Damaged Goods.

[1ntel]

I suspect I have brain damage, which has resulted from several, if not one, of these factors: Traumatic Brain Injury, the use of drugs (mostly natural ones, such as Datura), and other (possibly mental disorder). I will be going through various medical evaluations, which are coming up in a few months. Hopefully I'll get the help which has been long overdue. I've searched through hundreds of webpages, in hopes of finding some sort of life style strategy that will aid in my recovery (if at all possible), including rigorous exercise (both mental and physical), healthy eating plan (no animal products, organic food, etc), and so on.

I am looking for something that many may call a miracle cure. However, I plan to work hard and not give up for as long as it takes! So, do any of you know of any good websites and/or books, which will help me in my quest? ...Or is it all bullshit and I'm stuck in this state for the rest of my life?

Your opinions are most welcome, thank you.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Intel wrote:

..Or is it all bullshit and I'm stuck in this state for the rest of my life?

read the book - The Brain That Changes Itself. It explains how plastic the brain is, and how different types of mental exercises have been developed for different types of brain injury to recover different types of mental abilities.

Some of the references in the book may help.

[Dan Rowden]

It's impossible to give advice or make any real judgments without those medical assessments. However, living healthily, eating well and not taking drugs (including excessive amounts of caffeine) is always a good idea. It certainly can't hurt. If you go vegetarian, which I do not advise, then watch your diet carefully.

[Cory Duchesne]

Figure out the right amount of omega 3 for you, and make sure you get it daily. Avoid all drugs, get exercise, maintain a strict sleeping schedule, and get some sun. Become clear about what your mental weaknesses, superficialities, vanities and fears are, and slowly work on overcoming them.

[1ntel]

Thanks Ryan, it sounds very interesting and promising...

http://www.normandoidge.com/excerpt.pdf

...It does not seem to last (for ex. concentration - I have days where this seems to be topnotch, then others where I'll totally lose this capability and feel uncontrolled. I tried to figure out the catalyst between the two polar mindsets, which only seemed to worsen the problem.). I'm very inconsistent with my thinking and mood. There's obviously a cause, but I feel I need professional help to uncover it.

Anyways, thanks for the book, I'll check it out at the local Chapters.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Intel,

Since reading the book, I’ve improved my memory by using some of the recommended exercises. For instance: depending on the brain function you want to improve, you need to start small, and gradually increase the intensity of the lesson over time. What this does is actually build new neuronal networks from existing networks that may not be being used. And it also challenges specific parts of the brain to perform better.

This is what they do now do with stroke victims. If a certain area of the brain was damaged and rendered useless, a new part of the brain must be taught how to do the job that was done by the damaged part.

So one needs to start small, gradual, and work into more difficulty over time. That is key to recovering damaged functions or improving existing ones.

[1ntel]

There's Neuroplasticity and then there's another interesting aspect of the brain called, Neurogenesis. I'm not to sure how these are related, but the former seems to create new neurons, while the latter works with what is available, creating more connections between existing neurons. I'm sure they both work together, to improve the function of the brain in a given task. To what extent is unknown and differs from one individual to the next, this is why some recover and others struggle.

Dan Rowden wrote:

(including excessive amounts of caffeine)

I've got this one in check.

If you go vegetarian

This will mostly consist of the elimination of all meat. Small amounts of fish, eggs and milk will be consumed, however infrequently. Currently I'm taking a multivitamin and Omega 3-6-9 complex, in spite of the better judgment of others.

Cory Duchesne wrote:

Become clear about what your mental weaknesses, superficialities, vanities and fears are,

I'm trying.

Somehow I need to create a whole new conscious reality without all this extra crap that I'm carrying around. Too bad it won't be as easy as spring cleaning. (Brainwashing comes to mind.).

[Iolaus]

It would help a lot if you had said what your perceive your problems to be.

The 3-6-9 complex may be very good, but in general we are overloaded with 6 and don't need more. Perhaps taking cod liver oil would be a better bet. Hemp oil is good, too.

[1ntel]

Iolaus wrote:

It would help a lot if you had said what your perceive your problems to be.

One of the problems is the constant thinking of this question. I've thought about how best to describe my problems ever since they started, because I figured that if I knew what was the problem, then I'd be that much closer to solving it or helping myself without the aid of a professional. If the problem is my brain, which is what I suspect it to be, then this is a futile task to try and follow through with. After all, the tool I need in order to fix this, is the very tool that needs fixing. It can become very tricky.

When everything seems clear, I wonder why it was so foggy beforehand and vice versa. So, when I'm well it doesn't make sense why I was, so to speak, ill and same goes for when I'm feeling shitty. When I'm at one of the two polarities, I feel like I'm finally seeing the truth, it's very strange. When it shifts I'm left confused and there's no rational explanation, either then there being something wrong with my brain biologically...Then again:

For lack of a better example, let's say you have a mathematical problem and can easily solve it, because you've practiced it in the past and it makes logic sense. You always come up with the right answer, through the process of applying the appropriate logical steps. Well, my situation seems to be that once I solve it, it makes sense and I feel great, everything seems to be going smoothly. When it all turns to shit is when that problem somehow changes into something unknown and I'm left wondering whether I really understood the previous problem -- This is what it essentially seems to be! I'm constantly rethinking my current situation, because it is not adding up in the way it used to. It doesn't make sense, so I'm left confused. Once it does add up through what seems to be an alignment of some sorts and everything clicks and makes sense, I'm able to solve the problem which I've had previous trouble with. Until...

My framework is faulty, it has holes that haven't been experienced therefore I don't understand. This unknowing IS the problem.

Does that make sense? ...I was trying to keep things in a general sense -- To many variables to mess around with, otherwise.

[Katy]

Vegetarianism actually isn't too healthy. Red meat isn't good, but fish oil helps repair a lot of brain issues. Anemia can mess up mental function, as well. Eating healthy, however, including a balance of good food, is definitly good for brain function.

As is exercise, sunlight, sleep, etc.

Also, this site has some exercises to increase brain function.

[1ntel]

Katy wrote:

Vegetarianism actually isn't too healthy.

I think this is only because all the body's nutritional needs aren't met. This is why I still plan to eat low doses of fish (2-3 servings weekly), eggs and drink one glass of organic milk, daily. It's mainly the animal fats, through the consumption of meat (such as: pigs, cows, etc.) that I want to eliminate. Plus, with the help of a multivitamin and mineral supplement, protein drink and other, this should work out very well. So by vegetarian I meant: no animal meat, besides fish. Also, organic stuff would be most preferable.

Also, this site has some exercises to increase brain function.

Looks interesting, thank you.

[1ntel]

2mg of Risperdal.

[1ntel]

...This is what my family doctor gave me, today. Should I take it?

[Dan Rowden]

My first instinct is to say NO. What did he prescribe it for, specifically?

[DHodges]

...This is what my family doctor gave me, today. Should I take it?

Are you going to take the advice of random people on the internet over what your doctor tells you??

[Dan Rowden]

That was the gist of my question: Do you know what your doctor is doing, basically, and if so, do it. Though, I would like to know why your GP would prescribe a drug like that in the absence of a psychiatric diagnosis.

[Carl G]

Random people on the Internet, your Doctor, random people, your doctor, hmm, seems much the same these days in terms of value.

If I were you I'd seek out a good alternative practitioner. And no, before everybody raises a stink, I don't mean a quack.

[daybrown]

DNA reveals Native Europeans evolved in villages of 150-300 over the course of the last 10,000 years. Bog body stomachs and bone middens reveal 100 wild and plants and animals in the diet, which we now know provided a wide variety of trace minerals and micronutrients plants absorbed from the biota in natual soils.

But in any case, the elders, witches, & shamen helped to raise the kids of incompetent parents to maximize the diversity in small gene pools. They notoriously had 'fertility rites' for that same reason. Not all of us who descended from this gene pool can expect to be as fully functional as the political/economic system wants.

In village life, this was no biggie, everyone knew everyone, and when someone was struggling with physical or mental problems, they were not sent away to some specialist, but kept right there, with familiar people and things to try to work it out. Often, everyone lived in the communal manorhall, and inhouse case management was normal.

The guy who sat alone in the corner all day whacking flint was no good as a marriage partner, but they needed his genes in the pool cause the hunters knew he made the best arrowheads. The delusional wench was no good as a mother, but her vivid images and fantasies related around the fire in the evening were better than tv trying to sell them shit. Unlike the shrink, the witches *lived* with the clients, and were there to pick up on subtle clues before stress levels went too high and things got out of hand.

The professional is only proficient in some small part of life, and dont see the whole person fitting, or misfitting, into group dynamics that is either helping or harming the situation. Hominds were never a mass herd species and have not adapted well to urban life, which stresses some more than others.

[Iolaus]

Hi Intel,

It sounds as if you're describing a kind of bipolar condition. Is that right?

If you ask me, the average regular doctor is the quack. It's just so easy for people to fall for the idea that their doctor knows what he's doing. Doctors are conformists and increasingly so.

Risperdal is heavy-duty. Psyche meds make people kinda flat. You can see if you like the way it makes you feel and function.

Daybrown,

You know, even today I have read that the Japanese have about 200 different foodstuffs in their diet. They have about the best longevity in the civilized world. I just got back from Ukraine. The people there eat so much better than here! It's astounding, the difference.

It's not just the problem of lack in variety. The bigger problem is eating denatured foods. Refined flour. tons of sugar. Hydrogenated oils and vegetable oils cooked on high heat.

But, in the center of Kiev, there were 3 McDonalds within less than a kilometer, and that's a pretty linear kilometer.

It seems to me that the problem with our democratic governments is just related to what you say about us humans being tribal. This nonsense of voting for people who you don't know and have no way of knowing. When the Amerindians voted for a leader, they knew his character initimately.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Intel wrote:

...This is what my family doctor gave me, today. Should I take it?

If this guy just put you on meds without any therapy, then I would be extremely cautious and skeptical. Many times, the medication has its own harmful side affects in addition to your own condition. Many times medication only masks the problem, and much of it hasn't been tested to the extent that it should be.

This is why I suggested mental exercises that actually change the structure of your brain, and allow you to develop new neural networks for the skills that you lost, or mental abilities that are lacking.

[daybrown]

The variety of hominid diets since the ice age complicates the assessments of what to do in individual cases, but none of us were evolved to develop properly on sugar cereals, junkfood, and soda.

And yes, Doctors, even if competent, dont really have the time to familiarize themselves with particular cases, nor are they on hand on a daily basis to see the effect of the meds they prescribe.

It'd help if you got a DNA analysis to see where the various haplotypes you inherited came from. As Iolaus noted, the cusine varies, and finding the plants in the ancestral heritage to add to the diet would help. And, at the same time, examining the individual exposure to a host of modern contaminants mite help. Modern homes often have plastics outgassing chemicals which we know trigger asthma and allergies, but nobody is looking for psychological responses to latex paint, synthetic fiber carpets, cleaning compounds, or whatever air or water pollution may be in the area.

One clue is the modern military, which does not accept what they view as unstable personalities. And we see the result in the death rate from Iraq. Last nite, PBS, like it does every nite, shows the latest. They showed us 3 from major metro areas last nite- Los Vegas, Cleveland, and San Diago; the other *8* came from small towns and rural areas, many of which nobody ever heard of. The major metro areas are 80% of the population, but only 30% of the armed forces. The small towns and farms, 2-3% of the population make up 25% of the military. Robert Kaplan, "Imperial Grunts" reports that half the Green Berets grew up on family farms. This is but 1% of the total population providing 50% of the nation's most competent soldiers. And it is this 1% that grows up in the cleanest environments with the least amount of junkfood.

All that makes perfect sense in trying to prevent trouble, but begs questions of what to do to cure it. Again, if there is psychological stress, the best option is some kind of village or tribal life which has vastly more personal support when the need arises. Its worth considering a move to Gaston's Farm, East Wind, Twin Oaks, or some other intentional community.

[Ignis Fatuus]

I changed my name from 1ntel.

I told my doctor that I started having problems with concentrating and controlling my thoughts. As soon as I said this, he started to fill out my prescription for this drug (It's a small dose). He told me it would help me concentrate by slowing down my thoughts. Risperdal is one of the newer antipsychotic medications. It's meant for people that exhibit symptoms of psychosis. My mental evaluation are still pending.

I wanted him to prescribe me some Ritalin or some other type of ADHD medication, but he wouldn't.

I bought the meds today, though I haven't taken any. I'll start on Monday...

[daybrown]

Waitaminit. Who told you, you had to control your thots? That's the government's job.

If you have imagination, then your thots run free. That is the first thing a true artist needs. Sure, some thots are dangerous, but an artist does not paint every picture he thinks of, nor a poet write every poem. You dont do everything that comes to mind; artists tend to mull things over in the cool light of day, after the passions that enflamed ideas the nite before.

Chew on a fresh carrot while you listen with the inner ear, just as you consider a thot and look at it with the inner eye. The immediacy of the flavor in your mouth will color the thot in a new way, revealing hidden golden forms.

[1ntel]

What the hell are you talking about??

[Trevor Salyzyn]

ADD medication only calms people with ADD. Everyone else gets anxious on it; it can also trigger psychosis. He was wise not to prescribe it.

Risperidal is treated like Ritalin by pschiatrists. I have never met a psychotic person who has not been put on it at some point. The typical complaints are usually weight gain, tiredness, and sexual dysfunction. But if the alternative is psychosis, gaining 10 pounds and losing the ability to orgasm isn't that bad -- so long as eventually the doctor is kind enough to move you to a less band-aid-like drug.