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Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

psychiatrymargins.com

261–270 of 422 posts

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#261

This is fascinating, and makes me wonder if human intelligence itself is such a cliff edge trait. For most of human history our advanced intelligence has obviously been a benefit, but now we see, as people and societies become wealthier and better educated (both correlated with intelligence), their reproduction rates drop precipitously. Perhaps we've overshot the intelligence cliff and evolution is now gradually pull…

Humanity is changing so quickly nowadays, biological evolution most likely doesn't matter at all anymore, at least for the kind of questions and time scales you're discussing.

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#262

As someone who is currently dating someone with history of psychosis, I have vested interest. 90% of the time she is truly the most amazing, compassionate, full of life and thoughtful person one can ever meet. Then there are times when it’s truly awful. She can barely sleep at all, leaves house without telling anyone seemingly thinking the presence of third person around. And she strongly feels others around are judg…

I have schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, and I just wanted to acknowledge and thank you for staying with your partner. I’ve never been able to get someone to stay through my illness with me through my life. But that’s probably because I am man. I was on so many meds. I can’t even count them. Now I’m not on any, and I consider myself essentially cured after living with it for 35 years. If she has triggers, that m…

> If she has triggers, that means she does not have a disease , it means she’s a different person that sensitive to different things

This is not the medical consensus. Schizophrenia, along with many other mental disorders, are well known to have a complex interplay with not only background genetic/chemical factors, but also the psychological conditions of the patient -- stressors like homelessness, drug use, and lack of sleep very much can trigger psychotic episodes. Suggesting otherwise is to suggest that a sick person not get care that they very well may need.

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#263

Schizophrenia can coexist with extreme levels of intelligence and lucidity. A schizophrenic member of my family argued in divorce court that her husband, a leading physician at one of the most famous medical institutions in the world, was secretly involved in outrageous nefarious activities. The stories were all fiction but she was so convincing that the judge awarded her a ruling in the divorce that ruined her husba…

I wouldn't exactly call it intelligent to lie to a court ;) Perhaps another descriptor would be more precise? For that matter, can one be "truly lucid" if one lies in such a manner?

People with schizophrenia are often not lying, they really believe the bizarre things they say. How do you know what your brain is telling you is true?

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s really sad, all of these sharp modernists determined upon the cult of science explanations for everything. That which you try to attack and downplay as "cult of science explanations" is actually something extremely simple: you need to show something, anything at all, that actually supports your beliefs. How can you tell something exists or works as you think it does if you are unable to show it? Do you expect…

The only "ish" evidence for this kind of raving is this stuff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Consciousness_in... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicameral_mentality

There's a long human history of beliefs like that in spiritualism, animism, etc. People believed they could hear the voices of their dead ancestors, spirits, etc for example.

I wouldn't describe this as "raving", this is someone who has had very real personal experiences. To them, they happened just as much as the sun rises and sets. I don't know what I'm getting at other than have some patience and compassion for people who experience distressing things that they themselves cannot explain.

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#265

As someone who is currently dating someone with history of psychosis, I have vested interest. 90% of the time she is truly the most amazing, compassionate, full of life and thoughtful person one can ever meet. Then there are times when it’s truly awful. She can barely sleep at all, leaves house without telling anyone seemingly thinking the presence of third person around. And she strongly feels others around are judg…

This is a shot in the dark, but there is a lot of excitement right now about treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as a metabolic issue. Some people are seeing complete remission, without medication. This isn’t a quick easy recommendation to just go off meds and go keto, but for some people that apparently has worked. Chris Palmer M.D.[0] is one of the main people driving it.

[0] https://www.chrispalmermd.com/chris-palmer/

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started hearing the voices well after 30. First it began with gang stalking, and by coincidence I am from the “home town” of Americas thought control elite. I was “recruited” (press ganged) and it is only a determination not to accept a word these say that keeps me unconcerned with the collapse of the lie that is modernity in my life.

I am sorry to hear that.

Don’t be. After nearly two decades of development I experience the precipice of humanity. The state of the art of human consciousness. I have peered beyond the veil and what I see is terrifying yet truth.

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#267

This is fascinating, and makes me wonder if human intelligence itself is such a cliff edge trait. For most of human history our advanced intelligence has obviously been a benefit, but now we see, as people and societies become wealthier and better educated (both correlated with intelligence), their reproduction rates drop precipitously. Perhaps we've overshot the intelligence cliff and evolution is now gradually pull…

There is no evidence people are measurably more intelligent now than two-three decades ago.

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know what is considered as "latent schizophrenia"? Is it like in your 40's or 30's or just couple years after the mean?

if you are a man and make it past age of 29 without starting to hear voices, you can breathe a sigh of relief (I did)

I kinda heard lots of whispers when I was very young (like 6-7) and now I'm 40 and haven't had any such problems.

I blamed it on the drugs I got prescripted for sleeping (I had bad allergy and was scratching myself to the point of bleeding during sleep so I got some "pacifying" drugs).

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#269
post #9

I've lost one of my best friends to what I think is schizophrenia. We don't know because she's cut off all contact with friends and family and refuses to see a doctor. It's definitely psychosis. She thinks she's in some kind of Truman show that she calls "the game". Since none of her friends or family are willing to admit to it, then we must be in on it. We don't know her full family medical history because her dad w…

> I've lost one of my best friends to what I think is schizophrenia. We don't know because she's cut off all contact with friends and family and refuses to see a doctor. It's definitely psychosis.

Schizophrenia is not defined strictly enough that it's possible for you to be right or wrong when you say your friend has it.

Here's a discussion of the change in diagnostic criteria from DSM-IV to DSM-V, which has the side effect of describing what the criteria formerly were and now are: https://psychcentral.com/schizophrenia/dsm-5-changes-schizop...

Has your friend seen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(1997_film) ?

Re: Schizophrenia is the price we pay for minds poised near the edge of a cliff

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CBD has an antipsychotic effect. There's not really any debate on that in the scientific community, and I've already provided a link. That's not part of some sinister agenda to legalize cannabis, it's just stating facts to clear up the misinformation which at this point you are willfully repeating. > The real villains, here, are the people that have secondary agendas (like legalizing drugs, or pushing political agend…

> I do, in fact, have all three. I don't believe you. If you had, you would have led with it, just like I did. I value people that have skin in the game. Jenny McCarthy is a big fat pain in the ass, but she really does have an autistic kid, is a good mother, and has formed her worldview around that. > So please, stop with the reefer madness. WTF? I've never believed that crap in my life. Interesting that it's importa…

> I don't believe you. If you had, you would have led with it, just like I did.

You really can't imagine someone arguing from scientific research over their own personal experience?

> Jenny McCarthy is a big fat pain in the ass

Again with the autism/vaccines comparison, again missing the point, again doing yourself and your family member a disservice.

> WTF? I've never believed that crap in my life.

You keep repeating the claim that there's no therapeutic value to cannabis. That's madness, my friend, by the very literal definition of ignoring reality.

> don't insist that the vast majority of the population change their worldview to fit mine.

That's exactly what you're doing though? You're insisting that people ignore the research which I've linked multiple times now, and adopt your worldview which is based on vague assertions and claims; and you insist that anyone would argue the same way as you're doing when that's neither true or sensible.

> Personally, I think that pot should be legal everywhere, including at the federal level (which will basically kill all the "mom and pop" operations out there, so be careful what you pray for).

Huh? I can't tell if you're insinuating I'm a drug dealer or what your point is here. I'm certainly not the one who made this debate about whether cannabis should be legal or not; I just pointed out that prohibition made it much more dangerous to consume.

> I'd gently suggest that a professional forum, read by many of the most influential people in tech, might not be the best place to be a crusader for drug use.

As has been pointed out by people above, you're the one on the crusade here. My point, which I've repeated many times now, is that CBD has shown potential to help people vulnerable to psychosis and schizophrenia. I don't know why that triggers you so hard, or why you can't engage with the research which shows that very clearly, but I wish you the best all the same.

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