James Allen6 said:George, I have just one question. I struggle with anxiety, and since I'm right at the beginning of this battle, I'm wondering if these kinds of disorders can actually be fully overcome... in other words, is there any real hope that I might become my old self again? You mention that you are recovered, so does that mean you don't deal with any of these issues at all anymore?
thanks 🙂
YES. Anxiety, F-16, if I remember correctly? It is a completely curable mental disorder. You can definitely move past it, but you have to put in the work, stay determined, and learn to accept things as they are. Educate yourself as much as possible—though, if you want real progress, try getting your info from professionals rather than just random internet forums. If you do that, within a year or two, the symptoms will be gone. The FBI, anxiety, phobias, depression—these are all entirely treatable conditions. It isn't some incurable sentence like schizophrenia or something similar (though, give it thirty years and I bet even that will be curable).
I don't know. Honestly, I’d just say go see $67 every two weeks and head over to the Bauers' place in downtown Chicago to see Dr. House. He can handle your psychotherapy and manage the prescriptions you'll need for the next few years, and after that, all these symptoms should finally settle down. Half of what you wrote hits home for me because I did exactly what I'm suggesting. Then again, I get it—taking that first step is never easy. It's easy for me to sit here and talk like this now that I'm on the other side of the disorder; everything looks so straightforward in hindsight. I actually find myself wondering why I didn't just start treatment sooner. It isn't some grand, unique tragedy; you have OCD, maybe some dysthymia or anxiety, and you just need something like Prozac to balance out the chemistry between certain receptors in your brain. I spent my entire life struggling with this from age 14 until I was 21 before I finally made the call to get help, and now, I'm cured.
"Happiness is all well and good, but there’s a certain beauty in a lonely tear."
....My old mother followed me out into the countryside, watching my every move, though she couldn't possibly have known what I was gathering deep inside my soul, or why I hadn't said a word to her yesterday; we had so much we wanted to pour out to one another, but in the end, it all just slipped our minds...
My setlist shifts constantly from one week to the next. This week, for instance, I’m kicking things off with Marina Perazić hits—stuff like "Kolačići," "Eni Traži Dečka," and "Srce Nije Kamen"—plus some "Zovem Da Ti Čujem Glas." Honestly, I've played so much Valjko, Gibonni, and Oliver that I'm completely burnt out on them, not to mention all that Azra stuff. I used to just loop their tracks on repeat back in the day, but now? I can't stand it.
Honestly, it would be a lot better if we all spent a little less time hanging out on these message boards and instead headed out into the great outdoors to actually get some damn healing done.
Yes, it’s true—verified, actually—a specialist from Restek over at St. John's Parish, tenth department, told me herself.
As if she has any real authority; most conventional scientists don't even have half of it. There isn't some single "schizophrenia gene" that causes the condition. There are genes *associated* with it, but that is an entirely different matter altogether. I’ve heard all sorts of things on TV, but people claiming they'll just find a specific gene and "fix" it—as if we can just tweak a sequence and call it a day—clearly haven't kept up with recent research. Even older studies that challenge this rather clumsy paradigm seem to be ignored by them.
The reality is that our biology—and we as humans in general—isn't governed solely by our genes. Genes are merely a record, a kind of memory, not the brain itself. In a cell, the membrane functions as the brain; and—not to get too technical here, as I'm currently translating a book on the subject and wouldn't be able to explain it clearly anyway—that's the gist of it.
A cure for schizophrenia will be found through other means—once the existence of the soul is scientifically validated—and it won't involve pills or genetic tinkering.
By the way, there is already experimentation underway with therapies meant to replace electroconvulsive therapy (electroshock). They are using non-invasive methods—instead of direct current, they use specific electromagnetic waves that achieve the same effect.
It honestly frustrates me how many scientists remain so narrow-minded and rigid—though they’d never admit it, and rarely even realize it—much like religious fundamentalists. Their stubbornness and obsession with proving their own preconceived notions really slows everything down; it prevents the development of medical methods that could actually help people. For instance, anything involving energy-based methods is practically ignored, placebos aren't properly studied, and anything non-material is dismissed entirely. Well, if this nonsense continues much longer, I'm just glad I won't have to deal with it for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I messed up a little myself. I was admitted to psychiatric wards twice, and looking back, those experiences happened while I was on heavy medication, so I probably didn't process everything perfectly. Regardless, Dr. Smith probably doesn't know much of anything. Maybe I just misunderstood what I heard.
Melissa Rivera5 said:DISCLAIMER This is strictly a theoretical discussion. I’m not trying to promote racism, sexism, or any of that other stuff. I'm just curious...
POINT IS So, I was thinking, maybe Hitler wasn't totally off base. Like, looking at people living with Down syndrome today, or those with severe disabilities and terminal illnesses... they aren't really contributing anything positive to society. Honestly, they just end up draining resources that we never see a return on. Don't you think forced euthanasia might actually be better for everyone in those cases? Let's try to look at this from both an individual and a group perspective—and let's try to stay STRICTLY logical here, instead of getting all emotional. From a group standpoint, it would probably be better to have fewer "weak links" due to bad DNA, but from an individual's view, I guess it's a ? maybe significant? crime.
....they don't actually contribute anything positive to society....
They don't even have to.
Just live your life and let everyone else live theirs, whether they happen to be serial killers, rapists, the disabled, or just people like you and me spending a few hours a day typing away on Reddit. You aren't God, and it isn't your place to decide who lives or dies.
briskgull27 said:To be completely honest, if they discover a definitive CURE before I pass away, I’ll die a very happy old woman.
BTW, it doesn't even have to be a pill—it could be a laser treatment, who knows? Or maybe just some tree bark, haha.
In forty or fifty years, all the mental disorders we recognize today will probably be gone. It won't be lasers, tree bark, or pills; instead, they'll just reprogram the brain or edit out the specific gene causing the illness entirely. Yeah, it's true—I heard it straight from Dr. Restek over at the neurology department at St. John's Parish.
But you can go screw yourself until then; by the time it happens, you'll be seventy and finally "cured," only to end up in a cemetery where Life SUCKS.
Back in my day, I was so deep into the party scene that I’d actually sit there and count, tracking every single session—sometimes hitting five rounds of edging before finally reaching the finish line, which added up to hundreds of times over the course of those wild nights.
So, who among you actually deals with schizophrenia—I mean, who has an actual diagnosis and has spent time in a psychiatric ward? What does that really look like for you? Are we talking visual and auditory hallucinations, or maybe losing your sense of self entirely? I remember watching *A Beautiful Mind* and wondering how much of that was reality. If anyone here is actually living through this, I’d appreciate it if you could explain what the struggle actually feels like.
What can I really tell you? Who actually has the willpower, the drive, or enough life force left to go out and try to heal from this garbage? Then there are those who are so completely broken that even making it to a doctor feels like an impossible task. What am I supposed to offer? I’d love to help, but I see some people have already lost the will to even fight for recovery. You know that concept of Stockholm syndrome? It’s when a victim eventually starts feeling a connection to their aggressor, almost coming to love the very situation they're trapped in—like during a kidnapping. In this context, it’s like depression or OCD; a person just accepts their condition as part of their identity. They might even reach a point where they can't imagine life without the illness. It crawls under your skin until you start loving it, and then you're left wondering what you'd even do with yourself if it were ever gone.
Anyway, someone mentioned Prozac on this thread. How does it actually work? And do you need a prescription for it?
Prozac isn't something you just pick up at a CVS for $6.75......I mean, come on, you know how this works. You can't just grab it off a shelf; you obviously need a prescription from a professional, like a psychiatrist. If you're dealing with OCD, that's likely what they'd put you on, and honestly, it’s incredibly effective at managing those symptoms.
But hey, wanderingbadger51, why bother with all that when you could just smoke three joints a day, knock back a few shots of whiskey, and just LISTEN TO MUSIC? It makes everything feel irrelevant. Depression, anxiety, obsessive tendencies—it all fades. By the way, everything is technically "curable," but people go through life with much heavier disorders every single day. Why reject medication and professional help that could legitimately raise your quality of life and clear out the mental clutter?
-everything I do has to be repeated five times over. -if I turn up the volume on my Sony TV, I have to hit specific increments: 3, 5, 8, 12, 15, 18, 23, 25, then 28. -the ticking of a clock, running water, teeth grinding, someone tapping on their iPhone, people talking while I’m trying to sleep, or the TV being too loud... it all gets under my skin. -I feel this constant urge to count everything in my line of sight. -when I'm walking down the sidewalk, I can't step on the cracks. -even when I'm driving, I find myself worrying about how my feet cross those lines. -everything has to be organized according to my own rigid set of rules. -almost everything irritates me. -I have to wash my hair every single day because I just can't shake the feeling of being dirty. -the sound of someone mumbling, chewing gum loudly, playing with their nails, filing them, or even just spitting. -or if someone bites their lip. -everything has to be perfectly arranged, otherwise, I can't even stand to be in the room. -I don't throw anything away; I date everything and tuck it into a box.
God damn it, I can't believe I'm swearing like this on Easter Monday.
Read back what you wrote; that sounds like a serious struggle. Doesn't it make it impossible to live a normal life? The counting happens because your brain chemistry is off—probably some imbalance with serotonin or whatever. Prozac is a solid option for treating OCD. I've dealt with this crap myself, so I know a few things. These disorders often overlap; if you aren't ready to go see a psychiatrist, you might be dealing with depression, or if you're too anxious to even ask for a referral, you're likely looking at anxiety or social phobia too.
You really should talk to a professional to get this sorted out. What's so hard about taking a Prozac before bed? The side effects won't mess with your job or your studies. There aren't many. For me, the only issue was a drop in libido—basically, nothing was working for two weeks.
There’s a million other things I can’t seem to shake, and it’s honestly exhausting... it’s been going on for years now. Some people tell me it’ll eventually taper off, but man, it feels like it’s just getting worse.
heh, and who’s actually going to help me? medication and a psychiatrist are completely out of the question...
Then go screw yourself. Seriously, keep counting everything until you finally lose your mind. I’m kidding. I deal with OCD too—well, I used to. I was exactly like you, counting everything in multiples of five. Finally "met" another human being who counts everything up to five. What’s weighing on you so heavily that you won't even try a couple of Prozacs a day? If you stick with it for a few months, the symptoms will almost certainly dial back. For what it's worth, I was crushing three Prozacs a day for a year, but it was worth it; I don't feel the need to count everything anymore, and I don't have this obsession with everything being perfectly symmetrical. Besides, the side effects from the meds aren't even that bad.