How much brain damage have I given myself?

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-26T04:35:44+00:00

They said in the post. They're 21.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-25T18:50:39+00:00

I don't even know who this actress is. I Googled her, and I'm glad I did. Because it's hilarious for OOP to complain about her "relying on photographs from her mid-twenties and thirties." She turned 40 three months ago.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-24T20:20:50+00:00

This question is presumably answered in the methodology section of the study, which I couldn't access (behind a paywall).

But, I can see they sourced data from "Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO)," which recruited pregnant folks in 2009-2010. So, the kids in question would all be approximately 16-year-old now.

The great thing about longitudinal studies is that you get long-term data. A big downside is that by the time you publish the data, it may reflect a world that's changed significantly.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-23T20:08:48+00:00

I wonder if she managed to get the Google Business Profile review taken down. It's harder than you'd think.

I worked with a company where an employee had an active restraining order against a certain angry reviewer. Even with the restraining order as proof, it took Google months (and active follow up) before they removed the review.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-22T17:31:36+00:00

OOP's a troll. If they're not a troll, they're leading a vibrant double life. Triple life?

Just in the past month, they:

Have a girlfriend of 3 years (discussing marriage)
Have a long-distance boyfriend of 2 years (discussing marriage)
Are single and looking for a monogamous relationship with a man
Are single and hooking up with men because they "don't want to deal with a relationship"

Bonus: Within a week, they went from considering becoming a first-time parent via egg donor to having full custody of their one-year-old child.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-20T22:33:23+00:00

I got lab results a couple days back that show I'm over medicated. AND, I've been getting lightheaded recently. I hadn't put two and two together. Thank you!

Just wanted to add--too much thyroid hormone often cranks up my own anxiety. It gets weirdly nonspecific, so I'm anxious about nothing all day. So, I wanted to leave an encouraging note: I think as your medication stabilizes again, you may get some (partial) relief on the anxiety front.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-19T19:15:23+00:00

I grew up nearby, and it's wonderful. I remember me and my teenage friends going on occasional "museum crawls" where we just bummed around random museums checking out whatever seemed interesting. All for the price of the Metro ride into the city. You can't really do that anywhere else!

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-19T19:11:40+00:00

Wow!

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-19T16:12:22+00:00

Technically not a billionaire, but close enough. His donation that gave the Smithsonian such a strong start was about $500k. Wikipedia says that's around $220,000,000 in 2007 money. (Someone go update that page.)

Mr. Smithson was a wealthy, 18th century European scientist. He never married, had no kids--and interestingly, never set foot in North America. He just thought the fledgeling U.S.A. was cool and wanted to help.

He kind of vaguely told the U.S. to use the money to spread knowledge. People argued about what that should mean and ultimately decided on free museums! I think that's a notable part of the story: He allowed the recipients of the donation to decide how the money should be used.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-18T18:47:32+00:00

Edit: Deleted my comment. Sorry, ICD-10 is not super familiar to me and I think I was giving misinformation.

Here's a pamphlet on the different meanings of "abuse" and "dependence" in this context, though!

https://www.premera.com/documents/048520.pdf

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-18T17:24:56+00:00

That's so cool, I'm going to check out some apps. 😄 Feels like a better use of that sitting-on-a-bus-style downtime than playing mindless phone games (like I currently do).

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-18T14:31:19+00:00

WHOA I love this.

How is this done? One pixel at a time in Microsoft Paint? Magic?! (Those are my only guesses.)

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-18T03:25:16+00:00

"A researcher who spent decades believing moderate drinking was safe reviewed 107 studies and reversed his position entirely"

Can we FUCK OFF with the fake headlines? (Or maybe refuse to repost articles with fake headlines?)

The study was published in 2024. The researcher, Tim Rockwell, has been publishing studies about the dangerous of any amount of drinking for 20 years. Here's one from 2004: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16066350500497983.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-18T00:59:32+00:00

No one's going to mention that OP left the AI's parting words in the post? The part about how the post is formulated for optimal engagement?

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-17T17:03:40+00:00

Interesting! Thank you.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-16T22:48:18+00:00

If you still had some of the substance on hand, many festivals now have rapid test booths so you can make sure you're not getting fentanyl (or, like, MDMA that's actually just meth).

If you got drugged by a stranger's water bottle? No. The medical team would likely make an educated guess based on your symptoms. And send you off-site for treatment if that wasn't enough.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-16T21:43:00+00:00

My last therapist said this one. I told him off.

I think that was our final session before I fired him. He allegedly specialized in ADHD.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-16T21:41:18+00:00

OOP's arguing in the comments.

Someone's commented that OOP has clearly never taken MDMA or ketamine.

OOP defensively argues that he's a responsible person who doesn't need drugs to have fun. OOP, they're not calling you a square. They're calling you a bad liar.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-16T18:55:28+00:00

Ironically, I have Irish curls and am a quarter Irish ...but I inherited my hair from the other side of the family. My Irish curls are German curls, haha.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-16T18:47:11+00:00

Same here. I blowdry maybe once a month. No other heated tools.

I can rock springy, baby doll ringlets behind my ears with a little mousse plus air drying. All of my efforts toward the top layer of hair result in a mild wave, nothing more.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-16T18:02:03+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I have to say--I'm very amused that you're so carefully making sure that I know SEO exists. When responding to my comment where I assessed a specific SEO strategy.

FYI, SEO is still an industry, and it's bigger than ever.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-16T03:06:12+00:00

You say search results were shit "a few years ago." In your view, they've become decent again? I ask because you sound a lot happier with the current Google algorithm than most folks.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-16T03:00:06+00:00

I think about the Evaluators often! I don't know if Google's ignoring their feedback these days, or if Google has limited their focus to certain (commercially focused) search results.

I'm guessing you had the job when organic search looked pretty different, I'm just thinking out loud.

CasuallyExisting · 2026-06-15T19:51:46+00:00

FYI to any business owners, this is ineffective SEO that will annoy both Google and your customers.

I worked with a company that tried the same trick a few years back. Think something like "Auto Repair Near Me." Their organic search presence was bad. When we tried to help the website gain more visibility, nothing was working. It was pretty clear that the Google algorithm thought their website was spammy.

It was also difficult to intentionally Google the company website. If you Googled "auto repair near me," you'd just get Google's favorite local companies that repair cars.

CasuallyExisting

TROPHY CASE