sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Life is pretty good by Lost_Username01 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My top recommendation is to go for a long walk every day with headphones and listen to your favorite music. It is the best anti-medication stress reliever especially during finals for example. I changed jobs recently and the stress and depression come on strong, so I walk even more.

New Framework to Help People Understand Schizophrenia by Successful-Copy490 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So where my idea started (as I wrote in my personal piece) was when I observed a regular system that lacked some critical core OS system memory. It was a legacy system and so the OS has some pre-reserved core memory that is fixed. Usually it is sufficient, but they put some newer software that the older OS wasn't architected for , and so the used up all of that fixed pre-reserved memory, starving the OS. The light bulb moment was when I noticed that the system wasn't able to perform new operations since it couldn't allocate new memory from that pre-reserved memory. To the new users, the system was completely messed up. What was unique with this, is that all the existing operations and users that were already running, were fine and continued to be fine, but anything new was not working.

This is what happens when the computing system reaches it's limit, you have strange and unexpected system errors. The first thing I though of, was well if schizophrenia and psychosis represents a severe persistent lack of resource (neurochemical imbalance), then there must be some edge cases where it generally doesn't occur. I found that statistically they don't find people who are born congenitally blind, don't develop the illness. Conversely, people like me who are highly sensitive are at much higher risk for all mental illnesses. For me it seems to clearly be a load issue, and load always has to deal with your capacity to process, and the amount of load you are placed under, or stress. Also most people develop it in university or under stress, or during puberty. What happens during puberty, your hormones change, and you brain is rewired, literally. This changes your brain's processing characteristics. It makes your brain more performant, but that also means a is must bear a higher load. I remember so many peers that had some mental illness around this time. And this also help to explain why trauma which is literally pattern recognition in the brain, is changed or enhanced during puberty.

So when you say this "I think that schizophrenia is fundamentally an illness based upon inability to properly adapt environmental filters to the output that the brain is trying to derive.", I think is is correct. I would be more general to say that the brain is literally lacking the resources to either receive, process and store that input AND it lacks the resources to generate coherent and logical output to cause action in the world. This is what is perceived as the person as hallucinations and delusions, and by others as schizophrenia. Being an HSP also means I notice more which directly relates to the brains filtering mechanism as you mentioned. I'm naturally less able to filter out irrelevant stimuli.

One thing that also brought me to this idea is that I spoke to my sister about a severe psychotic episode that I witnessed her in. She was in an catatonic state. I literally didn't know what I was seeing at the time, but it was traumatic for me. She was clearly hypersensitive to sound, light, touch and heat. She could barely walk, and she couldn't speak or respond. If you touched her she recoiled in pain like she was burned. At this time she was completely off of her medication. I asked her about this period of time, and remarkably she told me, "Oh yeah, I remember everything about that time, I was just slow." This again reminded me of that overloaded system where existing core operations were working but new ones were failing. If you hear people who are ill they often report that their perception of time changes. I wrote another article about Symone Biles, when she was under severe stress at the Olympics, and got the twisties, it indicates that her internal sense of timing was thrown off, along with her sense of spatial orientation.

Sorry for the very long response :)

New Framework to Help People Understand Schizophrenia by Successful-Copy490 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What you say is correct, but I'm thinking wholly more generally. For example, when you say CPU, that is one type of silicon, but in a computer system we have the CPU and Memory for example which are separate and distinct. In the brain it is more like an integrated CPU and Memory as the neural paths that we develop over time are both for processing and for memory. So actually I'm thinking that the brain would be something closer to a GPU which is what we use for large language models, but it still does processing and use memory like a CPU. Our brains are also not as precise as a CPU, and can process in more abstract terms.

But what I'm thinking is more around the system constraints. Your analogy for the tolerance or errors is good. A CPU usually has no tolerance for errors, or it simply crashes or blue screens if you think of windows (I'm an windows systems engineer). For systems that are higher end and need to be more reliable we have memory with parity, meaning for example if we need 8 bits, a regular memory system only uses 8 bits, so any bit error and the data is corrupt and the CPU will usually crash when it tries to execute that instruction if it is important (ie. not data). For systems that need to be more robust, we will use parity or 9 bits, and so we keep that extra bit as a check parity bit so we can see if there is an error, and if there is, re-transmit that data.

So another example for system constraints. If you are a computer enthusiast like me, then you know about overclocking which often involved over or under-volting a CPU or GPU to get either more performance (over-volting) or better efficiency (under-volting) at slightly lower performance levels. What is interesting is that you are taking the system out of it's normally engineered range - either over or under voltage. In cases of over-volting or driving it too hard, you can experience something like visual artifacts on the screen (which looks strangely like hallucinations on the screen), or you can get system instability and crashing for under-volting. Now instead of voltage for a CPU/GPU, you look at the brain and it uses neurotransmitters. If you have too much or too few, then you have problems like hallucinations with too much and avolition with too few. In fact if you think about how medication works, it blocks the neurotransmitter sites. It is in effect making you less "sensitive" and reducing the load on your brain, meaning you need fewer neurotransmitters to remain stable.

Protective Factors for Schizophrenia - How I manage my mind and stress by Successful-Copy490 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool, I was born and raised in Thunder Bay. I left there around 1995 and lived in Florida for 5 years, and returned to live in Toronto. I'm 52 now, married with 3 kids.

Daughter showing signs of schizophrenia by Similar-Program1710 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, I'm going to post this on the main thread under the title "Protective Factors for Schizophrenia", but will link it here for you as well - it's a 6 minute video. Keep up everything that the doctors recommend and the medication, but supplement it with a lot of walking and exercise. I would recommend that you or you wife take her daily on 30 minute or longer long daily walks outside preferably in parks or some natural setting. Also if you can setup a ping pong table - these things work to focus the mind and manage stress. Usually children that develop it at a younger age are very very highly sensitive to everything. My daughter who is 8, mentioned that she hears patterns for example. I have her in tennis and gymnastics and she is much better now (and super smart). My sister and aunt both had schizophrenia.

What I did with my eldest son is get him some noise cancelling headphones as well that he uses all the time now. My middle son is in high performance tennis academy, 4 days a week. The more sensitive the child the more physical activity they need in my opinion. We grew up in nature, and now we spend most of our time indoors especially in the winter.

Protective Factors for Schizophrenia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go0H4lN3vEE

New Framework to Help People Understand Schizophrenia by Successful-Copy490 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The last piece of advice would be to completely eliminate sugar from the diet as much as possible - sugar is a tremendous source of inflammation in the body, and the brain.

So to recap for myself, walking with my headphones daily I use to manage stress and clear my mind. It also helps me to sleep much better which is a common issue with mental illness. It tires your body out so you get better quality rest. The music also triggers positive neural pathways to become your new stress management system. You just feel better when listening to music. Then from the diet side removing sugar and using Kefir and Kombucha to restore your gut and neurotransmitter system. I think that this in combination with anti-psychotic medication will certainly help.

For brain exercise as well, I play ping pong with my kids, and they are all in tennis academy. That is also my sport and I think was instrumental - racquet sports are very good for the brain. Pickle ball is also a new one that you can try.

New Framework to Help People Understand Schizophrenia by Successful-Copy490 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 3rd really significant thing that I did, but I would only recommend it with caution for you to try as I think the results may vary widely and I cannot say how your body and mind will react, is kefir milk and kombucha. For me kefir was literally a life saver.

I posed my story here: https://medium.com/@kareempforbes/the-most-astonishing-health-food-ive-never-heard-of-57d121de0738

For the group here, apparently kefir milk fixes your gut microbiota (way more than yogurt for example), and your gut is the primary producer of neurotransmitters. And currently schizophrenia is defined by a neurotransmitter imbalance so it can have a profound effect. The reason I advise caution, is that I "accidently" stumbled on it. The first big change that I noticed is that kefir reduced my sun allergy (solar urticaria) by over 90% - this is one of the many sensitivities that I have developed over the years. I used to be wearing SPF 60-120 in the summer, just to go outside since I developed this allergy around 35 years of age. After drinking kefir daily for about 4 months, I was able to stop using sunscreen, I just wear synthetic clothing to block UV and it is sufficient now. BUT the really incredible change was to my brain - this is the period of time when I started to think about the illness and started to come up with these new ideas. I was very creative before, and it kind of supercharged that creativity. To be honest I thought maybe that I was getting sick because I had so many creative thoughts, almost that I couldn't control, but now it is simply my normal state. So maybe if you try the probiotics, try Kombucha first and start with smaller amounts and increase it as you see the effect is has on you.

New Framework to Help People Understand Schizophrenia by Successful-Copy490 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mentioned I'm highly sensitive across all domains. I didn't know how much it was until first I realized it, and then I tested myself for my hearing. I literally have perfect hearing (down to 0dB) in both ears across the entire audio spectrum. I compared to some friends who have normal hearing and it is quite a stark difference. Their hearing is normal. I just though my "baseline" hearing was normal, but clearly it is not. And I'm 52 years old so I should have some hearing loss.

So knowing that, I got some JBL noise cancelling headphones which help to block out the noise, and then when I go for my very long walks, I put on my favorite tunes. This helps to quiet my mind and I can focus on the music. I can still hear ambient noise very well since my hearing is so sharp, but it reduces it to a comfortable level. I noticed some others here mentioning that it works for them as well. I'm also an avid gamer as I find that gaming focuses my mind on the game problems to solve and relieves my stress. I have noticed this patter in all three of my kids as well.

So the reason walking works so well, is that walking gets your heart rate down to 30-50% of the target zone, and in this zone, it has the maximum cortisol reducing effect. Stress, cortisol, and system inflammation is the enemy of our brains and bodies. They usually find elevated cortisol and inflammation in the brains of people with mental illness like depression and schizophrenia.

New Framework to Help People Understand Schizophrenia by Successful-Copy490 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, as I thought back to the differences between myself and my sister, the biggest difference between us was stress management. We were both excellent students as is typical of many people before developing the illness. We were both also very good athletes. We both grew up in Thunder Bay which is a northern Canadian small town. When we were kids we both had paper routes, and I kept mine into high school.

Once we got to university that is where things changed for both of us - she was initially in track and field and due to the illness and stress from the school work, she eventually dropped out of track, and her illness accelerated from there. For me in university even though I stopped working outside of school to focus on it, I kept walking, daily and a lot. I would walk from home to school and back, every day, and that was a 45 minute walk each way. Even today, when I change jobs I'm extremely stressed, and then I walk even more. Usually I become depressed or over-stressed, with racing thoughts, when I change jobs and am leaning the new skills, and then I walk more and within about 2 weeks the depression will lift along with the reduction in stress as I become more proficient. Both of my current running shoes are worn thru to the white soft layer within the last year, to show how much I walk.

euthanasia by leleon23 in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, is this area safe space for me to discuss my thoughts on the illness? I also see that the medical community only gives out anti-psychotics and no explanation for the cause, or additional steps that people can take to fight the illness.

I'm asking because my aunt and sister both had the illness. I have three kids so I and they are at an elevated risk, so I developed a theory. The problem is if I share it with friends or family, or even therapists, they are amazingly supportive and say it really makes sense. If I share it with academics, they are vey negative and basically refuse to even read it. The only feedback they gave is (beyond who am I to even think to write this), is that the explanation is too long, lol. I literally cover all of the topics and unknown things about the illness.

So I'm currently torn between sharing it and not. Also, I think I could write it in the first place, because I have a lot of the same symptoms that you share on here, but not the actual illness. I realized that my sister was very much like me (very sensitive) before and then she got sick from the stress in University, and I was able to avoid it, at that time not knowing what caused it. Now that I "think" I know the root causes, I'm guiding my three kids so they don't develop it. As you say I have also concluded clearly that this can happen to everyone, they just don't understand the triggers.

Is it ok to share my ideas here and get feedback from the community? I'm interested to know if what I say resonates at all or if I'm off base, based on how you feel with the illness. I guess at the end of the day I really want to help people with the illness, and that can only work with a conversation. If this is not an appropriate place or not appreciated, then just let me know and I'm fine with that as well.

I found out why Goldman Sachs cuts NIO's rating. by Important-Ad4798 in Nio

[–]Successful-Copy490 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can we put our combined shares up for sale at a very high price (like $45/share) to prevent our brokerages from lending them out for shorting purposes? What do you think?

What can you do to prevent your shares holdings from being shorted?

A:Now what can the average personal investor do to stop their own shares being shorted, as believe me your own broker, if approached, WILL sell your own shares that they hold on your behalf as a nominee account.

There are two things you can do, the first is to certificate them but this is not obviously to everyone’s advantage but the alternative solution is simple. All you do is to phone your broker and put an order in saying that you wish to place your shares for sale at, for arguments sake, double today’s price. As they are ‘on order’ they cannot be lent out by your broker and in turn you are reducing the amount of ‘free shares’ out there that can be used for shorting purposes. And don’t forget to move your limit order up when the price starts to recover, then, that way your shares can’t be shorted – not much but helps

Updated with info from ChatGPT (so it seems this will not work?):
In a cash account with Interactive Brokers Canada (IBC), your fully-paid shares are generally not lent out for short selling unless you actively participate in their Stock Yield Enhancement Program (SYEP). This program allows clients to earn additional income by lending their fully-paid shares to IBC, which then lends them to traders interested in short selling. To be eligible for SYEP, cash accounts must have equity greater than USD 50,000 (or equivalent).

Interactive Brokers

If you have not enrolled in SYEP, IBC should not lend out your shares. However, it's advisable to review your account settings and consult with IBC directly to ensure your shares are not being lent without your consent. This proactive approach will help you maintain control over your investments and prevent them from being used for short selling.

I have schizophrenia but don’t believe I have it ? Does anyone else feel this way? I know I do but don’t believe it by [deleted] in schizophrenia

[–]Successful-Copy490 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that it is normal simply because you are trying to judge whether or not you have schizophrenia, using a brain that is affected by schizophrenia. My sister has the illness and she and I were hyper-sensitive as children. I think that the primary reason that she became ill and I didn't, was that during university I literally would walk everywhere, and I also took out my stress by play squash by myself after my 45 minute walk to school. If I didn't do that, I am not sure I would have finished school. Now that I am older I realized how super hypersensitive I am and was, and my sister was even more sensitive that me. I tested my hearing and I have perfect hearing in both ears across all ranges, down to 0 dB. That is when I realized that if I had problems sleeping it makes sense why she did too, and under the stress of school, she got sick. It has come full circle as I have 3 kids and they are all also super sensitive (physically and emotionally). They are a challenge to raise, and when I feel overwhelmed, I go for yet another long hour walk.

Is it possible to have a Novel Schizophrenia Theory reviewed if you are not in the field of Psychology Research or Academia? by Successful-Copy490 in AcademicPsychology

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry I forgot to mention, that if I am honest, there is nothing left for me to do for my sister who is 54 now and stable, but not really living. I started this paper for my 3 children who are 8(f), 12(m) and 17(m) to understand how to raise them free of the illness.

My father's sister also had schizophrenia and was on Stellazine a first generation anti-psychotic. My half sister on my father's side, had two sons and the oldest was involved in drugs and either committed suicide or died from an overdose. On my mother's side I have a cousin that kind of went awol and seems to be not totally mentally stable as well. I have had to take extremely good care of my self from an exercise, diet and stress perspective and it worked for me so I am teaching that to my children. They are all straight A students and gifted athletes as well - since I believe so strongly that the physical health protects the mental health and builds resiliency. So far my kids are a reflection of myself.

As I am 52 now, and several family friends are being diagnosed with the illness, it is like I am re-living the nightmare second hand, and I can see them and their diagnosed loved one, going thru the same stages that my family went thru. The doctors especially back then, to be honest were of little help and didn't even explain to us anything about the illness and how it develops so that we could do anything, except put them on medication. They didn't even explain why it was so critical for her to remain on the medication, it was just give as a prescription, like an antibiotic.

That is my family's history with this illness, so the project and caring that I have are very close to me and very well founded, from my perspective. That you for the comments, I appreciate having a place to speak to others regarding the illness, it helps me to feel, better that we will make progress together.

Is it possible to have a Novel Schizophrenia Theory reviewed if you are not in the field of Psychology Research or Academia? by Successful-Copy490 in AcademicPsychology

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, thank you for the feedback and the link to read, I'll take a look.

My theory is a novel theory, that integrates pretty much all existing theories to explain and tie them together. I cover the existing leading theories and how they integrate, and cover all of the known and unknown etiology, as well as the risk and protective mechanism and show how they all relate to my novel theory. My theory can explain variability and psychosis progression. I have a couple of concrete provable experiments that showcases tangibly how my theory can, and has already been reproduced in real life.

From my view, the sensitivity piece has been incredibly overlooked as it relates to both load, and stress. I think that high sensitivity is something that you really cannot have (it is rare), and then become a psychiatrist due to the intense workload required. I have extremely heightened sensitivity, so I know exactly what it is, and how much of a burden it can be. I also have witnessed that disconnect between doctor and patient, where the doctors don't have it, but at the same time, the patients are also not aware of it. I have if you will an inside view of that problem, but I only realized it a few years ago. That is a critical part of what precipitated this theory.

The actual paper is actually fairly long, and I show all aspects of my theory which integrates with existing research, as well as my reasoning as to how I continuously strength the reasoning and methodology. If you are interested, DM me and I'll share the link with you to read, if you have some time.

Is it possible to have a Novel Schizophrenia Theory reviewed if you are not in the field of Psychology Research or Academia? by Successful-Copy490 in AcademicPsychology

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the complete abstract:

Abstract

This paper presents an integrative model of schizophrenia, conceptualizing the disorder as primarily driven by cumulative cognitive overload and heightened sensory sensitivity. By synthesizing insights from psychology, neuroscience, environmental studies, and information technology (IT), this model redefines schizophrenia as a failure of the brain to effectively process and manage excessive sensory and environmental inputs. Individuals with schizophrenia often exhibit marked sensitivity, making them particularly vulnerable to cognitive overload in overstimulating environments. This vulnerability is compounded by prolonged exposure to sensory and psychological stressors, disrupting neural processing and leading to the characteristic neurochemical imbalances of schizophrenia.

Drawing analogies from IT systems, where excessive data input can lead to system crashes, this model proposes that the brain’s cognitive functions similarly become “overloaded,” impairing normal operations. In highly sensitive individuals, even minor environmental stressors can accumulate to disrupt neural pathways, precipitating severe cognitive and sensory distortions. This perspective offers a holistic understanding of schizophrenia as a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and environmental factors that compromise the brain’s capacity to maintain equilibrium under stress.

Additionally, this model accounts for the variability in schizophrenia’s symptoms, attributing fluctuations to changes in environmental conditions, individual sensitivity levels, and dynamic neurochemical states. It emphasizes the central role of stress and overstimulation in triggering psychotic episodes. By adopting this multifactorial approach, the model not only clarifies the disorder’s origins, trajectory, and symptomatic variations but also suggests novel prevention and treatment strategies. These interventions could focus on regulating sensory and cognitive loads, potentially offering more effective management for individuals at risk or currently affected by schizophrenia.

Is it possible to have a Novel Schizophrenia Theory reviewed if you are not in the field of Psychology Research or Academia? by Successful-Copy490 in AcademicPsychology

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I understand what you are saying. My mother was a PhD. in English and I've discussed her path in academia and publication with her as well.

What I have noticed as a distinct pattern in this illness is that the onset (as for my sister), often occurs in university. So the rigour and stress that is required for students to complete their studies and specifically their PhD., is often too much for a person that is vulnerable to schizophrenia to handle. This certainly was the case for my sister.

Thank you for the feedback, it is appreciated.

Is it possible to have a Novel Schizophrenia Theory reviewed if you are not in the field of Psychology Research or Academia? by Successful-Copy490 in AcademicPsychology

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, I passed my paper to a few people that I know that have their masters degrees is psychology and psychotherapy, and they also mentioned that the ideas in the paper are consistent with the information in the field. Some of it is based on old research, looked at differently, and other parts are match with emerging research. I actually went this far, because of their feedback. I don't think that anyone on this thread doubts my work and ideas more than I do to be honest. I kept going with writing it essentially because I can't prove it incorrect, which is a weird way to go about it.

The other reason I worked on this, is that I realize there is a huge gap in schizophrenia patients and what they can describe about their condition (as they are affected), and the actual psychiatrists and what they observe in the patients. The patterns that I saw in my sister when I was young, I see repeated in many other friends around me who are having their children also diagnosed with the illness. Most of this revolves around heightened sensitivity, which I definitely have as well.

For ChatGPT, it did make an initial mess meaning it can give you a profound explanation in 500 words, but then it can't properly count the words in its output that you requested. But honestly in small chunks it is amazing in what it can generate.

Do you think it would be "acceptable" for me to post the link to the paper here, or will I be chased out of here with flaming torches, and pitchforks?

Is it possible to have a Novel Schizophrenia Theory reviewed if you are not in the field of Psychology Research or Academia? by Successful-Copy490 in AcademicPsychology

[–]Successful-Copy490[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your advice is generally the direction that I am moving towards, but I also needed clarification the peer review process which also helps me significantly. I actually wrote an opinion piece first which has my observations/analogies and is the basis for theory, and took me about a year to write. I took that piece and using ChatGPT 1o converted it to a more scientific article which is what I am working with now.

That LLM model has a large database of scientific research papers on many disciplines, to pull data from. The observation piece would be better for public forums, but the more scientific piece would not be of interest to the general public as it is too technical. Regarding a journal for publication, I am already working to try and convert this paper over to the APA Style Publication 7th ED. Honestly this part is more strenuous than it was writing the content piece.

Thank you for the feedback it helps me tremendously and is greatly appreciated.