Mere Cognition

Over the past year or so, I've been seeing more advertisements for antidepressant medications such as Auvelity (a Wellbutrin/DXM mix) and Spravato (a ketamine-derived nasal spray). I find that particularly interesting.

What most people don't know about me is that, a little over 20 years ago, I experienced long-term depression. (This was likely more me being a whiny little kid, but I digress.. the experience was real enough.) The SSRIs I tried never worked, so I used my reasoning skills and interest in neurochemistry to.. self medicate. Most of the other group of people I associated with were just dabbling recreationally but I always had a reason behind it. Anecdotally, I can vouch for some of these psychoactive and dissociative substances having short-to-medium term effects on mood and increased post-administration cognitive clarity.

So it's interesting to see the medicine catch up. Two decades seems to be the average lag time.

Nonetheless, this sort of thing is not a permanent solution and I wouldn't suggest my route to others. It was dangerous, and I was desperate. There's a much better way.

It's a way that most would scoff at; a path that seems like foolishness to those unable or unwilling to consider it.

The only one that can take away your psychological pain and trauma is the mercy and grace of Christ Jesus. "Sure, whatever," you might say. Yet I am living proof of this.

You might chock it up to the psychological power of belief, but I can say definitively that this is far from the case in my experience. The conviction of my belief is not the progenitor of the peace - in fact, a lot of times it causes strife. Yet through it all, my mind is calmed beyond explanation or understanding.

You might be wondering how this can be; you might remember me from years ago as the perpetually angry, over-the-top, somewhat crazy guy.

The only thing I can say to that is: Come and See.