I'm Barbara Walters & *THIS* is 2020 (Again)

Barbara Walters:  "Coming to you DEAD & direct from... somewhere hot.  It's not important.  Hey Hugh, hit me with that intro would ya?  

[Intro music plays]  

Hugh Downs:  "Tonight, we've got married couples who can't stand each other fighting like it's lockdown and the kids are on their 300th day of distance learning."

[More intro music plays]  

Barbara Walters:  "And:  Trump vs. Biden (again) like it's the run-up to the 2020 election.  Stunning.  It's as if COVID, inflation, the Summer of George Floyd, the insurrection, the election dispute & all the rest of that mortifying crap never happened... Like it was all a fever dream.  I mean, covering that lunacy the 1st time is probably what killed me but hey, you can only die once amirite!"  

Hugh Downs:  "Good evening..."  

*************************

Yep I'm going to hell for that.  Sue me.  For those who need a refresher, 2020 was the worst year in recent memory.  Not because of any one person or event, but a culmination of events that had been building up over time.  Its fallout has reverberated through 2021, 2022 & 2023, with this year starting to feel, dare I say it, almost NORMAL again.  But normal is what got us into this mess in the 1st place.   

"Normal" is how the country falls like the Soviet Union & the human race ends.

Because our "normal" is anything but.  Our lives begin to end when we, on an individual and collective level, fail to learn from our mistakes & correct course in time to avert disaster.  When we passively stop putting up a fight against the tide of bullshit constantly being shoved down our throats at home, at work, in the political arena, the economic domain & society as a whole by those out to make a quick buck or otherwise benefit from our labor/love in the moment... long-term fallout be damned. 

And that's exactly what we've done:  absolutely nothing has changed since March 2020.  Prices have actually gone UP on groceries, rent, insurance and other daily living necessities.  The virus continues to mutate unchecked as the pandemic is declared "over".  People who hated their jobs and spouses before COVID reached our shores have not changed a goddamned thing except maybe picking up more hours + another side gig while doubling down on their domestic misery by renewing their vows or having more kids to further chain themselves to their garbage partner. 

The statistic that 1 in 4 Americans & 1 in 3 Oklahomans has long COVID has gone largely unnoticed, as has the fact that the U.S. lost over 1 million citizens to the disease & counting--more than any nation on Earth.  More than we lost in the Iraq/Afghanistan/Vietnam/Korean/Civil Wars wars put together (at its height, more people died of COVID per day than if Japan attacked Pearl Harbor daily for 3 months on end).  That's more than the first TEN years of the AIDS epidemic combined.  Did you register what I just said or did you skim over it?  Be honest.  Each of those deaths was an individual with a purpose & a life & at least 1 loved one who cared about them (but probably many more).

This matters because we're the ones who allowed it to spiral so far out of control... pretty much demanded it with our "let us get back to work!" rallies while the rest of the world was paying their citizens to stay home.  Our working conditions & standard of living, or lack thereof, have made America Ground Zero for infectious diseases throughout history:  everything from AIDS to monkeypox to COVID to Typhoid (see: "Typhoid Mary"). This study from 2014 containing commentary on our "crumbling public health infrastructure" (their words) & the many types of contagious illnesses plaguing our country, including hospital-acquired infections caused by things like reusing dirty needles, is particularly chilling. 

I can only imagine how much worse it's gotten since then, with the repeated COVID surges during which nurses were forced to wear trashbags for PPE & watch fellow front-liners die horrid deaths & deal with physical assault from conspiracy theorists while pulling superhuman-length shifts.  Many simply left the profession while those who stayed are more likely to suffer depression, anxiety & substance abuse disorders than pre-2020.  All of this only further serves to weaken our already-strained healthcare system.



What Happened to the Outrage?

There was so much talk during the pandemic (still ongoing, btw) about how people were now "awake" and "never going back" to their old zombified ways, shuffling through the day-to-day grind with their eyes closed to how badly they were getting screwed by their boss, landlord, supervisor & others in power.  Facebook pages boldly named "Stop Paying Rent" and "Kill Your Landlord!" propagated like wildfire.  People seemed to have epiphanies that, omg, I actually can't stand my spouse, my kids are brats & I deserve better.  

And just as quickly as the Facebook pages sprang up, they were gone.  Cheaters went back to their once-despised partners & resumed sharing Kodak moment photos like it never happened.  And needless to say, there's a depressing lack of landlord corpses in our streets.  

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THAT ENERGY?!  Are your brains really so captivated by Hustle Culture® and consumerism that you're incapable of maintaining even a sliver of dignity or staying true to your word?  Is it because the mean tweets stopped?  Not only did we fall back to baseline, we're now paying MORE for damn near everything than we ever have.  I get that bills must be paid but a lot of you live far beyond your means & confuse wants with "needs".  Also: It's possible to pay your bills without selling your fucking soul so maybe tone down the dramatics.

The real problem is, when you base your happiness on income & your worth on productivity, too much is never enough.  Money is numbers and numbers are infinite.  There's always a new tech gadget, car model, piece of gaudy furniture or designer clothing to acquire & flaunt in front of your peers; a new Instagrammable destination to visit, a new themed party to throw or attend.  But that dopamine boost is very temporary and grows weaker with each successive hit.  Soon your attention span is fried, your receptors burnt to a crisp and you require Epstein/Maxwell levels of novelty to catch a buzz or feel anything at all.  By that point you might as well cash in your chips & call it a day because "they" are onto you.

Sorry.  That escalated quickly.   📈  

We are here.  But we don't have to stay.

The point is we need to LEARN from our mistakes, ya dig?  And we do that by not continuing to make the same ones over and over a la Groundhog Day.  The saying "Do what ya always did, get what ya always got" still rings true.  We can't keep "doing what we always did" and then having a collective autistic societal meltdown* when things (predictably) go to shit.  We're gonna have to step outside our comfort zones, which means taking the initiative to set firm interpersonal boundaries, organize, strike, protest, boycott, budget, be frugal, divorce toxic spouses, make health a top priority, leave dysfunctional relationships, vote with our conscience (or not at all) & engage in community building activities like mutual aid if we want to see any real change in this ugly old world.  Or if you want to hear me quit bitching.  Either/or.  This applies to people in the $950,000/year income bracket as much as the $950/year one. 

And I'll let you in on a little secret:  if you don't believe you can do it and that you're worth it, you're already as good as dead.  You're never going to be the 1%er asshole at the tippy top of the pyramid so you might as well stop simping for him/her/it/shit right now.  I'm not referring to the Supervisor, Manager or other task delegator, I mean the Big Boss:  the CEO or owner of a giant corporation.  The one who flies private & wears $450 sunglasses indoors for his "allergies".  Not some petite-bourgeois bargain basement Bezos who owns a small business--I'm talking an Elon Musk-level psychopa--job creator--who goes to outer space in his free time, doing single-handedly what NASA used to do when we were a proper country.  There are but a handful of these Soros-level oligarchs in total so believing you can become one is more delusional than that Dr. Phil guest who thought she was incubating Baby Jesus in her barren uterus.

TL;DR - I guess I'm disappointed but not surprised at how fast everyone went back to their regularly scheduled lameness after talking such a big revolutionary game when the chips were down.  Whatever made you feel that life was precious & time was short was real--those things are still true.  Your risk of dying of a heart attack, stroke or blood clot to the lungs is still increased due to COVID's lasting effect on the cardiovascular system.  And each reinfection raises your risk of long-term complications.  Sorry if this harshes your mellow but it's true.  And yeah, the vaccine probably does carry some risks (autoimmunity, allergic reactions, etc) for people under age 65 whom it was not developed for.  Combine these things with the stress of being overworked, underpaid & overcharged for everything in a nation without universal healthcare & who knows how long any of us has on this dying blue dot?

Dangerous freedom will always be > peaceful slavery; it shouldn't take 1 million of your fellow Americans dying to awaken you to that fact.  There is no Heavenly reward for conformity or wasting your one precious life as a martyr/enabler of the powerful on a micro or macro level.  The depressing thing is, if COVID and this country's massive under-reaction to it didn't change the way we run our lives, nothing will.  

*Collective Autistic Societal Meltdown (n.) - Assaulting healthcare workers/grocery store clerks/theme park attendees for enforcing mask policies at their jobs; having violent freakouts in mid-flight on commercial airliners; punching "Nazis," storming/smearing shit all over the nation's capitol, liberating Minnesota, killing "TERFs," throwing protesters in unmarked vans in Portland, attempting to revive the Satanic Panic via QAnon, holding maskless superspreader rallies in the midst of the country's most deadly pandemic, sending jackbooted troops in to shut down nonviolent pro-choice protests, cracking the skulls of the elderly and general Kyle Rittenhouse-style feral behavior in the streets.

Whether human or ape, this is definitely primate behavior.  💩

Diss Track Review: "Hit 'Em Up"

I've been delving into the diss track/hip hop beef world lately so I figured why not dissect some of the best, worst, weirdest & most memorable on the old bliggity blog?  Sorry in advance to any of my Easy Listening, Country/Western or Christian Contemporary fans... ya might wanna skip this series, especially if foul language offends you.  Consider this your one and only warning.

Good music is evergreen, timeless.  It doesn't contain elements that date it like references to Myspace or specific car models/clothing brands that may go out of style--things that give away its age and make it irrelevant in the present day.  Likewise, a good diss track is all of those things PLUS being highly personal, specific & heartless, leaving its subject humiliated and exposed before the world.  (I also like when elements of the song can be applied to my own life but that's just a bonus).  😏

I'll start with the king of all diss tracks, "Hit 'Em Up" by 2Pac and the Outlawz.  Released in summer 1996 after Pac's prison stint & (first) shooting, this song is positively dripping with rage.  Some would say TOO much rage--that he lost control of his emotions and in doing so, lost the battle.  But according to Spotify, "Hit 'Em Up" is the 2nd most played song in 2Pac's discography with 552,114,899 plays at the time of this writing.  I'll spare you the backstory on this classic track as most know it already but long story short, both 2Pac and Biggie ended up dead over this beef that started out as a feud between label owners Suge Knight and Puff Daddy, both of whom are still alive.  And that fucking sucks.  As of now, Pee Diddy is still walking free despite playing an allegedly key role in the murder of 2Pac which sucks even more.

What also sucks is that a lot of other nameless people died in this war, which didn't just involve rappers & record execs but gang members & bystanders in Compton & surrounding areas.  I had a friend who was born & raised in Compton and the climate got so violent in late '96 she had to move.  (At one time she was an affiliate of the female Piru (Blood) set Suge surrounded himself with, spending time on his yacht & meeting celebrities like Queen Latifah, MC Hammer & of course 2Pac).  She said that in the wake of 2Pac's murder, the MOB Pirus enacted what they called "Crip-A-Day" in which they vowed to kill at least one Southside Crip every day, whether an actual member of the gang or an unaffiliated woman or child "caught slippin" out in the open or in the wrong neighborhood.  Fucking brutal.  

Suge Knight with some friendly neighborhood Bloods  😑

But such is the way of the street:  "No snitching" doesn't just mean keeping your mouth shut around cops & giving your enemies a free pass--it means you handle these matters yourself, often violently.  "You take one of ours, we'll take 5 of yours" style.  It's said that 2Pac's last words were "Fuck you" to Vegas police officer Chris Carroll, who repeatedly asked him "Who did this to you?" as he lay dying.  Can't say I blame him:  that time would've been better spent making him comfortable in his dying moments than hassling him to do the job you're paid to do.  Compton police had the case solved weeks after it happened but Vegas Metro refused to work with them so it went "cold."  In reality, Metro just didn't want their little Adult Disney World associated with gangs & other unsavory n*gga shit lest they scare off tourists.
 

Biggie's wife, Faith Evans, w/ a devious-looking 2Pac

"Hit 'Em Up" came after Pac heard prison rumors that Biggie set him up to be shot in 1994 at Quad Studios in New York.  In it he disses Puffy, Biggie, Lil' Kim and the entire Junior Mafia--a group comparable to the Outlawz on 2Pac's side.  But he doesn't stop there, going in on a long list of East Coast rappers including Chino XL and Mobb Deep, the latter of which he singles out as "young-ass motherfuckers" who got "sickle cell" (Prodigy of Mobb Deep did have this condition and eventually died prematurely of its complications, incidentally also in Vegas).  

But it may have had even longer lasting impacts.  Lil' Kim has had numerous plastic surgeries (and what look like skin-lightening procedures) since the close of the '90s.  While one song likely wasn't to blame, it certainly couldn't have helped being called an "ugly ass/coked up" so-and-so by one of the biggest rappers in the world.  The way he talked about Faith Evans was repulsive too and this song led to her getting battered by husband Biggie, who was "notorious" for cheating himself.  (Faith has said she & 2Pac didn't sleep together when she was recording backup vocals for his song, but in true woman-hating fashion, the misogynistic internet doesn't believe her & is choosing to side with a dead rapper who had a major dog in the fight when he made the claim.

Before and After:  Was Lil' Kim's body dysmorphia set in motion by "Hit 'Em Up?"

"Hit 'Em Up" was truly one of the coldest diss tracks of its day and maybe of all time, not because it's particularly clever or well-written but for the pure venom and rage in 'Pac's voice.  You can feel his sense of betrayal & vengeance, something most of us can relate to at some point.  The Outlawz got off some good shots too; I like E.D.I. Mean's verse best.  But it's 2Pac's impromptu drunken rant at the end that truly sets it apart from other diss tracks to that point, a format that has since been copied by artists like Eminem & Royce Da 5'9.  The song marked the beginning of the notorious "East Coast/West Coast" war and the end of 2Pac as a voice for Black unity as he became increasingly paranoid & angry at his own people.  Whether this is a coincidence or part of an FBI plot is another article for another day, but the East/West divide was very similar to the fracture between East/West Coast Black Panther factions in the '70s that was orchestrated by the Feds in the covert COINTELPRO operation. 

This is significant because 2Pac's mom was a member of the Panther 21 and 2Pac had a number of ongoing connections with incarcerated political prisoners from the Panther Party whom he would name-drop in songs.  2Pac was himself a member of the New Afrikan Panther Party & had a song from early in his career called "Panther Power."  Any one of these things would've been enough to draw the ire of the FBI, but combined with his high-profile legal troubles, which included shooting two off-duty white police officers, he had a target on his back the minute he got famous.  To paraphrase him: "I never had a record 'til I made a record."

What could 2Pac have accomplished had he not gotten caught up in another man's petty battles?  We'll never know, but I believe he would've stayed in rap for only a couple more years, eventually putting his focus into his Euphanasia record label & using it to invest back into the community and help promising young talent.  Who knows?  He might've even gotten involved in politics, something he'd alluded to in some of his final interviews.  (Not necessarily as a candidate but an organizer or leader of a group like BLM or a Black Marxist group like the original Panthers).  Acting was another of his passions.  In addition to the multiple double albums released posthumously, two feature films starring 2Pac--Gridlock'd & Gang Related--came out shortly after he died.  But like many other young Black men of the time and Gen X'ers in general, he ended up dying an untimely death due to a mix of nihilism, recklessness & factors outside his control.  Thankfully he left behind a treasure trove of fiery music before he departed, with "Hit 'Em Up" being the crown jewel in a white hot discography. 

Song Highlights:  

"That's why I fucked yo' bitch, you fat motherfucker"

"Tryna come up offa me, you in the clouds hopin'

Smokin' dope, it's like a sherm high, niggas think they learned to fly

But they burn, motherfucker, you deserve to die"

"You's a beat biter

A Pac style taker

I'll tell you to your face you ain't shit but a faker"

"Oh yeah, Mobb Deep you wanna fuck with us?

You little young-ass motherfuckers 

Don't one of you niggas got sickle cell or something? 

You fucking with me

Nigga, you fuck around and have a seizure or a heart attack" 

"Fuck you and your motherfuckin' mama"

"Die slow, motherfucker

My .44 make sure all y'all kids don't grow"

"Hit 'Em Up" by 2Pac feat. Outlawz

Up next:  "Long Kiss Goodnight" by The Notorious B.I.G. & Puff Daddy

Tobacco And Schizophrenia: The Link You Haven't Heard About

When you hear the term 'lung cancer,' what's the first risk factor that comes to mind?  Smoking--tobacco to be specific.  Yet fully 12% of lung cancer patients worldwide (28% in the UK & 20% of U.S. lung cancer cases in women) are never-smokers, which is more than the percentage of schizophrenics who don't smoke.  

With all the attention cannabis has gotten in regards to causing psychosis, you'd think it was a foregone conclusion.  Likewise, the "kid takes acid once, permanently believes he's an orange" scare stories have been shoved in our faces by the media since the swinging '60s.  What you undoubtedly HAVEN'T been told is that the link between cigarette smoking and schizophrenia is stronger than that of either cannabis or psychedelics, and it may be more than just correlation.   In fact the link is stronger than the link between lung cancer & smoking, statistically speaking.  It may just be correlation, but that's one helluva suspicious correlation.

Smoking is often associated with anxiety, but schizophrenia?



Correlation:  Nearly All Schizophrenics Smoke Tobacco

Schizophrenia is a devastating illness with no known cause or cure

Considered by most mental health professionals to be the most severe mental illness in the DSM, schizophrenia is a persistent, often worsening disorder of thought that causes both "positive" (i.e. in addition to what is considered normal) symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions & disorganized speech and "negative" (an absence of normal abilities) symptoms:  flat affect, catatonia & social withdrawal.  Its cause has long eluded experts, with infections & autoimmune causes recently getting attention.  

It's long been known that schizophrenics have higher rates of smoking tobacco than the general population--much higher.  Statistics vary but a 2006 study published in Perspectives in Psychiatric Care stated that over 90% of schizophrenics smoked tobacco. The number generally given today is "between 80-90%": an outrageously high number compared to the TWELVE PERCENT of non-schizophrenic adults who smoked in 2020.  

I first heard of this statistic way back in an Abnormal Psych class in the early 2000s & always found it suspicious.  Anecdotally, I know a lot of heavy smokers with severe mental illness--psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, Bipolar I/Schizoaffective disorder (my late grandma) & whatever tf is wrong with my mom (half joking).  She was a 3-pack-a-day smoker for 19 years & had a friend who kept up with her in that department but never managed to quit.  The friend developed severe hyperthyroidism late in life before going insane & being permanently placed in a home for severely mentally ill/demented adults where she resides to this day.  

But it took a team of researchers in Israel to officially make the connection and, according to their study, this may be a causation rather than correlation situation.  Worse yet, quitting smoking may not be sufficient to lower risk, as heavy smokers who smoked 20 cigarettes per day for 15 years but had quit for 17 years were still twice as likely as never-smokers to develop schizophrenia.

In other words, cigarette smoking may be the CAUSE of schizophrenia rather than something schizophrenics do to self-medicate as was always believed.

Causation:  (Neuro)Toxic Tobacco

Some of the more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes

While it's not known exactly how cigarettes might cause schizophrenia in some smokers, several theories exist.  One is that nicotine, an atypical stimulant, releases dopamine--the primary neurotransmitter implicated in psychotic disorders like schizophrenia.  One fact I haven't seen mentioned is that tobacco also contains a number of neurotoxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, aluminum, zinc, cadmium, copper & nickel.  Certain brands & batches contain higher concentrations than others but all have dangerous levels (there are no safe levels of lead or mercury in humans).  Over time these substances build up in the body, causing metabolic disturbances that could in theory trigger mental illness in those genetically predisposed to it. 

And that's the other thing: not every smoker develops schizophrenia, so there's clearly a genetic factor at play.  But you can't know whether you have it until it happens to you, and by then it's too late.  


Truth:  Another Casualty of the Drug War

Why nobody ever questioned whether cigarette smoking might play a causal role in schizophrenia is not really a mystery.  Legal drugs like alcohol, tobacco and caffeine are not considered "real" drugs like pot, psychedelics, opioids or crack.  Hence the common and infuriating phrase "drugs and alcohol" which is a bit like saying "food and pizza pies".  These substances ARE drugs: they affect brain function directly, have major addictive/withdrawal/overdose potential and can cause physical disease just like any street drug when abused.  The only difference is the social acceptance factor.  

What's NOT acceptable is the dangerous lie that smoking somehow "calms" people with this horrific condition or that it actually treats it to a degree, a lie that's still being spread by reputable institutions to this day.  The only reason nicotine--a stimulant--"calms" ANYONE is because withdrawals begin shortly after the last dose and cause feelings of anxiety, tension & irritability that are only relieved by ingesting more.  There's no logical reason that a dopamine-releasing substance would improve a disease like schizophrenia and these irresponsible "experts" should know that.  The myth that smokers just have an "oral fixation" and the widespread acceptance of smoking in drug treatment centers exists for the same reason--denial of the addictive nature of nicotine, a drug as hard to quit as heroin or cocaine according to the Surgeon General way back in 1988.  

Even if there were a grain of truth to the absurd claim that smoking tobacco somehow alleviated schizophrenia symptoms, is it responsible to report it considering how deadly the drug is in every other possible way?  Would the media ever dream of reporting this positive effect if the drug that helped schizophrenics was, say, MDMA or heroin or even cannabis instead of a legal/taxed drug like tobacco?

No.  Of course they wouldn't.  Because they've got a War on (Some) Drugs to conduct.  

And smoking tobacco doesn't help treat schizophrenia, it's merely alleviating nicotine withdrawal symptoms caused by the last time the patient smoked so it's a moot point.  It's also raising blood pressure, heart rate, risk for about 13 types of cancer, emphysema, COVID, tuberculosis, autoimmune disease, COPD, asthma, heart attack, stroke, gum disease/tooth loss, macular degeneration, Type II diabetes & peripheral artery disease.  To name a FEW.  There's gotta be a safer way to "calm the minds" of these struggling souls so they can think clearly. 

Why not just say what you really mean:  that the chances of a schizophrenic patient ever quitting nicotine are next to 0 because the withdrawal would cause a dangerous worsening of their symptoms?  Even mentally healthy/non-schizophrenic people can become extremely irritable & out of touch with reality during nicotine withdrawal.  (I'm lucky my grandma was around when my mom quit or I might've ended up like one of Andrea Yates' kids.  No, I'm not exaggerating.  I still tease her about it to this day but yikes).  Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal may include anger, impulsivity, trouble sleeping, vivid dreams, physical restlessness/indeliberate movement, anxiety, depression, headache, weight gain, mood swings, extreme nicotine cravings & difficulty concentrating.  And that's in a mentally stable person--imagine what that would do to someone struggling with schizophrenia.  That's to say nothing of the effects of some of the meds prescribed for nicotine withdrawal like Chantix.

If you wouldn't advise a schizophrenic patient to self-medicate with meth or cocaine, you shouldn't encourage them to do so with nicotine.  Schizophrenia shaves an average of 14.5 years off a person's life expectancy--the illness is the SECOND leading risk factor for dying of COVID, bested only by advanced age.  Schizophrenics have higher rates of cardiovascular disease... might these things be a result of smoking?  Nobody's claiming it's the ONLY factor that shortens life or causes schizophrenia, but when 80-90% of any population smokes, that's damn near all of them & it's unforgivable to overlook the possible connection in both directions--cause AND effect.  When you consider the Reefer Madness-level reporting on cannabis and psychosis, the negligence is even more unforgivable.



Scapegoating Grass

Dramatic photo from a NY Post article on cannabis & schizophrenia

Marijuana is a mild hallucinogen that alters time perception, memory, pleasure, sensory perception, appetite & movement so of course it could worsen psychotic symptoms.  Paranoia & anxiety are commonly reported side effects of cannabis, and extreme stress is a common trigger of first-episodes of mental illnesses including schizophrenia so it's even possible that heavy cannabis use could trigger a 1st psychotic episode in schizophrenics. 

But marijuana lacks the addictive potential of tobacco & is rarely used as compulsively (i.e. "chain-smoked").  It also has not been linked to the serious health risks of tobacco, thus even if it DID trigger or worsen psychosis it would be far easier to quit and wouldn't add to the overall health burden/life shortening effect seen in schizophrenics (cancer, heart disease, emphysema/COPD).  The fact that schizophrenic people often are poly-drug users makes it hard to tell WHICH drug caused which problem, but the Israeli study was the first to elucidate that many patients started smoking cigarettes BEFORE the onset of their illness, therefore the claim that it's a habit they picked up in the psych ward or on the streets that they incidentally found helpful for controlling their symptoms is false.  THE CHICKEN (smoking) CAME BEFORE THE EGG (schizophrenia) which points to it being more cause than effect. 


Now What?

My big question is, how many researchers & journalists have noted this connection & just let it slide in order to cover for tobacco companies or not ruffle any feathers within that industry?  Can it really be that only myself and a handful of scientists in Israel thought to ask whether the excessive rates of smoking among schizophrenics might be due to the habit CAUSING the disorder? 

Doubtful, but stranger things have happened.  In any case, this story should be much bigger than it is.  If a preventable (already dangerous) habit could be identified as the cause of a disorder as life-destroying as schizophrenia that costs society around 281.6 billion annually, not only could we prevent many cases outright, it would open up untold pathways for new research into a treatment or cure.  Lord knows the meds we've got now are woefully inadequate and add to the overall life-shortening effect in psychotic patients due to side effects like increased appetite/weight gain, diabetes, tardive dyskinesia & brain atrophy.  The real question is whether the psychiatric industry truly WANTS a cure and is willing to change with new information.  Every time a study comes out that paints the profession or their golden goose (psych meds) in a bad light, they shoot it down with some knee-jerk nonsense.  If 80-90% (or even 40-50%) of cases of schizophrenia could be prevented by simply not smoking, that would cut into antipsychotic prescriptions immensely, affecting somebody's bottom line. 

It also goes back to the tenet that mental health IS physical health.  Not everything is caused by childhood trauma & can't, in fact, be helped by magical--err, POSITIVE--thinking or crying it out in therapy.  Mental health professionals need to start asking about possible biological causes for severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia & bipolar disorder--things like head trauma, heavy metal poisoning, maternal substance abuse or teratogen exposure, early malnutrition, birth complications/oxygen deprivation, infections & other things that might've actually damaged the brain (as opposed to the mind/psyche).  The overly simplistic neurotransmitter hypothesis isn't very promising & is hard to test, as almost every drug that works on the dopamine system also affects multiple other neurotransmitters. 

The smoking/schizophrenia link is very tentative at this point but definitely worth a deeper look.  The fact that the story isn't headlining 60 Minutes or PBS Newshour is curious indeed, especially when none of these outlets misses an opportunity to link psychotic disorders with illegal drugs like cannabis every time a new piece of 'evidence' trickles out.  (Props to The Conversation for delving into the cognitive effects of smoking.  Anything that constricts blood vessels or cuts off oxygen to that degree cannot be great for brain health long-term).

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On the Topic of Red Flags

My friends and I were discussing relationship RED FLAGS recently and it turned into a lively 2 hour discussion.  The waitress had to kindly shoo us out of the restaurant because we lost track of time & they were closing.  😄   While there are a lot of obvious answers to this question (track marks, verbal abuse, being a Chris Brown fan), my answer was a bit less so and comes from dealing exclusively with women romantically:  

Serial monogamy, aka refusal to be single for any length of time between relationships.  While admittedly not ideal, why would this be negative enough to constitute a red flag?  

1.)  (In)Fidelity.  Anyone who hops from one relationship straight into the next was not exclusively devoted to their previous partner for at least some of their time together.  They're going through each relationship putting their eggs in multiple baskets, keeping an eye out for their next prospect at the 1st sign of unhappiness or boredom (and maybe before that point).  While many people only consider physical acts to be cheating, it always begins in the mind with emotional infidelity and a mental disconnect from your partner.  Flirting, "work spouses" & forming inappropriate emotional bonds with people who aren't your partner can be every bit as bond-destroying as a one-night stand with a stranger--sometimes more so.  Plus it's physically impossible to devote equal time & attention to two people at once so these "harmless" crushes & flirtations are a betrayal & always hurt the relationship in the end.

2.)  Codependence/Fear of Being Alone.  Secondly, anyone who refuses to be single is doing so for a reason and almost never a healthy one.  Aversion to contemplating their contribution to the previous relationship's demise, having to support themselves financially, needing constant validation/attention or simply refusing to sit alone with their own thoughts is a PROBLEM & likely signals big issues with codependency.  After a relationship ends, we need time to grieve it's conclusion and think about what we truly want in a future partner--not what society tells us we SHOULD want but the things that are important to us.  We also need to see firsthand that we can thrive on our own, and that other types of relationships--friends, family, co-workers, roommates, therapists & acquaintances--are just as important as romantic relationships.  Failure to do so can cause us to put too much pressure on our next partner to fulfill all these roles which is a recipe for disaster.  Also:  "Alone" does not necessarily = lonely.  Loneliness is an emotion that can occur unexpectedly at any time.  Some of the times I've felt the most lonely were in large crowds when there was no connection or the energy was off.  'Alone' can also mean solitude, peace, freedom, strength, space for creativity, self-discovery, structure & new beginnings.  It's all in how you choose to use the time.  

3.)  Not Knowing Thyself.  Another huge issue with never being single is that it's impossible to self-actualize or even know who the hell you are if you're always half of a couple.  Try as we might, we all lose a bit of our individuality when we enter committed relationships, taking on some of the mannerisms, likes and dislikes and the daily habits of our significant other.  It's only natural & largely subconscious.  This becomes even more of an issue in cohabitation or marriage.  It's not necessarily bad as relationships require cooperation & a healthy balance of give-and-take, but if you're never single you spend your entire adult life in this cycle of adopting the characteristics of other people without developing your own personality.  Solitude is vital for creativity as well--I never would've started this blog or my other side projects if I had a partner demanding my attention all the time.  Deeply understanding your own values, goals, beliefs, preferences & shortcomings is vital for a healthy psyche and balanced life, plus you fucking deserve to know who you truly are independent of other people.  It's one of the few cool parts of adulthood.  Very few.  

4.)  Settling/Incompatibility/Dishonesty.  Finally and perhaps most red flaggy, relationship hoppers are constantly settling for Ms. or Mr. Right Now to avoid being alone, and when you do that, you end up with partners who are less than compatible... to put it mildly.  The result is a drive to turn them into Ms. or Mr. Right by changing core aspects of who they are--a venture that's both cruel & doomed to fail.  When it inevitably does & resentment builds up but the poor sap has no idea WHY, you quietly begin looking for another partner with the desired traits who will return your affection, staying in the dead-in-the-water relationship in the meantime.  (See Point #1).  All the while you continue stringing your current partner along through this relationship purgatory & wasting precious years of their life by making them think you have a future together.  THIS IS COWARDLY & WRONG.  You should leave a dead relationship the minute you realize it's over, not when the next lifeboat comes along which could be months or years.  The saying "you can't get OVER somebody until you get UNDER somebody new" is truly vile and very telling in regards to how many folks (particularly women) have this mindset.  

If you've ever been with someone who had another love interest lined up the minute they left you, rest assured they were "talking to" them (aka committing emotional and/or physical infidelity) while they were still with you.  Perhaps your only consolation is that it has nothing to do with you and is just their maladaptive attachment style.  Also:  if they'll do it with their new boo they'll do it to them.  Nacho problem anymore.




Bottom Line

It really do be like that sometimes.

It hurts like hell when a relationship ends and you have to deal with that pain alone, and it can be scary doing life by yourself.  But the growth & freedom you'll experience is unlike anything you can ever replicate in a relationship.  Relationship-hopping is escapism--using the all-consuming high of a new relationship to avoid thinking about the one that just ended (or to avoid adulting alone in general).  All I can say is good luck with that.  There will come a time when you have to be alone; when everyone's busy, unavailable, dead or gone.  What then?  Plus, it's impossible to evaluate a new potential partner for compatibility & spot any possible red flags in them when your head is clouded with the problems of your current or recently-ended relationship.  All you're doing is ensuring another ill-fated relationship. 

Anyone who's uncomfortable to such a degree with their own company is likely repressing some heavy shit or avoiding thinking about something bad they did to someone else in the past.  And you can't run forever.  It will all come out in the wash eventually.  Being single gives you time to work on yourself, and some of you SHOULD be doing that (looking at you, Cluster B's).  Learning to be comfortable alone is a vital part of growing up and being an autonomous adult.  Despite whatever weird pet names you call each other in the bedroom, your partner is not your mommy or daddy & treating them as such is a dynamic that's destined to end poorly.  (Or maybe in the poor house).    

If your crush/love interest just got out of a long-term relationship (or is still in one but "in the process of leaving") and is coming on strong, ask more questions.  Find out when they were last single & what their longest run of singledom was if possible.  You don't wanna be a rebound or side-piece obvs, but all of the above are also legit reasons to be wary of committing to these types in a long-term relationship.  While the thought that they'd leave for you is flattering, it says more about them than you.  You're not special; it's probably a pattern.  And as stated before, if they'll do it with you they'll do it to you.  Is that really something you want to worry about/deal with in a relationship?

To quote one of my besties:  "I'd rather die alone in a room surrounded by CATS than suffer these fools!"  And that, dear readers, is why we're friends.   💞

So anyway, that's my relationship 🚩 and maybe just a red flag for people in general.  Love to hear yours!