What’s happening with your boyfriend and what’s going on with me—those are two completely different stories. I happen to belong to a circle that accepts things like taking medication or checking into a hospital. But then again, a woman is expected to meet all these intense demands from a patriarchal society, which is a whole other headache entirely.
By the way, there are plenty of people who have actually reversed their diabetes—it’s something that hasn't been discussed or compared much around here.
briskgull27, if you really want, I could head over to my psychiatrist to get a hypnosis prescription written up, then come back and leave you with someone else on this thread dealing with schizoaffective disorder 😬 just so you aren't lonely. I'm always happy to help. 😛
(And please, stop pointing out my typos! It's getting pretty irritating! 😍 )
My apologies, briskgull27—I’m not exactly familiar with the verb "to out-drink."
I mean, what can I even say? What good would it do if I—or anyone else here—tried to do the thinking for you?
Actually, Anthony de Mello wrote about something similar—he was one of those authors everyone seemed to obsess over—suggesting that once you realize you harbor hatred for your parents, or whoever, that might actually be the true starting point for love. I haven't actually read his work myself, though. If you find yourself hating who you are, your surroundings, or even your own country, believe me, you aren't alone in that feeling. It’s nothing new. The same goes for carrying your baggage around the world; I assume you realize you can't just run away from yourself, but honestly, that sentiment has been recycled so many times it feels like a cliché at this point.
Now, while we are all the architects of our own lives—at least in theory—we are also the creators of our environment. If there is something in your immediate circle you can change, then do it. Or, if you think it's worth the effort, try to make peace with it.
Richard Murphy6, I’m not quite sure what part you're struggling with... help me out here. We actually had a fascinating debate about this in my philosophy seminar—it was explained much more clearly there. (I’ll dig up the links for you when I find them, maybe later today or tomorrow. It’s better handled through Taoist principles anyway, and I don't want to overcomplicate things here.)
Everything makes sense, but why do I have this nagging feeling that if I were in another country, I’d act more normally? Where does that thought even come from?
I honestly don't know. Probably just like any other idea we have. Not that it would matter much to you—as if knowing the exact origin of your thoughts would change anything at all.
Why do you feel this specific idea is so significant? Perhaps you could try to argue it out—test whether it's actually grounded in reality. A little self-reflection might help. Ideas aren't always pure logic; they often consist of a lot of raw emotion and intuition, I think. They're rarely just clinical, abstract concepts.
Everything people do stems from the belief that it serves their best interests. It’s a simple concept—take someone who smokes, for instance; they do it because they truly believe it will make them feel better in that moment. Furthermore, I believe everything that happens to a person in life is intended to serve them in some capacity. However, it can happen—and indeed does happen—that there comes a point where something simply stops being useful. Depending on one's perspective, or perhaps how much one reflects on it, a person might realize this sooner rather than later (usually the latter)—and it's rarely a black-and-white process, or a clean break where something is needed one day and discarded the next; more often, it's a messy, interactive transition.
🙂 Only you can truly answer that question. Take some time to observe yourself—your feelings and your thoughts—but try to do it without any bias or interference. If you can manage that, I hope you find the answer you're looking for. goodness me 👋
In my humble opinion—and I'm certainly no doctor here—it tends to escalate when left alone, but if you follow a proper treatment plan, it should stay under control... The real issue is that most people just don't seek help in the first place.
briskgull27 said:Do you really think it’s always a perfect 50:50 split? 😵 😵 😵
Not really 😵 😵 😵—though I don't think we need to be measuring things precisely. It’s more about everyone recognizing their own responsibility and just... acting accordingly, you know?
But I still stand by what I said (and hey, if you take my advice, you might actually get somewhere 😵 😵 😬)—tolerance and compromise are everything in a friendship, or any relationship for that matter. I'm telling you, nobody is going to want to hang out with you if all you ever talk about is schizophrenia, or any other single topic. People have this basic need to be heard and understood—and you have to offer that back to them too, assuming there's even a real friendship there, or what I call those "growth" connections where both people come out better on the other side.
It’s the same story whenever a conflict or issue arises in a relationship—it is never just one person's fault. Not ever. Responsibility is always shared between both parties.
There really needs to be more tolerance and a willingness to compromise from both sides!
briskgull27 said:The thing is, in my experience, once we drop that specific subject, there's nothing left to talk about.🤣 😁
I find myself agreeing with Dana Brooks3 almost every time👍 😁—and honestly, what you described is exactly how it felt for me too. If there isn't any actual exchange happening, no real interaction at all, then maybe the "friendship" part just fades away naturally. It's not that people *shouldn't* be friends, per se, but without that spark, things tend to dry up. Then again, I'm speaking hypothetically.
True friendship doesn't always require constant chatter. Sometimes, people just click on an emotional level rather than an intellectual one. We might spend our time talking about absolute nonsense—or even stay silent—yet still feel that deep connection through that shared energy. That's just how I see it.
Why don't you start a new thread somewhere? Maybe something like "Friendship and Prejudices," or something along those lines.
briskbison27 said:That isn't a friend. You're better off with us.
In my book, hanging out with a friend in person beats talking through a screen a hundred times over. 🙂
I agree—if it bothers her that much, and since I don't feel the need to constantly bring it up anyway, I wouldn't force the conversation just to satisfy some obsessive loop. I've dealt with similar situations myself, though usually regarding different topics.
Some people I considered "friends" eventually ghosted me—just stopped reaching out—simply because we didn't see eye to eye. One guy actually had the decency to tell me straight up that he couldn't be friends with someone who held such opposing views; honestly, I respect that way more than those who just disappear without a word. 🙂 D But hey, it's not for everyone... Some people can handle differing perspectives—even diametrically opposed ones—and I still stay in touch with them. We might hang out whenever we're in the same part of the country, even if we live on opposite coasts of America.
And about that whole paranoid thing—if a friend can't even handle you never mentioning it, then forget it. If she can handle me talking about it frequently, that's a completely different story.
So, how did you end up voting in the poll above—or rather, how would you vote if you hadn't already? I'm curious what you consider to be the most principled stance here. Also, how do you personally prefer being treated by others? 🙂
Out said:I’d just add—there really isn't a better way to look at it.
Exactly, that's the core of it.
P.S. Regarding those statistics on what schizophrenia actually is—specifically its origins—I honestly think there's a lot of confusion out there, and nobody can claim to know for sure. Science, even within American medicine, is constantly shifting its perspective.
briskgull27 said:Can you imagine leaning against a pier, having another boat bump right into yours, and watching your gear drift away while your cash stays stuck in your pocket?😍 🙄 😁
We aren't even talking about the same thing—you're over here making it about sex.
If I were in your shoes, I'd just moderate this thread myself—keeping the casual chatter strictly to the lounge topics where it belongs.
briskgull27 said:Keeping your cash right by the railing, huh?😁 😁 😁 😁 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
. Yeah, I get it—it’s that feeling when you're being pulled in two different directions. It draws you toward the edge because it looks so tempting, but it's dangerous—one wrong move and your dog could end up tumbling straight into the Atlantic. 😁
We all carry our own personal karma—it’s built into us—but we also share the karma of the groups we belong to. We're influenced by the collective energy of our nation, and on a much larger scale, there's this shared karma of humanity as a whole... Man isn't the center of the universe.
Personally, I find that incredibly unfair—just as I'm willing to take responsibility for my own "mistakes," I have absolutely no intention of paying for someone else's.
Look, I'll admit I might have oversimplified things when I wrote that, but the core idea isn't unjust. Would you call it unfair if you happened to benefit from positive karma because you're surrounded by good people or part of a thriving society? Well, that's the same thing...
I think we really ought to put in some effort to grasp the nuance here.
Not really—suggesting that God gave you something for a specific reason can be interpreted in countless wrong ways, most of which likely stem from some sense of guilt. And guilt is usually just us being foolish without realizing it.
Personally, I don't look at life through the lens of whether God—or anyone else—handed me a situation for a particular reason. I don't personify God that much; to me, the absolute concept of God is everything that exists, something far too vast and incomprehensible to fit within our limited imagination—it’s essentially impersonal and beyond our grasp.
Consider this: according to esoteric thought, God is the totality of all existing energies and the laws governing them. One such law is karma—the principle of cause and effect. If you follow my logic, it’s a completely impersonal law.
It simply exists, and it’s better that it does. Generally speaking, I find there is plenty of positive or negative karma at play, even if it feels otherwise in the moment. But if we look closer, we'll see it holds true.
We are subject to personal karma, sure, but we also carry the karma of the groups we belong to. We feel the karma of our nation, and as humans, we share a collective karma of all humanity... Man isn't the center of the universe.
Keeping that in mind, a "reason" for what happens might simply be that you are part of the human race. Because of our collective karma, humanity is prone to certain flaws and imperfections. Though, perhaps that's an oversimplification.
The way I view things is that everything entering our lives is meant to serve or help us—that isn't just an intellectual theory for me, it's something I've actually experienced firsthand. This perspective leaves much less room for the kind of misinterpretation found in saying, "God gave this to me for a reason"—which is technically true in a broad sense, but still...
I doubt God has nothing better to do than micromanage each of us individually by handing out specific reasons—again, that's a conditional truth. So much misunderstanding comes from dogmatic teachings within the Church or man-made dogmas in other religions; it's hard to observe these truths without that distorted lens.
PS: As for this business with the ego dissolving—I'm not sure if you mean the disappearance of the ego, its fragmentation, or something else entirely. Even if we are talking about "ego dissolution," the reason medications are used is likely because we haven't figured out how to synthesize a cure yet—it's simply 🙂