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Posts by Brandon Lopez6

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Do you guys read private messages? in Feedback & Suggestions ·
Thanks.

As far as I'm concerned, you guys can just lock this. Honestly, if some guys want to keep talking about it, they should probably just start their own thread 😬.
Do you guys read private messages? in Feedback & Suggestions ·
Just putting this out there.
Since I don't really want to air my grievances publicly, I'm just trying to figure out if I'm being ghosted on purpose or if everyone's just busy 🥳.
Project: Find a Friend (Classifieds / Meetup Thread) in Psychology & Therapy ·
👋

Not sure how to kick this off without sounding like a total drama queen 🤔.

Female, 27, currently grinding to retake my SATs this June.

When I’m not scrolling through some random internet rabbit hole 😁.
On the days I'm not being a complete hermit, I like hanging out—honestly, the activity is secondary. It's more about having good company 😳.
Music-wise, I'm pretty open to anything new, though I always find myself circling back to classic American rock 🙂.

Agnostic, smoker, coffee addict, hater of injustice, politically unaffiliated, a walking encyclopedia of useless facts that only I find interesting, proud cat mom, and definitely not proud owner of a few medical diagnoses
.
Next week I'm heading in for a moderately serious surgery, followed by about three weeks of strict bed rest while I wait on biopsy results.
So.Much.Fun. 🙂

Kind of felt like I was just stuck in all of this alone. 🥱
( :2up: )
Even though I meant to cut down my screen time, what else am I supposed to do with these days?

So I figured I'd drop another post looking for someone to chat with 🙂.
Gender or location doesn't matter, but age-wise, I'd prefer we're in a similar ballpark—just like our post counts 😈. I'm not really in the mood to deal with bots or people who just signed up yesterday, but hey, 100% is the goal. ☕

I'm not necessarily looking for (and maybe not even 🤣strictly a shoulder to cry on, just a new way to distract myself from my own mess. Besides, people tell me I'm a pretty good listener 😒.
Can money actually buy happiness? in Psychology ·
Thomas Hernandez10 said:People always love to say that money can't buy happiness, but honestly, I’ve never felt luckier than when I have the freedom to do whatever I want, buy whatever I feel like, and travel wherever and whenever the mood strikes me.

To me, money is basically synonymous with happiness. I feel like all those arguments against it are just stuff people have been conditioned to believe since they were kids—mostly pushed by religious institutions like the Catholic Church—just to keep everyone quiet and feeling grateful for the crumbs they're stuck with...

Even if you end up totally alone, does anyone actually give a damn about you?

Money equals happiness. Every other argument against it is just something they've hardwired into people's brains—mostly by the Catholic Church—just to keep everyone quiet and "grateful" for the misery they're stuck with...

Look, money means more options and more opportunities, but that doesn't mean it's happiness for everyone.
Just like how I'm not the center of the universe, you aren't either, so it's pretty silly to generalize and say "money equals happiness."

Everyone has their own set of priorities and wants. For some, it's all about material stuff; for others, it's about having solid relationships.
If you fall into that first group, then sure, money might be absolute bliss for you. But if you're in the second group, it's just a tool to help you survive and grab a little comfort while you work on finding what actually makes you happy.
A deep dive into attraction to trans people in Psychology ·
I was scrolling through photos of those famous ladyboys from Thailand, and honestly? A huge chunk of them look better than most girls out there (myself included) 😁.

I’ve noticed more and more Western guys joining the whole "weeboo" crowd, dreaming about that perfect, tiny Japanese girl—though people use the term for anyone obsessed with Asian women in general.
In my opinion, you can probably find that petite, delicate look in Thailand where you can't even tell if someone is 15 or 25, which is apparently a massive thrill for some guys.
Legally speaking, they don't even look like they aren't 😳.

As far as the sex goes, I think most of them (like Sam Alvarez4 mentioned) actually crave double dominance. Only a small number want to be the bottom in that scenario—even though a good portion of them have working equipment since they aren't all on hormones that make things... less functional or totally non-functional.

In today's world where everything is so accessible, I guess this is maybe the last bit of (legal) variety left.
Back in the day, people used to lose their minds over porn stars because they looked so different from regular girls. Fake boobs, that specific porn aesthetic, certain outfits—that wasn't exactly common in the mainstream. But now, when you walk around a major US city, you can always find someone who looks exactly like that... just look at reality TV starlets, or especially those girls from our neighbors to the East 😁.

On the flip side, Thailand is a long way off. It’s not like you can just hop on a plane for a weekend trip. Between the money and the time, it's a stretch.
So, it stays a nice fantasy, and it's questionable how many people would actually pull the trigger on making it happen.
(Reminds me of this story on Reddit about a guy who was really into scat. He spent years hyper-focused on it, but once he finally set everything up and it was time to go down, he realized he didn't actually want it 😁.)

I mean, why do people generally go to prostitutes?
There have been tons of threads on this, and there's still no "scientific" answer. It’s just personal stuff like "it’s easier" or "I don't have to worry about her taste for once"...

Regarding this topic, I bet everyone dreaming about it has their own specific reason that wouldn't apply to anyone else.
It was actually pretty interesting talking to this one guy who isn't gay at all, but has this desire. I realized he couldn't explain it to me in a way that would make sense, just like I couldn't explain to lesbians why I only want to hook up with men, or why people don't get the whole celibacy concept.
It's just not wired into us, so no matter how hard we try, we can't fully grasp what's going on in someone else's head.
Can money actually buy happiness? in Psychology ·
velvetgull9 said:Money isn't a total guarantee for health, but it lets you buy meds, treatments, surgeries, hospital stays, rehab, and decent insurance. Plus, you can survive being sick without your whole family starving, and you can actually afford good food and a decent place to live so your health doesn't tank... So yeah, I guess it's way easier to stay healthy and recover when you actually have cash.

🤔

If that's the case, why isn't the mortality rate way higher among the poor?
And where do we even draw the line?

In the US, almost everyone working has some kind of coverage, and if you pay an extra $23 a month for supplemental insurance, pretty much everything else is covered.
Does that mean every working person is basically wealthy?

I’m still sticking to my guns: money makes being sick easier, but it can't buy you actual health—nope.
To me, being healthy means actually *being* well, not just managing a bunch of issues.
Money helps with the second part, but it’ll never buy that first one.

Would you rather be healthy and broke, or loaded but constantly running to doctors because your body is failing? I’d pick the first one 🤷 every single time.
Can money actually buy happiness? in Psychology ·
Oh, really?

So if I had a million bucks, suddenly my depression, anxiety, kidney stones, and PCOS would just vanish?🍿

Sure, money can buy you certain treatments or meds, but there’s absolutely no guarantee it actually fixes you.

In my book, "being healthy" and "paying to manage medical issues" are two completely different things.
Can money actually buy happiness? in Psychology ·
I can't get behind that.

Look, money matters—obviously. You need it to survive. But for me? There isn't enough cash in the world to buy the stuff that actually makes life worth living.
Real friendship, love, and staying healthy. That's the core.

Don't get me wrong, crying in a luxury penthouse at the Ritz is probably a little easier than sobbing in some random roadside diner, but still... you can take all the money in the world and it won't mean squat if you're lonely. And hey, loneliness is subjective, I get that.
(Kind of like that feeling where you're in a crowded bar in NYC but you still feel totally alone)
Sean Cruz said:That really depends on what stage of addiction they're in. 😁 🤣

I started typing something out just now, but honestly, it would've totally killed the vibe of this thread. So, I'm gonna hold back. 😳.

I’m with you on that one. Honestly, I'm just not ready to give up my dick yet. 🕺.

I can't really wrap my head around how people still talk about those old divisions like they actually matter today. It’s like watching someone argue over which side of the street is better when we're all just trying to cross the same intersection. Honestly, it feels pretty outdated. kaže:
Just my two cents on people like that and why they act the way they do. Honestly? I think it all comes down to their vocabulary—or more specifically...
It’s the same old story. People just lack that certain... something. Like they weren't born with the right tools in the box, you know? In plain English, they’re just not gifted. It's why people end up...
They’re out here leaning on nothing but profanity, vulgarity, and the most primitive tactics you can imagine. That's where they think they'll find salvation and protection.

Protection from what, exactly?

Eloquence is its own thing. Being able to play around with language well enough to drop that one perfect word that actually hits the right note? It’s not rocket science. But honestly, sometimes just saying "this shit" does a better job of describing what you mean than some flowery phrase like "a massive pile of stinking rot." Why bother tossing pearls before swine anyway? People who have already decided you're an idiot aren't going to change their minds just because you used a big word.

Honestly, people who try to flex their entire vocabulary in every single conversation usually just end up looking pretentious and stuck-up. To me, talking to friends should be chill, not some high-stakes defense of a PhD dissertation. Hey, to each their own, obviously, but those of us who swear a little don't exactly look down on the folks who start crossing themselves the second they hear a dirty word.

You can throw diagnoses around and start labeling people's complexes from both sides of the fence. Nobody here even touched on that whole "strict American Catholic upbringing" vibe. You know the type—people who act like swearing is a sin, but they probably only think about sex when they're trying to conceive, just so they can spend the rest of their lives trekking to various shrines and obsessively reading the Bible. Google it, it’s a real phenomenon.
Just kidding... I mean, seriously, I’m totally joking. Hope I didn't step on anyone's toes there. ☕.

Learning a language means you’re really learning how everything fits together. It's all connected. I mean, just look at how many creative ways there are to bring up someone's mother. 😍Honestly, it’s such a shame when people insist on sticking strictly to "proper" vocabulary just because they think anyone using anything else is clearly lacking IQ. Sure. Always.

Honestly, I’ve never really had an issue with being too blunt in a professional email or whatever. Back in school or during my college days, though? Yeah, I definitely knew how to find the right words when I had to grind through term papers and big projects. It doesn't matter if I’m dropping slang or swearing like a sailor when I'm just hanging out with friends—I actually know how to clean up my act and swap those words out for something more polished when things get serious. I'm not some caveman, after all.

If you strip away all the English loanwords, the Turkish influence, the Canadian leftovers—basically every single "-ism" that’s been shoved into our vocabulary—you could probably break our language down into its basic building blocks. But honestly? We’re way too creative for that. We’ve got this unique, unfiltered way of expressing ourselves—that raw, gritty, "get outta here" kind of energy—that makes you think we should just stop worrying about being polite. I mean, if I drop an F-bomb in front of my grandma, she might actually spin in her grave, but hey, that's just how we roll. 😲".
Hannah Kim5 said:It’s usually not considered "normal" for women. Speaking from my own experience, I can tell you I've been told countless times that I'm crude and that it isn't feminine—which, honestly, I actually agree with.
Do you really think someone who swears constantly every single day can ever completely kick the habit?

Yeah.
If people can quit smoking or get clean from drugs, why wouldn't they be able to stop swearing? 🤣.

Sean Cruz said:I don't buy it. It’s a deep-seated habit, and I doubt anyone can just snap out of it entirely.

Personally, I prefer subtle, sophisticated double entendres, though I'm certainly not a prude. That said, crude language isn't really my style. I only swear when the situation absolutely demands it.

People fix speech impediments or even smooth out an accent all the time.

It’s really just about being mindful of what you're saying and making a conscious effort to change how you express yourself.
For me, most swear words are basically just filler. Sure, it's a habit, but it's not a massive issue if you've got half a brain.

I managed to drop some of my verbal tics just by deciding I wasn't going to say them anymore. It wasn't exactly rocket science.
I bet I could stop swearing too, if I actually gave a damn about it.
But I don't.

Still, I'm sticking to my point: if people can walk away from heroin, they can definitely quit this crap.
For me, it’s mostly just a habit, and honestly, it really depends on where I am.
Appletini pretty much nailed it with her explanation.

Look, I can be foul-mouthed, vulgar, or make jokes about sex if I feel like it, but I can also just be a totally normal social human being who keeps things polite when the situation calls for it.

Most people in my life don't really care, though if I notice someone's getting a little uncomfortable (looking at you, Grandma 👋), then I'll just dial it back.
My God, it's not like I'm incapable of thinking before I open my mouth.

There's a time and a place for everything, but let's be real—I probably wouldn't vibe with someone who gets totally scandalized just because I drop an F-bomb once in a while. ☕

I definitely don't act that way around my older relatives or when I'm in a professional setting, like at my job near downtown Chicago; I know that kind of language isn't appropriate there. Just because I swear doesn't mean I'm not smart.
But when I'm hanging out with friends privately? I don't always want to constantly filter myself or worry about hurting someone's feelings. Sorry, but it's exhausting, and I just want to be able to relax.
Project: Find a Friend (Classifieds / Meetup Thread) in Psychology & Therapy ·
briskbadger20 said:Reposting this ad 😁
P.S. I don't have any mental health diagnoses and would prefer to meet people who don't have an F-code diagnosis either 🙂

Look, not everyone on here has a formal diagnosis, but let's be real—most people are dealing with *something*. I can't really say if it makes much of a difference to you whether someone has a medical paper proving their struggles or if they're just dealing with the same stuff without the paperwork. But seeing your post made me think you might want to try posting over here too -> Disney - Taylor - Classifieds: Wash

Good luck 🙂
So, one of my doctors sent me off for an EEG and a brain CT scan.
Later on, I ended up getting an MRI for some other stuff.

I’ve got this super mild neurological thing—kind of like epilepsy—but that’s really it.
Everything else is just mental health stuff.

Luckily, I could get everything done at the hospital, because if I’d tried going to a private clinic, the bill would've been absolutely insane. ☕
What does Psychic mean to you? in Psychology & Therapy ·
I was planning on answering this with a bit of distance and keeping things vague, but I just can't help myself, so here’s a total brain dump 😬.

If I remember right, I originally joined Reddit because of the OCD stuff, but I ended up posting here way sooner than expected. Back then, I was dealing with intrusive thoughts that felt totally insane. I honestly thought I was losing my mind and that if I opened my mouth about it, I’d end up locked away in a psych ward somewhere 😁.
My very first thread was about a "friend" where I laid out my whole situation, but you know... asking for a friend 😁.

It actually blew my mind how much empathy people had. It was so surreal how normal everyone seemed to think it was (unfortunate, but whatever), and the amount of support I got was huge. Nobody told me my "friend" was crazy; instead, I just got a mountain of first-hand stories from people who were older than me or had just been through more of this mental health crap
. I was 18 at the time, still in high school, and just completely terrified by everything that was starting to happen
.
A ton of other threads and a lot of bullshit happened between then and now, but none of it is really worth dwelling on
. Nowadays, I try to be somewhat constructive, though even this place has kind of turned into a venting ground. There used to be way more active users here, so it always makes my day when an "old" username pops back up
. Or almost always 😬.

In general, I’ve stopped poking people just to be a jerk. I stopped putting up with pure stupidity just to keep the peace in this digital house, which you can probably tell from how I talk now, but hey 😁. I try to help when I can, and I try not to be a dick, but I won't let someone lecture me on stuff they clearly don't understand. If they try, I’ll gladly shut that down. Even if it gets me banned 😁.

I’ve been through a hell of a lot and gathered plenty of experience, so if I give anyone advice, it’s always coming from a good place
.
Threads here are mostly for venting, which is fine, but I don't think people realize how vital topics like the ones about psych meds are—where you can get actual, first-hand experience regarding any specific medication
.
Existential dread: Does any of this actually matter? in Psychology & Therapy ·
The crisis is hitting hard.
I went through something pretty much identical about two years ago. Honestly, I wouldn’t say I’m doing significantly better today, but at least I stopped losing sleep over questions that won't have an answer until I'm dead and gone.

Meaning in life is just whatever you decide it is.
The same goes for meaninglessness—that’s a personal choice, too.
At the end of the day, you get to pick whether you want to give your existence some purpose or not.

I haven’t found my "purpose," but I’ve stopped looking for it.
The Endgame is just being happy when the day is done. I truly don't care if that happens with a partner, a kid, a cat, or just by myself.
If I ended up living on the streets but was actually happy, I'd take that over being miserable in a mansion any day.

We aren't all Teslas. Not everyone is built for something massive or legendary that people will talk about for decades. Most great artists lived their whole lives with nothing; they were nobodies who only became a BigName long after they passed away.
I bet even for them, existence felt totally pointless sometimes.

I know "you're young" sounds like a cliché, but I don't mean it as a dig.
It just means you have way more years ahead of you than someone who's already eighty.
Saying "you're young" doesn't invalidate the pain you've been through or why you feel this way.
There’s a difference. You still have the time to turn things around. For an eighty-year-old... that's a much harder sell.

You know what you bring to the table, and your ego is probably big for a reason.
I can't reconcile the girl from the forums with the person I know in RLu, even if you turned me upside down.
I don't think this is the real you. This is just the darkest, worst part of you, but you are so much more than this.

Everything is going to be okay.
I told you what steps I would take if I were in your shoes.
You still have time, and you still have the drive.
You fall, you get back up, you keep moving.

As for people... the less you look for them, the more you'll actually find.
Personally, I spent most of my life without many friends, and now I'm surrounded by just a few—but honestly, I don't need anything more. They showed up when anyone else would have walked away, simply because they saw I was more than just what's written on a medical chart.

You mentioned you went out for the first time in ages yesterday. Change that.
Get out, hang out, just mess around.
Let your Endgame be going to bed feeling happy. And do whatever it takes to make that happen.
People are mostly just looking out for themselves anyway, so don't waste energy worrying about what they think or do.
It might sound harsh, but it took me enough setbacks to reach this conclusion, which honestly becomes obvious around high school when people start showing their true colors.

Maybe that sounds shitty, but I'd rather be a happy jerk than a miserable saint. 🙂.

You're going to be fine.
I know you want to be. 😉.
Partial Credit? in Feedback & Suggestions ·
Thanks.

Everything's running smooth 🙂
Partial Credit? in Feedback & Suggestions ·
Is it actually possible to pull partial funds from a brokerage account?
Andrew Doyle said:part of Maria Price3, which got incorrectly linked to my previous post that was already being discussed:

Oh, please! Because why wouldn't we just descend into pure catastrophizing instead of actually looking at the other side of the coin? The entire point of this discussion is to talk about the POSITIVE aspects of these conditions.

I mean, seriously, why on earth would any sane person embrace the idea that our lives are entirely predetermined by our genes?!

I’m sure diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and all those other gems have their "upsides" too, but I bet anyone dealing with them would give anything just to live without them.

And look, there’s a massive difference between romanticizing depression and just pointing out (maybe, potentially) some positive aspects.
It's like saying someone is "good" versus calling them "perfect." Neither of those is a weird way to talk, right?

Everything mentioned so far feels like an exaggeration—just attempts to prove that "we" are somehow superior to "them." But the truth is, we're running different races and can't even compare. Comparing a healthy person to someone struggling rarely ends well for the second group. It just feels like... honestly, better if I don't finish that thought.

I could easily romanticize my own situation and spin it into the best thing ever, but reality check: I'd give anything to just live a normal life. Because this isn't normal. It’s just not. Hell, it really isn't.

Whenever I hear people acting like it’s "wonderful" that someone is feeling terrible, my first thought is just—give me a break.
And that’s exactly what romanticizing depression does.
Romanticizing mental health struggles is a total slippery slope.
bluemason3 said:According to some studies, a massive chunk of the population could technically be diagnosed with some kind of disorder. The people who actually end up with a formal diagnosis are just the ones seeking help, so it’s pretty much expected that they'll have a more negative outlook on the specific symptom clusters we label as a "disorder." Meanwhile, someone dealing with a milder version of those same symptoms—someone whose lifestyle masks them or who manages them effectively—is far less likely to ever see a psychiatrist or get a diagnosis in the first place.

And that brings us back to the core issue: what actually constitutes a disorder, and what is it even based on? If you took a diagnostic manual and ran tests on a statistically significant, randomized sample of the general public, you wouldn't get the same ratio of symptom clusters as you would if you only tested people who proactively sought out psychiatric or psychological help because they were struggling.

Isn't a mental health disorder basically just a cluster of symptoms or a state that starts wrecking someone's quality of life?

That's always been how I've looked at it.

Something that's just a personality trait for one person—and they handle it just fine—can be a full-blown symptom for someone else, totally messing up their life or their relationships.
Take, say, being obsessed with keeping a house spotless.
For one person, vacuuming twice a day is just a habit, no big deal, doesn't really phase them. But for someone else, it turns into an obsession where they aren't even living their life anymore; they're just living to vacuum.
Same situation, two different people, completely different outcomes. One has a quirk, the other has a disorder. 🤷