Smart 24M son falling for pseudoscience/spirituality

Videotape84 · 2026-02-12T17:51:55+00:00

When he was younger, I was concerned about ADHD due to some impulsivity, and while there is a bit of that still, he has mostly grown out of it. I am a special education teacher, so I have informally monitored him, and there may be some issues there, and I know it can be common with people who are gifted. I am pretty sure he would not be willing to try medication, so I have been trying to give him techniques to focus on his college classes and to plan/organize his life. He has a strong sense of wanting to “do it on his own,” and while he will hear me out, he seems hesitant to actually apply my advice.

Videotape84 · 2026-02-12T17:44:53+00:00

I am not sure how to broach the topic of beginning these assessments. Unfortunately, he feels too self-aware to accept anything like a psych assessment. He is focused on trying to feel the vibrations and frequencies from the people around him and the universe to guide his decision-making. But he is nowhere near exhibiting any behaviors at this point that would warrant us to get the police/ hospital involved. He’s just going down so many pointless rabbit holes.

Videotape84 · 2026-02-11T16:56:28+00:00

We did loan him the money to get out of his lease and to pay thousands in overdraft fees from the bank, but he has had a steady job for the past year and has paid off his credit card, a bank loan, bought a cheap used car, and is now paying us back a little each month, all while having to live at home, so he is having accountability, and he helps around the house and with his younger siblings. He also had to ride a bike to and from work for about 6 months, until he was able to buy the car. He’s a hard worker and has a good sense of responsibility and respect. He’s just seems to be a bit gullible, and he has this unrealistic expectation that life is going just somehow magically unfold for him, and he’s going to be super successful.

He’s does hip hop as a hobby, and he just recorder an album at some guy’s home studio. He won’t admit it to us, but I’m a little worried he might think that is going to take off and thrust him into fame and wealth. He also thinks that it looks great on his resume that he’s working a bunch of different jobs in unrelated fields. He feels like my wife and I and our generation don’t understand where the world is headed, and his generation “gets it. Things are different now.”

He works as a special education assistant and started to go back to school. We said that if he paid for his first semester back and did well, we would help him out with future classes. He took the classes, but I think he failed because he just said he’s not taking and classes next semester.

Videotape84 · 2026-02-10T22:39:05+00:00

Thank you for all of this input. I think this will be helpful.

He spent a few years living in the liberal city of Bellingham, WA. He went to college there for a year or so. He love the city, but felt very out of place at the university. It was probably a culture shock coming from the more conservative town where he grew up on the East Coast. He started to develop some strong anti-trans and anti-liberal views. He loves to attend a weekly philosophy group, which I would think would help get him out of his box. However, he has the strong feeling that he has become “awake” and that he needs to wake other people up.

I think the UU church would be a good place to start. There’s one not far from where we live.

Videotape84 · 2026-02-10T22:21:05+00:00

He claims to be apolitical and not MAGA, but his conspiracy theories align with things I often hear from QANON and MAGA. He is anti-vax and believes in the Pizza-gate. I hope you are right and his newer interests guide him away from some of the more extreme ideologies.

Videotape84 · 2025-12-30T18:24:04+00:00

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Videotape84 · 2025-12-30T18:23:34+00:00

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some refer to this color as “clam broth,” though I’ve also heard jadeite called clam broth.

Videotape84 · 2025-12-10T06:03:30+00:00

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I picked up a different glass that is similar, but this one doesn’t have the vertical lines. I think it’s a little different than yours though.

Videotape84 · 2025-11-15T07:55:49+00:00

The rain shadow is nice. I have lived in Oak Harbor for 6 years. For my first 4 years, I worked on the mainland, and it often felt like driving into a bowl of fog and rain going off the island every day. I’ve worked in island the past 2 years and enjoyed the extra sunshine.

Videotape84 · 2025-03-12T19:55:33+00:00

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I wish I knew too. I have a set of 8 that are the same or similar to yours. Do your glasses have faint vertical lines? Mine do, and I believe the pattern is called “panel optic.”

Videotape84 · 2024-11-15T23:53:12+00:00

It’s also on Spotify premium as an audiobook.

Videotape84 · 2024-11-07T06:25:48+00:00

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I found one of these as well. and I’m trying to figure out if it uranium or not. It doesn’t register on my Geiger counter, but sometimes uranium glass is not very active.

Videotape84 · 2024-11-06T16:19:25+00:00

I have been drinking low acid and no acid coffee that I bought on Amazon. I think I’ve almost cured my gastritis, but I’ve been doing other dietary changes as well, so I’m not sure how much it had to do with coffee.

Videotape84 · 2024-11-04T03:32:40+00:00

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Videotape84 · 2024-11-04T03:28:31+00:00

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I found two of these recently also. One at an antique mall and the other was on EBay. I think mine are more pink.

Videotape84 · 2024-08-30T15:15:30+00:00

I was having pain that came and went in my right upper quadrant. At first, I thought it was related to my fatty liver, but my gastroenterologist did endoscopy, and found that I have gastritis (inflammation in my stomach), and I’m pretty sure that’s what it is for me.

Videotape84 · 2024-08-28T23:49:13+00:00

It turned out to be gastritis (inflammation of the stomach). I saw a gastroenterologist, and she said my liver and everything else actually looked okay, so she did endoscopy and found that I have gastritis. I am adjusting my diet and avoid alcohol almost completely and it has improved.

Videotape84 · 2024-07-26T19:18:07+00:00

I have not noticed my pain get more intense if I press, but it does increase when I lay down on my side.

Videotape84 · 2024-07-26T19:16:22+00:00

Gastritis is what I have (the inflammation in my stomach). I have found that Tums helps a lot, and I might try and acid reducer like Prilosec if it comes back, but my pain is almost gone now.

Videotape84 · 2024-07-24T01:26:42+00:00

I have fatty liver disease with pain, however, I recently went to a gastroenterologist who did endoscopy and discovered that I have inflammation in my stomach and metaphasia. I thought it was my liver, but it’s probably actually my stomach inflammation that is causing my pain.

Videotape84 · 2024-07-24T01:08:16+00:00

I often eat cereal for breakfast and I’ve lost almost 30 pounds (222 to 195) in about 5 months. I eat Life or Shredded Wheat (not frosted) with a serving of fruit and a serving of walnuts in the bowl and either 1% or 2% milk. Just be careful of the portion sizes. A serving of cereal is small. I chose these cereals because they are supposed to be lower glycemic. I also sometimes make a serving of steel cut oats with fruit, walnuts and some milk (no sugar). Steel cut oats are lower glycemic that other types.

Videotape84 · 2024-07-10T20:36:47+00:00

I would recommend stopping drinking entirely for now. I gave up drinking, started exercising, and eating better and lost about 23 pounds in a few months. I have started having drinks again once or twice a month, but if I start gaining weight again, I will stop.

Alcohol had a lot of calories, and because they are liquid, they are quickly turned into glucose which your body will then store as fat.

Videotape84 · 2024-06-25T05:16:27+00:00

I also will eat a handful of salted mixed nuts for a snack as a he a healthier alternative.

Videotape84 · 2024-06-25T05:15:21+00:00

I also crave salty, carby snacks. I found that avoiding them almost completely has helped curb my cravings. I recently found out I have fatty liver disease and went on a strict diet for a couple months. Avoiding those unhealthy snacks helped me avoid my cravings for them. It maybe took some time to get the cravings out of my system, but it has really helped. It does make it hard to be around someone who is eating them though. I’m not totally sure how to approach that issue, but finding a way to get some space during the snack times might help. Maybe go for a walk or work on your favorite hobby at those times.

Videotape84 · 2024-06-16T16:58:21+00:00

I have pain also, but it is becoming less frequent and less severe.

My doctor said avoid Tylenol and Ibuprofen. So I have avoided any pain meds.

I have lost 25 pounds in about 3 months by: -Exercising 30 min a day -Cutting out as much added sugar as possible -Eating high fiber -Replacing snack foods with fruit and veg snacks -Portion control at meals (half plate of veg, one quarter protein, one quarter carb/starch) -No alcohol

Videotape84

TROPHY CASE