You're obsessed with psychopharmacology? I too find that subject to be quite interesting and spend a lot of my time reading about it too, although not from textbooks.
I do enjoy some fiction every now and then though when I actually do read, but I'm usually reading information online.
Melissafaith - thanks, I will have a think about reading biographies/young adult fiction. I think I read a few true stories/biographies as a kid and I remember finding them easier to read than what I did at school.
RaoulDuke - psychopharmacology is a great topic indeed, and so is clinical medicine. What sort of websites do you read stuff from?
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
Like everyone else here, I don't think you should ever feel obliged to read fiction if you don't want to. But if you ever do feel like you want to give it another try, I'd recommend high fantasy (for example, The Lord of the Rings). The characters are generally larger-than-life and not very psychologically realistic, and as a result, their motivations tend to be very unambiguous and easy to understand. As an example, I'll compare a high-fantasy character with a... non-high-fantasy(?) character:
Severus Snape, from Harry Potter: Mean, bitter and sarcastic, so he comes across as a bad guy, but his loyalties lie with the heroes (even though he used to side with the villains and still pretends to). Has a personal grudge against Harry because he reminds him of Harry's father, who bullied him, and because Harry has the same eyes as his mother (who Snape loved), and seeing those eyes day after day is very painful, so he takes out that pain and frustration on Harry. Even so, he's willing to risk his life for Harry, and even willing to commit murder to keep him safe, because he promised Dumbledore he would, and he owes Dumbledore a great personal debt... and so on, and so on. Very complex character, and difficult to understand even for people who don't have Asperger's.
Bilbo Baggins, from The Hobbit: Kind, generous and honest. Occasionally enjoys adventuring, but generally prefers staying home and drinking tea. Simple as that.
So yeah, there you go. Actually, The Hobbit might be a good place to start - every character is simple and easy to understand (at least, easier to understand than real people).
That sounds rather interesting, and I admire you for being able to describe a character so well! I will have a look sometime...
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
Melissafaith - thanks, I will have a think about reading biographies/young adult fiction. I think I read a few true stories/biographies as a kid and I remember finding them easier to read than what I did at school.
RaoulDuke - psychopharmacology is a great topic indeed, and so is clinical medicine. What sort of websites do you read stuff from?
I'm probably not as educated on it as you are.
I've spent the past four four or five years reading on erowid.org quite regularly, I find the subject of mind altering substances to be absolutely fascinating. Ive basically turned my brain into a drug encyclopedia, some areas I'm more familiar with than others. Lately ive taken interest in the deliriant family; plants like datura, nightshade, phamacueticals like diphenhydramine. What effects they have on the brain, how they work etc.
other than that I'm drifting around on wikipedia reading articles on psychology and such. I rarely read books.
Not to go into much detail, I could talk about it for ages but I understand that conversation on that topic is frowned upon here (against the rules even maybe?) .
Last edited by JumpinJackFlash : 21-01-2012 at 10:53 AM.
JumpinJackFlash, sounds good to read about actually (just so long as one doesn't take them) - I had a couple of lectures in uni on Drugs of Abuse and it was pretty interesting. I know of diphenhydramine. I have a book called "The Pharmacology of LSD" - it's pretty interesting.
Last edited by Steel Maiden : 20-01-2012 at 04:16 PM.
Reason: additional
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
As others have said, you should read what you want to.
Don't feel you have to force yourself to do something that you don't want to or don't enjoy just because others tell you that you should.
I know a few people that don't read anything at all, and an autistic guy that like you only reads non-fiction.
You should do whatever you feel most comfortable with and not worry about what other people think.
^ thank you. I will read what takes my natural interest.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
JumpinJackFlash, sounds good to read about actually (just so long as one doesn't take them) - I had a couple of lectures in uni on Drugs of Abuse and it was pretty interesting. I know of diphenhydramine. I have a book called "The Pharmacology of LSD" - it's pretty interesting.
The deliriant plants have a long history that's deeply intertwined with religion, but of course one would have to be insane to actually take them.
(pertaining to your comment on LSD) I know a lot about psychedelics, that's probably the topic I'm most knowledgeable on, of course it's sort of a grey area that not much is known about them period because of reasons such as laws and social stigma. However the history of entheogenic plants traces back thousands of years and quite probably changed the course of human evolution. The compounds contained within these plants allow for great insights into the nature of the human brain; psychology, behavior etc. Which is the other topic that I hold a lot of interest in.
If only we lived in a society where these things weren't bastardized because my dream would be to conduct studies on human psychology using said compounds. It's an area that little research has been done in and many great discoveries are awaiting to be made.
The deliriant plants have a long history that's deeply intertwined with religion, but of course one would have to be insane to actually take them.
(pertaining to your comment on LSD) I know a lot about psychedelics, that's probably the topic I'm most knowledgeable on, of course it's sort of a grey area that not much is known about them period because of reasons such as laws and social stigma. However the history of entheogenic plants traces back thousands of years and quite probably changed the course of human evolution. The compounds contained within these plants allow for great insights into the nature of the human brain; psychology, behavior etc. Which is the other topic that I hold a lot of interest in.
If only we lived in a society where these things weren't bastardized because my dream would be to conduct studies on human psychology using said compounds. It's an area that little research has been done in and many great discoveries are awaiting to be made.
You should read the textbook about LSD, I think you'd like it. LSD is one of the most potent drugs in existence; 1 microgram/kg! And it is a 5HT2A agonist, which is opposite to second-generation antipsychotics, which are 5HT2A antagonists. Hence why LSD causes hallucinations.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
I'm not very deeply educated on the mechanisms on which they work in the brain, I just know the basic concepts.
My belief was that psychedelics; LSD, DMT, etc. caused their "hallucinations" (if you could call them that, if you want to hear about hallucinations read about about deliriants, those produce true hallucinations) by causing sensory feedback which gets more distorted each time it's re-received, which is also where their introspective qualities come from.
You might find this interesting http://www.tripzine.com/pit/signal_theory.htm since you understand more of the nitty gritty details than me. I just get the gist of it.
but then again I'm just some kid fresh out of high school who's spent time reading on the internet
