haresfur wrote:
    I could never stop giggling when doing shrooms.

 Isabeau wrote:

Remember when people thought hallucinogens increased empathy?

I found when peaking on acid I was pretty much rendered mute, so perhaps that proves the point here.

 Steely_D wrote:

More clarity. More focus. On the swiss-cheesing of regulations for rising profit margins.

The C.E.O.s Are Tripping. Can Psychedelics Help the C-Suite?

 nuggler wrote: 
Said I'm no Sufi
But I'll give it a whirl

A Sufi pun perhaps?

Nice, I had to look it up. Patti Smith

I took a walk out to the sun
But I just, just couldn't take it
I followed a dream
It was circular
But I just, just could not fake it

Step to the left the left the left
Step to the right the right the right
Pick up the sign the sign the sign
For a stride of the mind the mind the mind

Simon of the desert blew into town
On the scalding tail of a bright cold wind
Slipped through the sand
Footprints emerged
Where no one was walking
Simon had been

Dropped from heaven
To a ready made world
Said I'm no Sufi
But I'll give it a whirl
We booked passage on the Book of the Dead
Time to travel
Simon said

Step to the left the left the left
Step to the right the right the right
Pick up the sign the sign the sign
On the stride of the mind the mind the mind

Come on move where dreams increase
Where every man is a masterpiece
If you want to be counted
As another kind
And you're true, pursue

Stride of the mind the mind the mind
Stride of the mind the mind the mind

He bowed three times
Removed his fez
Pointed to heaven
And Simon says
The mind the mind the mind
Pick up the sign the mind the mind
It's a vertical climb the climb the climb
Stride of the mind the mind the mind
Pick up the sign the sign the sign
It's a vertical climb the climb
Take it in stride

You gotta WANT it.....& I'm not talking about the pharmaceutical quick-"fix" either since it requires commitment & personal effort on the part of the individual, on your part. Too much work for most.

I have worked for years on myself through many avenues (including 12 step)  but finally found some relief from unrelenting anger and depression with antidepressants six years ago. Last week I visited a medical doctor to renew my script. After talking a few minutes he realized I was savy about 12 step programs, and revealed he was in recovery himself. (30 years sober is not something to sneeze at!) However, for the next hour and a half I was subjected to his arguments against psychiatry and psychotherapists (they all only want to prescribe drugs!) and how AA, Alanon, ACOA or Alateen were the only real medicine for emotional health. On and on stating science had no evidence to back up antidepressants, placebo effects, etc. He even wrote down meetings I could go to (emotional problems yes, substance abuse problem, no) Finally he wrote my script! This is the second time in 2 years I've been subjected to this guy's personal agenda and prejudice.

I spent today writing a lengthy tome to this man to remind him that 12 programs are primarily focused on recovery from substance abuse are not and never will be the only treatment for mental and emotional issues, but one of many tools individuals can use. I felt I needed to remind this guy of the Traditions and Big Book - where it clearly states the simplicity of the program and that some folks "are sicker than others." (actual excerpt)  I felt he also needed to be reminded of the Spiritual principle of humility. It is an ancient conflict between 12 step recovery and psychiatry this guy is buying into and I'm having none of it.
Yes, I have issues about this.

 cc_rider wrote: 
She was hilarious in Lake Placid and guest starring on Boston Legal!

hasnt this conversation occurred many times before?

 cc_rider wrote: 
She did call Palin a "B". She also suggested that Obama was hot, but perhaps a bit inexperienced. She offered to help him out with that. 

Went to a shrink once when I was in college. He seemed slightly weird to me. He was overly interested(like really, really overly interested) in only hearing about any masturbatory fantasies that I might have. I ran like hell and never went back.

Went to another one later in life for a whole lot of reasons, most of which had to do with depression. After about ten minutes of talking he had his Rx pad out and sent me off to buy Prozac. I went back a couple of weeks later, more depressed than when I started.

Ten minutes more of talking and the Rx pad was in his hand again. Prozac no good, go buy Zoloft and give it a couple of months this time. A few months later I went back feeling even more depressed. Shrink decides to send me to an uber-shrink specialist. I get to see this guy twice for an hour each time. I almost took out a second mortgage for that. Uber-shrink tells shrink No. 1 that i am an intractable depressive(WTF), shrink No. 1 tells me that there is nothing to do but just go live my life as best I can.

So, I tried that, but it sort of wasn't really working for me. Evetually, on the recommendation of a friend, I signed up for an experiential training in gestalt psychotherapy with some amazing lay therapists (no MDs in psychiatry at that place). I actually had to learn to face up to my own demons and deal with my own shit. Lots of support, and eventually a good measure of genuine love. Cost me $1,800 a year for three years. Best money that I ever spent on myself. In the process I learned a lot about the things that trouble us.

Some of us are terribly disturbed and the compassionate care of a good psychiatrist may be the best thing. Others of us need to hoist ourselves up by the boot straps (as my grandfather used to say) and find some constructive way to work through our spiritual and emotional dilemmas. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there is for each of us a path to healing that respects our individual needs and our inner truths. It may involve pharmaceuticals or it may not. The trick is to find that path.

 hippiechick wrote:
 
Betty White was just on Craig Ferguson the other night. She was freakin' hilarious! Spot on, right down to calling Sarah Palin a 'crazy bitch'. Too funny!  I have no idea how old she is, but she is sharp as a tack. I'm sure there's a video clip somewhere, it is worth watching.

c.

 cc_rider wrote: 
I am lucky to have insurance cover my shrink and my chiropractor. But really, shrinks are such a racket!

I went to a new one this time because my previous one had twins, and he really had no interest in what was causing my problems, he just couldn't wait to write me a script and show me the door.

I don't really care, because I take a small dose and only go once or twice a year, but still...

The funniest take I have ever seen on this was when Allie McBeal was trying to talk to her shrink (played by Betty White) and her shrink was wearing one of those change things like the paper boys used to wear, filled with pills, and kept trying to dispense the pills instead of listening.

 rtrudeau wrote:
  Right on target. My shrink is a 'pill guy', extremely knowledgeable, and expensive. I try to go only every few months, since insurance covers zip. I don't have time or money to spend on any more therapy than that, talk or otherwise. Particularly since a big part of my emotional issues is based on financial insecurity!

I found the same problem with chiropractors. Yes, they work well, but are cost prohibitive: every other day or so for two weeks, then once a week? At $40 (or more) a visit, it could easily eliminate my grocery budget! Okay, busted, I don't HAVE a grocery budget, but you can see it adds up fast.

Apparently only rich people can afford to be healthy. As much as it pains me to say this, Bono was right.

c.

Oh—and if your shrink is a "witch doctor," you need to find a new one.  Either that or a different attitude might be much more useful.

 oldslabsides wrote: 
This is very much my experience, and also, last I read, very much the typical most-effective scenario.  A combination of talk and meds is still the ideal situation.

I was under the care of a psychiatrist for a little over three years back in the nineties.  He put me on meds because by the time I finally came to him I needed them very badly just to function.  At first he was seeing me twice a week.  The frequency of visits dwindled and the dose of medication came down as I improved.  The meds kept me from going completely psychotic or killing myself, the talking fixed my problem.

 winter wrote: 

I felt pretty fortunate actually...  my therapist was a nurse practitioner so she was able to monitor my meds as well as offer me the therapy without
being a 'psychiatrist'.   She never told me what I should do, only talked things out with me and gave her point of view.  She just knew the right questions to ask and provided me an environment where I could tell her anything without judgment.  Everyone should have an hour a week where it is all about 'YOU'...you aren't burdening a friend or family member who may or may not be too involved with you to give you straight forward opinions, they may judge you or tell others what you told them.  People give up on therapy sometimes after one try because they didn't like their therapist, but you need to try people out and find the right fit.  If you cannot be open and honest with the person you are talking with, then the therapy becomes useless.  You need that comfort level.  And I agree that some people just should NOT be counseling anyone, yet they are out there.
My therapist recommended medication to me and talked to me about the benefits as well as the potential cons, but she never insisted.  Looking back, I would not have pulled out without some help (ie. meds) to help me stop crying long enough to think rationally.  But, because of therapy, I know that even if I stopped my medication, I could never get to the point I was before.  I learned other ways of coping.