can you know

When you take brain altering chemicals (that they state no one even knows how or why they work.."it's thought to") can your perception of the world be trusted. If they put drops in your eyes for an exam can you trust your sight. Some meds alter your perception of senstions of touch or hearing or balance or pain...How do you know for 100% certianty that what you sense of the world is truly acurate..does your mind process what you are sensing..or what it wants to see..how to know for sure,,I ask my wife to watch me and tell me of changes but she lacks training to notice tiny changes ...I worry about this..am I alone or does any one else feel this way ? Those that are off meds do you feel different ? Does it really even matter as what we get is all we know... ? just IMO...

Your mind sees what it wants to. It's when that doesn't aline with the rest of your culture that its an issue. Usually the loved ones notice before the professionals but it could take a bit of therapy to learn symptoms vs that's wiretwister being wiretwister instead of a symptom of BP.

I do feel better off the medicine because that's what I'm use to but it destroys the people around me and can lead to hospitalization, or incarnation. Those are the two places that scare the hell out of me.

Being BP is who I am and always have been no question about that,,that is my reality given to me by birth,,My question is do the drugs affect you in a positive or negative way in your perception of your world...

Ah meds-- some people swear by them; other people swear at them.

I love your question wiretwister because it boils down to the ancient question of the nature of reality. The pragmatist will say "who cares-- if they work they work" and on one level there's value to that stance. But the thing is, we can never be 100% sure. Is perception reality? Are we living in a big hologram? Is reality only that which can be measured? I don't know the answer, but for me it's more important to ask the question. And my day-to-day answer is that meds do make me feel much different-- much better-- and when I'm off them I inevitably get sick(er) again.

FWIW.

all the best, Randy

I'm with the pragmatists "If they keep me out of the hospital and out of divorce court...whatever!"