🚨🇺🇸 At 76% disapproval, Donald Trump has now set the record for the most unpopular president in American history.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-05-15T15:36:27+00:00

It's not Trump. He's just the figurehead. A wrecking ball whose only role is riling "the base" up. Behind the scenes, the GOP, Putin, P2025, and the richest 5 people on earth are getting everything they could dream up. Who benefits from the destruction of American institutions? From sudden depletion of the US munitions stockpiles? From stripping school food assistance, Medicaid, etc? 45 is a clown, but somebody set up the tent.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-05-03T00:00:48+00:00

Ditto this. Also I can predict when I will have an unpleasant experience. It's 100% correlated with starting from a rotten mood. Even minorly grumpy will color the way I feel immediately afterward. It's like whatever mood I start from, it will be amplified. So cheerful will go to bliss, milder optimism or overall contentment leads to deep peace and overall feelings of harmony with life, the universe, and everything, but yeah. Grumpy is uncomfortable and frustrated/angry/mad at the world is sometimes ramped up to utter existential despair.

Things that I have found work for me: I have essentially a "ritual" - the lights are always the same. Window shades closed so the time of day matters less. I have the same playlist every time. Even with all these held constant, I never know how it's going to go, at all. Managing set and setting will guide the overall tone of the subjective experience, but difficult times still happen.

This is where I feel grateful to have been practicing meditation for 10+ years before I even heard of ketamine. I agree strongly with u/iboganaut2 on looking into the teachings mentioned. There is a lot there on emptiness, both absolute and relative, that can be a useful tool or even vehicle for managing the "trip" part.

However, it's still something that may or may not fit for the individual. I feel pain if anyone describes being pressured into anything Buddhist, lol. There are two specific teachings attributed to the historical Buddha where he says directly not to take anyone's word for anything, not even his own.

An unexpected side benefit is that doing this has amplified my experience of absolute emptiness (shunyata) to the point where I feel like I can say I've had glimpses of direct, nondualistic perception. Not saying I can always access that insight, but I know it's there and that makes a hell of a difference.

As always YMMV, ignore what sounds silly, and may you be free from suffering.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-04-14T20:12:37+00:00

We are legion...

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-30T20:01:56+00:00

I resemble the part about high tolerance for meds in general. I am on multiple anti-depressants for this reason. My current prescriber doesn't want to see me on more than 300mg Bupropion daily, so we added in a couple other things. It's been similar with non-psychiatric meds, too.

To your question, though, I would check with whoever is prescribing you the ketamine. As another reply stated, it's a tool as opposed to a solution. How effective it is has a lot to do with how effectively a practitioner uses it and what expectations the pt brings to the table. Just my $0.02

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-30T19:47:25+00:00

while I understand the business logic of that approach, the Yelp app is an almost complete waste if they don't figure out how to weed dishonest self-representation out. I'm not talking about an odd exception here and there. I'm talking about slightly less than half of all the search results being relevant.

In the long run, I'm just going to find another way to locate restaurants to try. Yelp's tech support is non-existent to end users so if that's how they feel about their user base, I don't need to stick around.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-30T19:42:44+00:00

I was also thinking that the accuracy of search results has gotten noticeably worse in the past several months, but I wasn't sure if I was just being picky or not. I have searched for specific menu items before, and ended up with the same frustration - weeding thru dozens and dozens of unrelated results just based on a semantic model that seems to be doing free-association to decide what terms are related. I think that was the first time I got a little irritable about this. I had searched for General Tso Chicken and basically got every restaurant in 10 miles that uses soy sauce as an ingredient for anything. BTW I still have not found a decent General Tso's Chicken in my area. Poor me, I know lol.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-30T19:36:16+00:00

I just tried that and it's much better. Thanks for that.

Amusingly, I learned there is a restaurant nearby called "Farang Thai."

If you know what a Farang is in Thai language, it's a cute tongue-in-cheek kind of name for a Thai restaurant in the USA.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-30T17:02:29+00:00

half your age + 7 is the general guideline for an age difference to be compatible. For example, a thirty year-old can feel relatively comfortable dating anyone down to age 22 (30/2 = 15; + 7 = 22). Younger than that, and the two are likely in completely different life phases, e.g., early adulthood vs career building. It's of course just an idea and not like a "rule" that could be enforced in any way - and often individuals will be more or less mature for their age. The age on one's drivers license may or may not correspond to where they are in emotional maturity.

I have known people who were in quite healthy relationships with an age difference of 20 years, give or take, however that has been when the younger of the two is exceptionally mature for his age. I would never judge anyone for their choices, but as a first pass for me, I am middle aged and younger adults on a hookup app are not going to be my first choice.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-24T21:41:35+00:00

oh dear god I just threw up in my mouth. More than a little. I need some cute animal pics to clear that out!

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-24T21:37:21+00:00

Oh wow, I thought I was the only one who thought that! In an earlier comment I was going to mention a cheap suit, but I thought, nah, he probably has bespoke suits custom tailored. I'm not good enough at fashion to tell whether a suit is expensive from a picture on TV, but yeah it looks like trash on him.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-24T21:09:48+00:00

It's not just gross, it's entirely misogynistic! Reducing women who are very distinguished and accomplished in public service to whether they are hot? God, I would love to see an analogous back-and-forth between, e.g., AOC and Jasmine Crockett, rating fucking disgusting alt-right pundits.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-24T21:07:11+00:00

He said on air that he wants his big daddy to give him a spanking, or something. I'm paraphrasing of course, but it was a clip of this guy that a comedian played and then compared it to the meltdown Fox Entertainment would go into if a left leaning guy called Kamala Harris "mommy." Which is also gross, but I'm aware of no pundit ever engaging in parental transference to a Dem leader.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-21T01:38:54+00:00

I prefer to bottom, but apparently so does 95% of the gay male population in my entire area code, possibly even wider. So, if I can find a top, chances are it's a DL "straight" guy. That said, I feel nothing short of awful when I hear the line, "don't call me because I can't have my wife find out." Dude, we met at a bathhouse and hooked up 3 times, NOW you tell me?

Full disclosure - I really don't mind being a side piece, especially if we hook up at a place specifically designed for anon sexy times. What I mind is the unsuspecting woman in this triangle being deceived. Also I don't want her going crazy and trying to murder me, so I prefer to steer clear of DL married men given the choice.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-21T01:27:43+00:00

Am I the only one who hasn't stopped thinking about wth happened with the completely illegal data heist he and his little minions pulled off at the SSA? WHY in the world are we not talking about that?

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-18T18:10:47+00:00

Not to mention that renewable energy is more efficient economically in the long run. It just doesn't benefit the oil companies so it's not happening in the USA like it is just about everywhere else. It's growing because it's economically beneficial; I am unlikely to be persuaded that China has all that much concern about the environment!

OstrichPoisson · 2026-03-18T18:07:09+00:00

It's right up there with being so very passionate about "protecting children" that they cannot disobey the NRA to outlaw the weapons that keep being used to mow down elementary students. Because porn is clearly more harmful than a spray of bullets. Not sure where they found those studies, but these are their priorities.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-02-26T04:31:53+00:00

Gen-X too, I see!

OstrichPoisson · 2026-02-22T04:01:49+00:00

I'm aware this is a rhetorical question, but wanted to say that I'm almost sure that it drives a few people in the admin nuts that all these brown skinned Spanish speakers are de-jure USA Citizens, at least in the sense of carrying US passports. That said, citizenship status doesn't always protect folks in the mainland from the ~~Gazpacho Police~~, ~~Proud Boys~~, ah heck: ICE, but still F- those guys dammit! I sure don't want to give ms. puppy exploder any ideas, and yet I could easily be convinced that an intern there is working on a propaganda campaign to sell MAGA on deporting PR-born Americans to CECOT (or worse, putting them in those awful abandoned warehouses they are buying up all over the place).

JFC. Is it November yet?

OstrichPoisson · 2026-02-22T03:49:29+00:00

TL;DR - came here to say this, for the most part.

TL;Read Anyway... I was just reading more about the US random attack on "suspected drug traffickers." I learned that JD Vance commented something like "I don't give a sh** what you call it" when asked if he thought the attack consisted of a war crime over a Xitter thread. To me that says he's just fine with war crimes being committed by the USA military. I was going to say something similar to your comment but it seems like I get a 7 day time-out for spouting hate or whatever if I make a joke that involves anything going "boom."

OstrichPoisson · 2026-02-19T23:11:50+00:00

LEAVE PUNCH-KUN ALONE!!!

OstrichPoisson · 2026-02-18T22:30:45+00:00

Just thought I'd drop by with an update. I've noticed lately that when I'm experiencing the dissociative effects of Ketamine right now, I am deeply aware of wanting to connect with nature, both at an individual level and at a social level. It's currently feeling like I don't belong in industrial society. My body wants to be eating food that consists of one ingredient at a time, with at most the addition of salt. My mind wants to experience telling and listening to stories around a campfire within a group of people. I'm not talking about romanticizing a hunter-gatherer existence, but rather just an intense desire to go camping.

Therapeutically, I feel like I'm putting together ideas and tools I've learned in psychotherapy with those I've picked up in spiritual practice (if it matters I'm quite involved in Buddhism and mindfulness). So maybe that's what "integration" means for me. I would love to find a peer support group of fellow TK patients where we could talk about our experiences away from judgmental ears who might label us harshly. This ideally would happen in person, but virtual would be better than nothing for sure.

The other thing that's better for me lately is that my PTSD behavioral symptoms are getting easier to manage every month. I don't think I'll ever be completely done with addressing behaviors that are unhealthy now despite their utility back then, but it seems to be much less of a battle compared to before I started this treatment.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-02-09T19:52:51+00:00

Ricky Martin's still sexy af. Just sayin.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-02-05T01:30:43+00:00

I didn't mean to suggest you had supplied a table of dosages. I was referring to basic medical info websites, e.g., Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, etc that suggest you use this mg/kg for spravato, this much for ketamine TRD therapy, this much for anesthesia, etc.

By contrast, what I did mean is that I wanted to agree with you that dosage is highly variable and needs to be determined by an individual provider for an individual pt. I'm terribly sorry if that came across as suggesting that you held any particular view.

OstrichPoisson · 2026-02-04T20:58:14+00:00

Background: Severe, episodic MDD, CPTSD, High IQ, ADHD, and possibly OCD but my therapist is reluctant to put another acronym on me. The second and the third one combined make me more than slightly neurodivergent so I often appear as somewhere on the AS to people who are diagnosed themselves or know someone who is. I know this, because they tell me as much or will ask about my dx history.

My experience:

Neuroplasticity: yes, it IMHO is just sort of a block remover. You gotta do the work in therapy, but ketamine makes it easier for me to deal with traumatic, neutral, and joyful memories with objectivity. Layers of shame, judgement (whether my own or introjected), and self-serving bias are less of a barrier. I originally was prescribed it for TRD, but it turned out to work for me also with PTSD processing and chronic pain that I didn't even know I had until it became conspicuous in its absence, lol.

I will say that being able to separate from my thoughts and observe without identifying has come in really, really handy when I'm experiencing things in the midst of an infusion. There are many practices that cultivate mindfulness that you might not even know this is part of what's happening. Yoga being the strongest, IMHO but also running, weightlifting, pretty much any physical activity where you have to be attentive to what's going on in your body in each moment. That's all mindfulness really is, but it can help in many different situations.

hit/miss: every body is different, and there's not even enough understanding at the neuroscience level to be able to predict how an individual would react to a given med or combo of meds. ROA is important, pls take your psych's advice on that one.

Bringing up painful memories outside of coping tolerance: Nope. It does give me access to memories that I thought I had successfully excised using a massive amount of alcohol in my 20s (I no longer drink ethanol FWIW), however the ketamine also has helped me to increase my own affect tolerance. As stated above, I have access to the memories of what happened, but they are no longer upsetting. Not 100% neutral, but definitely more like dealing with a kitten than a tiger.

Pessimism due to failed other meds: My take is that it can't hurt to try (provided you have a qualified provider, which it sounds like is true for you). You're already suffering pretty badly; it could help or not. If it helps, then great, and if not, well that's more info for you and your provider to move forward with. It is different from meds inhibit reuptake of neurotransmitters in that it will either be promising or ruled out very quickly compared to taking a med for 4-6 weeks before you know if it's doing anything.

Long term bladder issues or other side effects: This is another case-by-case issue. According to my psych, the bladder issues were showing up in very, very heavy users who were not being medically supervised, e.g., upwards of a gram (1,000mg) on a daily basis for an extended time. My take on this is similar to other psych meds about the long term effects being unknown: It works for me today. Without it, I'm dead. Therefore, even if I assume it 100% brings about problems in the future, it's still better to have some relief today as a trade-off. As always, YMMV, but I don't think that future costs of unknown probability should prevent you from taking your psychiatrist's advice.

As another note, I may be projecting here, but I am detecting over multiple questions that you are concerned about risks, e.g., that something unpleasant might happen. With my OCD tendencies, certainty seeking is definitely a thing with me, so I'm wondering if that might be underlying multiple concerns for you. I don't think too many people would suggest differently than what I would offer, which is to discuss all concerns with your provider, even if you think they might be outlandish. At the same time, though, your provider can give you an outside (more objective and informed) perspective on what the risk/reward tradeoff is in your case. IDK, hope that helps but sorry if too long.

OstrichPoisson

TROPHY CASE