Larry Lewis said:Honestly, there is a massive amount of truth in that statement. Just look at the state of things—it's all just a relentless pursuit of profit and power. It’s exhausting. A human being is worth less than a single AA battery in this system. Our mental health facilities are overflowing with both the young and the old; you don't have to look far to see the fallout. The "successful" people—those who actually played the game and won—they end up working themselves into an early grave. Even the kids... you see six-year-olds lugging around these massive backpacks to schools where they're basically drilled like soldiers with absolute nonsense, effectively stripping them of any actual childhood. And all this madness? It just slides right past us—unnoticed, like a stray dog wandering the streets at 2 AM. Meanwhile, the planet is choked with pollution, the climate is being dismantled... and one has to wonder, where exactly is this all heading?
Logically, I’d agree with what was said earlier about mental illness being tied to an awareness of your surroundings. Personally, I’d take it a step further and suggest that sometimes, after someone falls ill, that heightened sense of awareness finally kicks in (if it wasn't already there before).
David Vaughn75 said:Honestly, it’s because we’ve already lost our minds—but only because we’re the ones actually seeing how broken everything is. We see that there’s no real help coming and zero hope for things getting any better tomorrow. It's just grim like that.🐔
Exactly. I always think of it like a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, but on a cosmic scale: Earth, the Sun, the Moon, and then, of course, life itself.😵
My pharmacist actually told me the other day that I could bump my Omega-3 intake up to three capsules a day if I wanted to. Right now, I’m just sticking to one daily, mostly because I’ve been reading up on all those studies suggesting it can help prevent certain psychotic symptoms from developing in the first place. It's pretty fascinating stuff when you dive into it.
Larry Lewis said:Look, that’s completely normal—I went through the exact same thing myself. Even today, those mental movies of my darkest moments play on loop in my head, and they can be pretty unsettling—though, for me, it isn't fear so much as a deep sense of regret over things I said or did, or just the sheer weight of what I had to endure.
Don't let the fear of slipping back into psychosis consume you; dwelling on it is a losing battle. Instead, try to rationalize everything that happened during that period when things were out of control. Just try to process it... move past it... eventually, you have to find a way to leave it behind.
I hear you. That whole experience is just brutal. I actually read somewhere that taking Omega-3 fatty acids can help act as a sort of defense against psychotic disorders, so I think I'm going to start taking some soon.
July 2014. Honestly, the biggest issue was that I ended up with a pretty subpar psychiatrist. Instead of just switching doctors, I made the mistake of quitting my meds cold turkey after about four and a half months. According to him, I should have stayed on them for at least six months while he slowly tapered me off. Fast forward to now, and I’m heading back for a re-evaluation with a top-tier neuropsychiatrist. I actually have an appointment in two days, and my plan is to be completely transparent—just lay it all out there, tell him exactly how I’ve been feeling and what happened. If he decides I need to be back on medication, then so be it. I’ll take them for as long as I need to, even if it's for the rest of my life.
Because of everything I went through, I’ve developed this lingering, nasty fear of having another episode. My anxiety is through the roof lately, and for the last few days, I've had this weird sensation, almost like I’m drifting off to another planet. Though, I suppose that feeling might be a bit deceptive; I remember when I was actually in the middle of that state, I wasn't even aware of what was happening to me.
So, basically, if someone like me—someone who’s dealt with just one episode that required a hospital stay and ended up with an acute psychosis diagnosis—is left wondering, is it really possible that I can't get a clear picture of what's actually going on or exactly what I'm dealing with?
Even while you were on the medication, did you still deal with episodes, or was it more that you stopped taking them and then the symptoms started coming back?
Hey Larry Lewis, did you go through several different episodes before they finally gave you a definitive diagnosis, or was there just one long stretch of symptoms where they were leaning toward an F20 diagnosis?
I remember reading somewhere that doctors can actually spot specific brain changes on scans in people living with schizophrenia. Did you ever end up having any imaging done, like an MRI or something similar, to check things out?
So, does someone actually need to be on antipsychotics for the rest of their life, whether we're talking about schizophrenia or just a single episode of acute psychosis?
So, I was thinking about this the other day—what’s actually the real deal when you look at the difference between acute psychosis (like a brief psychotic disorder) and schizophrenia? On paper, they seem almost identical since both involve losing touch with reality, dealing with delusions, and experiencing hallucinations. Even the medications used for schizophrenia are typically the ones prescribed for acute psychosis. If the treatment is basically the same, why do we bother making such a distinct split in the terminology and the diagnostic codes? It always felt a bit redundant to me.
Brandon Lopez6 said:I dealt with the exact same thing. I stopped taking the antipsychotics and the problem was gone. For me, the original reason I was even on them had cleared up, so there wasn't much point in staying on them. Not sure if your situation is the same.
Stop making stuff up that doesn't make sense. You're just spreading unnecessary panic. 🙄🙄
ruggedtinker9 said:I have been reading > by John Modrow, and he provides a rather profound description of what Šiza actually entails. Given that he lived through his own diagnosis and achieved full recovery, his perspective carries weight; he suggests that perhaps as many as 70% of people can successfully recover. I must admit, my jaw nearly hit the floor when I read his thesis that Šiza is essentially triggered by one's environment and the subsequent breakdown of psychological defense mechanisms. He argues that elevated levels of neurochemicals—specifically dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline—are actually physiological responses to the panic we feel when we realize we cannot meet our own expectations, or those imposed upon us by our parents and society. This chemical surge then leads to psychosis, though he posits that psychosis itself is merely a defensive reaction to the overwhelming external pressures that trigger this internal state of panic. In this view, Šiza functions somewhat like a form of self-hypnosis, a way for us to construct a defense against the world. If anyone is interested, I could potentially point you toward where to find this book. He concludes by suggesting that those living with Šiza are, in fact, some of the "most human" individuals one could encounter.
I remember seeing the exact same thing on a medical site I was browsing recently. They said the same thing: environmental factors trigger an uncontrolled surge of dopamine particles, and boom—you're in a psychotic state. Essentially, stress, whatever flavor of stress it happens to be, is the root cause of psychotic symptoms.😲
I’ve gotta say, something about this whole situation feels a little off to me. Are you some kind of psychiatrist or something? Because you’ve gone ahead and slapped two different diagnoses on him already. The part that’s really tripping me up is how well he seems to be functioning, considering he's dealing with psychotic symptoms. And honestly, the way he talks so openly about his delusions is pretty unusual. In my experience—and I was reading a fascinating article about this the other day—delusions usually stay locked inside someone's head; people rarely just sit around chatting about them like they're discussing the weather. Without an actual evaluation from a solid professional, it's hard to know what's really going on. You can't truly tell until he either hits a breaking point or realizes for himself that things aren't quite right. Then again, who am I to judge? Maybe he isn't losing touch with reality at all. Maybe he’s just become deeply religious... honestly, who knows? It's a lot more complicated than it looks on the surface.
When we talk about someone being psychotic, we aren't talking about some horror movie slasher; we’re talking about a person whose perception of reality has just shifted. There is a massive difference between psychosis and psychopathy. Just because someone carries a diagnosis of psychopathy doesn't mean they’re out there hunting people down—it really just means their brain lacks that empathy center. I actually think comparing a psychotic individual to someone using a wheelchair is a pretty fair analogy, because at the end of the day, both situations require support and assistance. And look, psychosis isn't the "cause" of schizophrenia; episodes can happen to anyone on this planet at any time, affecting roughly 3% of the population on average.
Now, I get why you feel like tackling an unknown problem is a way of running away. It makes sense, honestly—most of us are terrified of what we don't understand, and statistically, these episodes aren't common occurrences. But you're forgetting that life is messy, and bad things happen to everyone eventually, regardless of how rare a specific condition might be. When those moments hit, that's when people need help. If this person becomes a danger to themselves or to you—or if they start making threats about what they might do—then you have to call the authorities. You report it to the police, and they’ll make sure the hospital steps in to get things under control. But if they aren't being aggressive and aren't hurting their parents, then as far as I'm concerned, let them live in their own reality.
Don't blame me—I don't have the bandwidth to slog through all 230 pages.
I’ve been noticing symptoms similar to schizophrenia in a friend (if you can even call him that anymore). I'm guessing most of you agree that the best move is just to run for the hills. At first, I was actually scared to ignore him—he genuinely unnerved me. I tried playing along—pretending everything he said was true, acting like he actually had superpowers or some kind of 4D insight. But it wasn't enough for him, and I couldn't keep up the act forever. More than the actual stories, though, his attitude was the problem. He acts "arrogant and haughty. He feels superior, omnipotent, all-knowing, called to give advice, invincible, immune, and 'above the law.'" (I pulled that quote from a site about Narcissistic Personality Disorder).
Anyway, I've distanced myself, and he's stopped pestering me—he's pulling away from everyone now. In his mind, everyone else is beneath him and unworthy of his company, so there's no point in talking to us. He thinks we just don't "get" him and think he's crazy, when really, we're the ones living in a delusion.
My question is: what do I do if he keeps reaching out? Do I sit there and endure the nonsense, or just ghost him entirely? Also, how do people like this actually seek help? There's zero chance he realizes he's sick or would ever agree to see a psychiatrist, yet I know people with schizophrenia do get treatment. How does that process even start?
And what's your take on all this? To add to the list, he shows these traits: total indifference (he doesn't care about anyone, even regarding death); he constantly perceives changes in himself, others, or nature; he claims his vision has changed; he believes he has an intense sixth sense; he makes prophetic claims about world shifts; he's convinced people are jealous of him; he belittles everything; talks about "energy"; considers himself "chosen"—he even claimed to be God once. He refuses to work. He looks down on labor and other people's achievements. He's rarely depressed. Most of the time, he's smiling.
He’s used hallucinogens and weed. After using psychedelics, he had experiences that convinced him he has special powers. He thinks what he sees while tripping is the real world, and that what the rest of us see is just an illusion. Basically, he thinks we're living in the Matrix—that we're all stupid and blind. It frustrates him that nobody believes him.
Sorry for the long post.
Honestly, if he’s in a psychotic state, I’d probably do the exact same thing and read this thread before making a break for it. Telling someone to avoid him feels a bit like saying you should stay away from someone just because they use a wheelchair or follow a specific religion.
Look, man, you’re living in a dream world here, even though you’ve clearly seen a thing or two in your life. Let’s be real: there is no such thing as "perfect love"—there never will be. It doesn't make sense to me how falling in love triggers these psychotic breaks for you. In my book, it’s more logical that the crush causes you enough stress—for whatever reason—that you eventually just snap like a kernel of popcorn in a microwave. Then, boom, you hit a psychotic episode.
And about the depression part—usually, it should just feel like a deep sadness rather than a total shutdown, but hey, we’re all wired differently and life throws different curveballs at everyone. You can build a healthy relationship whether it lasts a lifetime or just a season; it really just depends on how the chips fall.
But honestly, the biggest question mark for me is this: you say these psychotic episodes happen because of women and being in love, yet you keep running headlong into the same situation without any caution. To me, that sounds as crazy as me saying I have a mental breakdown every time I grab a beer, yet I still head down to the local pub every single night to order another round. It just doesn't add up to me. 🙂