Posts by Noah Garcia4

David Vaughn75 said:Is all that sass putting you to sleep?

I'm only on Zyprexa myself, but this morning dose just absolutely knocks me out 😢

I take my Rispolept at night, and honestly, I’m pretty sure the drowsiness is one of its main side effects.

Kevin Nguyen3 said:See, this is just one more piece of evidence proving that you can live a completely normal life.
Will it stay this way? Is it an indicator of worsening health or something else entirely? Who knows? Often, the body—or the brain, really—simply develops a kind of resistance to the illness. That's where psychopharmacology comes in to help.
I've taken Seroquel myself, and let me tell you, living with that stuff is incredibly difficult. Major props to you.😉

Then we’re finally on the exact same page. 🙂What a massive weight off my shoulders. Things are looking significantly better now. 🙂

Robin Lopez2 said:You have made incredible progress. 🙂

Once you drop down to just 1 mg of Risperdal, you'll be right there with me. 😉

Thanks, why not give 1 mg of Rispolept a shot? If you’ve got the determination, you can usually find a way to make things work. 😉🙂

The person who penned this has clearly never crossed paths with someone actually experiencing a psychotic break... I mean, good luck finding anyone brave enough to try and put someone in that state on a strict meal plan...

(regarding nutrition and schizophrenia)

and that’s assuming a regular person hasn't lost their mind first 😛🤣☕

David Vaughn75 said:So, what else are you taking besides the Seroquel?

Rispolept 1 mg, Lexapro, Lamictal, and Ativan as needed.

edit: I'm off the Seroquel now.

David Vaughn75 said:My cousin, who also deals with schizophrenia, went to try out what I think was a Tai Chi class, and they actually told her she needed to stop taking her meds 🙄

Those medications are powerful enough that quitting them cold turkey is essentially an invitation for madness. Any competent psychiatrist knows there’s a delicate process for tapering or discontinuing drugs. Honestly, it’s much better to stay on a low dose than to face a full-blown relapse.☕

I just had my follow-up appointment, and my doctor is thrilled with my progress. I'm doing fine without Seroquel. To be honest, I feel better myself—I have more energy and my mind feels significantly sharper.

Kevin Nguyen3 said:That’s about it. It sounds almost trivial, doesn't it? But it really is one of the most significant hurdles in American psychiatry. In fact, as our understanding deepens, it seems to be becoming an even more massive challenge than when psychosis wasn't such a central focus of study.
The real goal is to establish contact with the patient's healthy ego. When you manage to achieve that—even if it's done somewhat crudely—the patient enters a state where they can find a "healthier resistance" to their own issues, which is a standard occurrence in any therapeutic transference.
Only then does true transference become possible. From there, through various forms of psychotherapy, we can dismantle the problems piece by piece until we reach a person who is finally ready to confront their struggles head-on.

Yeah, I’m with you on that. 🙂☕

David Vaughn75 said:Honestly, those priests are just sweating bullets because they’re terrified of losing even more people from the pews.☕

That was quite an experience, and honestly, I’m feeling a bit cornered now😬. Imagine if I were to call up some high-level specialist over in New York and tell them, "Look, I have schizoaffective disorder." The receptionist would probably tell me they aren't seeing anyone with that specific diagnosis right now, but to call back in fifteen minutes. Then, when I actually make that follow-up call, a different woman picks up and tells me, "I'm sorry, we don't handle those kinds of diagnoses here due to potential complications."
Well, I think I already made that point clear in my very first post😬.
I suppose I'll just have to see what the holistic practitioners have to say about it😠🙂

http://www.tebe-trazim.com/forum/sea...=active_topics

Look, Jesus, go ahead and throw the first stone if you think you’re perfect, because I’m ready for the heat 😍.

also : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g46zx...ature=youtu.be

At this point, you really should just try to get back to basics—socialize a bit and seek out some actual professional help. Using "schizophrenic" as a casual, throwaway label for people who clearly struggle with reality is a bit of a stretch, even if we all know what the term implies.

I also stumbled upon this interesting thought while browsing the forums: If a writer is so terrified of backlash that they refuse to write anything controversial, they'll never actually write anything worth reading. If your goal is to truly help people, you have to be willing to put yourself in the line of fire and write things that others will inevitably judge.
Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton Anybody 🍿 ☕

Larry Lewis said:This will be my very last cup of coffee.☕

http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6d62af3d.jpg

🤣☕

ruggedtinker9 said:It’s quite interesting; I suppose I once entertained the notion that I was Jesus myself...

Larry Lewis! Honestly, I’d be happy to foot the bill for everyone's coffee 🤷 though maybe just sticking to espressos rather than those fancy lattes, and I’d gladly skip eating for a month to make it happen 🤣

ruggedtinker9, we’ve already danced this dance before regarding this topic 🙂

David Vaughn75 said:In my experience, Zyprexa is actually the best option out there—the only catch is the weight gain, which is honestly pretty gross 👎

So, what kind of meditation are we even talking about here?
There aren't any overnight miracles, folks. 🤣

What do you mean "overnight solution"? That’s such a massive oversimplification. 🙄

You clearly have no idea what my daily reality looks like, let alone what kind of meditation would actually be relevant to me. 😁.
You claim to meditate yourself, so tell me—how is that actually making a difference for you? 🍿.

David Vaughn75 said:Think about it—maybe Jesus is basically just a symbol for fighting back through nonviolence, especially during those times when we feel too weak or outmatched to actually scrap for what we want.

Just rambling here, 🙂

That’s basically it; at this rate, I’ll probably convince myself during my next relapse that I’m some kind of Mahatma Gandhi or Zyprexa disciple.🙂

But honestly, Zyprexa is garbage; I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole, let alone try taking it, because it’s just not good. 🙂
Why don't you enlighten us with your expert take on how meditation interacts with psychosis? 🍿

For what it's worth, I enjoy meditating too. ☕

🙂 We’re all eventually heading toward the kingdom of God. So, while you might not have someone breathing down your neck, just remember they’ll be reading everything you write here. 🙂

David Vaughn75 said:Look, it's not really about which one is "more" pathological—it's about the fact that you aren't just picking those specific things out of thin air. It's intentional, in a weird way. Take me, for example—I used to obsess over shaving my face because I was convinced people could actually read my thoughts. At the end of the day, it just meant I was freaking out about what everyone else thought of me.

It is quite fascinating that you find it "more pathological" simply because you aren't religious.
I went through phases where I essentially convinced myself I was Jesus about four different times, lasting roughly half a day each, and honestly, I can't draw a straight line between any of that and my actual mental state. Aside from the fact that I had slogged through about a third of the Bible and stumbled upon some sign that happened to match a mark on my skin—and voilà, here we are. If I were being honest, I'd say it just stemmed from this deep-seated desire to feel extraordinary. But since I wasn't raised in a religious household, I spent my school years feeling this nagging sense of guilt because all the other kids were believers and I wasn't. So, tell me again, how did this whole thing actually start? When people were telling me stories about how Jesus raised the dead, I just sat there with nothing but question marks floating in my head. In hindsight, I probably would have been better off just staying skeptical.
Why would I ever bother mentioning this to a psychiatrist when, right up until the moment they handed me an antipsychotic in the hospital, I was thinking, "Oh, great, let's just take this so everything feels normal by morning"? Where exactly is the line drawn between a psychotic break and a period of remission? 🍿

David Vaughn75 said:It’s way easier for them to nail down your treatment if you just lay it all out there.
Because, seriously, there's a massive difference between venting because you feel watched and acting like you're seeing Jesus Christ himself.

Me? I've spilled everything, and now I just stick to my Zyprexa and call it a day. 🥳

So, what's the actual distinction here between paranoia about being surveilled and believing you're the second coming? In your eyes, which one leans harder into pathological territory?🍿

David Vaughn75 said:Yeah, and what else is a shrink supposed to say? "Sir, what you're shaving for isn't actually real." 😁

The meds are just there to give you the tools to heal yourself. That’s the deal with all mental health struggles.
Science doesn't know a damn thing about the brain yet, but based on experience, we do know how to bump up or dial down the chances of a psychosis hitting. And that’s exactly where you need a therapist to give you the real advice.

I honestly have no idea what you're getting at😂.

Why?
No matter how much life has thrown my way—and let's be real, we all know I've taken my fair share of hits (though I'm doing alright now)—it has never once crossed my mind to drop a line that unhinged during a therapy session.
I would never say something like that, nor would I ever bring up my shaving habits to a psychiatrist. Out loud? Really?😲 What? It's not like I'm popping enough pills to lose my grip on reality.😉🤣😂😂

Kevin Nguyen3 said:So, what does "real life" actually consist of? What even is life?
It's just an endless stream of questions, isn't it? A billion different answers for a billion different people. We can save the deep dive into spirituality and philosophy for another time.
Right now, I am focusing on the gray area—that thin line between a person who is struggling mentally and someone who is considered healthy.
I am talking about the generally accepted standards of the environment we all live in.
Then there is this other thing: how a person transforms themselves into something that fits their specific circumstances, for whatever reasons they might have.
Add in some good presentation skills, and suddenly we have ourselves a whole new topic to chew on.
But really, we are dealing with something much deeper here.😉

I suppose I’m struggling to find the perfect way to articulate this, but I tend to look at it through this lens: if you can actually manage to drive a psychotic individual down to a neurotic level, then you’ve truly succeeded. It essentially boils down to whether they can maintain a functional grip on reality. I realize there are plenty of nuances here, and I know definitions tend to shift depending on who you ask, but that’s just my subjective take—using a few technical terms as a sort of metaphor to get the point across accurately. Well, I finally caught him...

David Vaughn75 said:I had this guy on my ward once who was absolutely convinced he was headed straight to hell. He obsessed over it until he basically snapped. Good luck trying to explain to him that two billion Christians are apparently wrong and that hell doesn't exist.

Believing in things we can't prove is just a standard, built-in feature of the human mind. The real distinction is that a person in a psychotic break can't function in daily life because of those beliefs, whereas a priest can.

I find myself drifting back into philosophy again, though everything we believe about our own nature holds a certain weight of truth. It’s honestly difficult for me to pinpoint that exact line where a mental health professional crosses over from trying to be helpful and error-free into that extreme territory—where they essentially lose their grip and descend into chaos. But if you view someone's sudden, irrational urge toward self-destruction as nothing more than a symptom, and you actually dig into what lies beneath it—what specific idea triggered the impulse or what unresolved emotional baggage is driving the engine—then you might actually start excavating the root cause rather than just pruning the branches. It isn't like you're walking down a street in Chicago and suddenly decide to jump into a furnace on a whim; it takes time to construct such a complex, elaborate hallucination. There is an entire psychological process and a massive web of mechanisms at work. In our current American healthcare system, the path of least resistance is almost always to hand someone a prescription and say, "Good luck, you're on your own," which solves absolutely nothing. It particularly bothers me when people have lives that are completely unraveled, only to have a psychiatrist shrug and imply that they simply need to learn how to manage it. So, once again, you're just handed a pill and sent on your way. 🤣 My point was that most psychiatrists simply don't have the bandwidth or the actual desire to dive deep into someone's psyche. It’s not really their lane. If you want any kind of meaningful, heavy-duty work done, you have to leave it to a dedicated psychotherapist. 😂 Isn't it just hilarious that we’re all forced to play along with this collective madness? It really is. And then, of course, they try to dress it up with some pseudo-intellectual nonsense, acting as if everything follows Gauss's curve—as if certain people can just slide by while others get stuck dealing with the fallout.

ruggedtinker9 said:I notice this thread is gaining some traction, so I suppose I should contribute to the discussion. I have endured three psychotic episodes thus far; the most recent occurred just over a year ago. My doctor has recently tapered my medication down to 5 mg of olanzapine, and it seems I will be completely off it soon. However, I feel absolutely wretched. I find it nearly impossible to articulate to others just how terrible I feel. It is as if every ounce of energy has been drained from my body, leaving me feeling like some sort of zombie. I sleep late every single day and lack the slightest inclination to leave the house or engage in anything at all. I am physically alive, yet I feel as though I am merely existing in a state of numbness. Lately, thoughts of suicide have crossed my mind quite frequently, though I suppose I lack the courage to follow through. I am also terrified of applying for work, because I worry that if I were to secure any kind of job, an employer would eventually realize I am dealing with certain issues. Practically speaking, my mental capacity, motivation, and focus simply do not exist. I cannot concentrate enough to accomplish even basic tasks... I feel utterly burnt out and, perhaps most distressingly, I see no way out of this situation. Consequently, I retreat to my room and stay inside, as I feel that is the safest course of action. When I speak with my parents, my mother invariably remarks that "we should have disciplined you more strictly." The environment I find myself in feels narrow-minded and decayed, and I see no escape. I feel no gratitude toward my parents, as they have instilled nothing but fear in me. I have never truly known who I am or what I represent; I am essentially lost, searching for something without even knowing what that might be. Life has lost its purpose, and this entire quest for meaning—for finding something to bring joy or something productive to do—feels like a complete illusion. I see nothing meaningful in this world; in fact, the world is maximally cruel, and even those closest to me, who pretend to love me and wish me well, actually serve only to deepen my depression. I see no point in money anymore either; I think about how it would be good to earn my own income, but what is the ultimate gain? I can buy objects, certainly, but I cannot purchase internal satisfaction or a sense of well-being. I honestly wish I could end my life and stop this suffering, because I am truly going through hell. The realization that I am mentally ill and that I will likely spend my entire life visiting psychiatrists and swallowing pills is terrifying. Is such a life even worth living? I feel like a mistake of nature, possessing mutated genes that prevent me from adapting or integrating into a society that claims to be "normal," though that society is far from it. Reaching out to a doctor to ask for help feels equally futile, since my physician tells me that life is one thing and the medical aspect is another. He can only attempt to address things from a clinical standpoint by adjusting my dosage—which feels like nothing more than a mask. I do not know whom to turn to for help, nor do I know how one even recovers. I have considered looking into joining a residential community or a commune specifically for people struggling with psychosis and schizophrenia, if such a place even exists in America.

Pick just one single thing you want to fix—something that actually matters to you—and focus entirely on that. Once you've spent a month or two truly grinding through it, then, and only then, should you move on to the next thing.

Philosophy, psychology, psychiatry 😵

The core of psychosis isn't just chasing ghosts, though that’s certainly its most glaring symptom. Delusions and hallucinations tend to flare up specifically during those psychotic episodes.
Then comes the remission, where you’re left to deal with the very real fallout of an unreal state of mind. You become acutely aware of your illness, and there’s a certain heavy grief in knowing that your own brain is driving this whole chaotic experience.
While antipsychotics can help pull your perspective back toward reality, how much "objective" truth can one actually achieve? That’s where individual subjectivity and personal character step in to muddy the waters.

In the clinical world of psychiatry, freedom of thought and reality might seem like two sides of the same coin, but in actual life, they are anything but. At the end of the day, if someone decides they are God or the devil—provided they aren't hurting anyone—they could theoretically start their own church and build a successful business around it. They wouldn't be labeled psychotic because they’ve managed to translate their internal philosophy into a functional reality that doesn't disrupt society.

I’m not quite sure why people still debate whether psychosis is a biological brain disorder. Of course it is. The brain remains the most mysterious organ we have. We’re fortunate to have neurochemistry that, in most cases, offers a way out, though that same chemistry influences far more than just psychotic symptoms, bringing both benefits and side effects in equal measure.

And since everyone seems so intent on debating faith, it's worth noting that modern psychology and psychiatry often find themselves at odds with religious belief, ranging from views on sexuality to the fundamental question of what constitutes reality. 😉☕

I think I’ve had my fill of this forum for now. Catch you later, alligators. 👋

Larry Lewis said:Of course they aren't—they're heroes, rulers, and great leaders, if you believe that sort of thing.

It’s the same old logic—as if it’s the gun that kills a man, rather than the person pulling the trigger.😛

Personally? I’d much rather build a beautiful, sprawling asylum somewhere quiet along the California coast and personally fund the treatment for anyone struggling with their mental health. It would be called "sanctuary for madness," where everyone could just live in peace and contentment despite their struggles.

And naturally, I’d be quite the charming fellow, so I’m sure plenty of lovely ladies would be swooning over me—but don't worry, I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of them.🤣

I think I’ll pass on the invite; I much prefer the company of sane individuals. 😛
It feels like a bit of an oxymoron, doesn't it? To suggest there could be true happiness or satisfaction while one is actively suffering from illness.😛

Larry Lewis said:Of course they aren't—they're heroes, rulers, and great leaders, if you believe that sort of thing.

It’s the same old logic—as if it’s the gun that kills a man, rather than the person pulling the trigger.😛

Personally? I’d much rather build a beautiful, sprawling asylum somewhere quiet along the California coast and personally fund the treatment for anyone struggling with their mental health. It would be called "sanctuary for madness," where everyone could just live in peace and contentment despite their struggles.

And naturally, I’d be quite the charming fellow, so I’m sure plenty of lovely ladies would be swooning over me—but don't worry, I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of them.🤣

Right. ☕