotomize "troublesome" children...)
And look at this:
The Defeat Depression Campaign (DDC), which kicked off in 1992 was put together by the American Psychiatric Association in partnership with the American College of General Practitioners and backed by big pharma money. Their literature paints a picture where roughly 10% of the population struggles with depression at any given moment, one-third will face it at some point in their lives, and antidepressants are the go-to solution for anyone with moderate to severe symptoms. It feels like they're trying to claim that a huge portion of human misery is purely biological and can be "fixed" just as easily. The hype machine around the newer antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) hasn't been much better, with people claiming it can actually reshape your personality or improve your entire quality of life.
Then there's the fact that—I can't recall if it was Canada or a specific US state—a court actually managed to win a lawsuit banning forced medication.
briskgull27 In reality, I had an MRI and everything came back perfectly normal. So, does that mean I'm actually crazy because my brain is healthy?
Where is this global surge in depression and other mental health issues coming from? Maybe the real cause is the world around us—the madness we live in and our struggle to adapt to it. It seems like a deeply complex issue, yet it's so much easier to label it a bio-genetic disorder than to actually address social and family breakdowns. To me, the ideas proposed by Laing and his circle sound far more grounded than this current trend... Besides, isn't it obvious? We are being medicalized for almost everything nowadays. Who stands to profit from that?