Anonymous wrote:people in the DMV are unfriendly and humorous (no irony) and this is largely down to the fact it was originally a German settlement.

Ha! Descendant of German settler in DC and this made me lol.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another theory: my son and I (and maybe his dad too) have super immunity to covid. We never tested positive when testing was required, and never locked down in any way. We aren’t testing anymore as it’s not required but all the colds just feel normal.

I think I have this too. I've been directly exposed to it several times, tested negative (multiple tests afterwards), and the only way I can explain that I've still never gotten covid is some sort of natural immunity. Or maybe it will get me eventually - I'm not worried about that, just about inadvertently passing it on to someone else.

Similar, but I suspect I was exposed to Covid via travel in Dec 2019 when I had a sore throat - rare for me. Maybe I was lucky enough to not have a severe case?

In my family’s experience testing was required for school and work. Three have had it once and the rest have never tested positive. Colds are more severe, but never a positive test for few of us.

My DH and I were definitely exposed via his travel in Dec 2019 but never got sick. My DD got it and was down for a week in preschool with what we now know is the typical way that she gets Covid. She’s had it 3x since but only tested positive 2x. DH and I got exposed again in early Feb 2020 and were horribly ill for a week with symptoms for 6 weeks after but DD made it through that round just fine. I test positive every time, but he never tests positive even when symptomatic!

I don’t think we have natural immunity or susceptibility but something is weird with symptoms vs. test results.

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Anonymous wrote:The rise in neurologically diverse children is due to the artificial increase of hormones--whether it be because of psychotropic drugs in mothers and fathers, plastic hormone disruptors, and IVF treatments, or some combination of those. Some people are more genetically susceptible to these than others and are more profoundly affected in utero.

My theory on this is different. I believe the rise in autism and autism spectrum disorders is due to people on the autism spectrum being more able to reproduce than at any other time in history. In the past, people on the spectrum were unlikely to marry (they were seen as strange or weird...). Now, people on the spectrum are able to be successful due to the rise in computer science careers, and are therefore more suitable marriage partners and are having children more often.

Totally this. My mom was a divorcee in the 60s. She met my dad at work and was already in her 30s at the time. It’s not like she had other options so she overlooked his HFA and ADHD as “quirky”.

Same on my DH’s side- his parents were immigrants and expected to marry within a small community, so options were limited especially because interracial marriage was still prohibited where they lived. My FIL is kind but a walking illustration of autism and ADHD. It’s a lot to tolerate and my MIL says as much (unfortunately, not until well into my marriage…).

Anonymous wrote:people in the DMV are unfriendly and humorous (no irony) and this is largely down to the fact it was originally a German settlement.

Um, what?

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Anonymous wrote:We have more learning disabilities, ADD, and mental illness in the United States than exists in other countries because the people who couldn't hack it in their countries of origin immigrated to the United States, whereas the high-functioning people stayed there.

you're assuming that it's the lazy, idiotic person in, say, Vietnam, who finds a way to get the U.S. and live here? Data is pretty clear that people who immigrate to the United States are more highly motivated and educated than the people that stay behind in their home country. Which makes sense! Imagine the United States was in huge turmoil and it wasn't safe and there was no economy to speak of. Which citizens would find a way to get to Canada, Germany, Japan, wherever -- the people who "can't hack it" or motivated, smart people with some resources?

Agree. I worked near a top university and tech center. Got to know many people from India, Korea, China and Japan in education and tech. They were so smart and motivated and their kids were incredibly smart. I knew that more motivated people tend to emigrate, but the notion was made very clear to me, meeting them, and was not just an abstract idea. Also, I’ve worked with many people from Vietnam who were boat people post-war. They did not choose their situation, but i would say 100% of them were smart, ambitious and incredibly hardworking.

Short, ugly men usually have big dicks.

Anonymous wrote:people in the DMV are unfriendly and humorous (no irony) and this is largely down to the fact it was originally a German settlement.

I believe it was originally native Americans living in this area.

humorless - not humorous - I wish!

people in the DMV are unfriendly and humorous (no irony) and this is largely down to the fact it was originally a German settlement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rise in neurologically diverse children is due to the artificial increase of hormones--whether it be because of psychotropic drugs in mothers and fathers, plastic hormone disruptors, and IVF treatments, or some combination of those. Some people are more genetically susceptible to these than others and are more profoundly affected in utero.

My theory on this is different. I believe the rise in autism and autism spectrum disorders is due to people on the autism spectrum being more able to reproduce than at any other time in history. In the past, people on the spectrum were unlikely to marry (they were seen as strange or weird...). Now, people on the spectrum are able to be successful due to the rise in computer science careers, and are therefore more suitable marriage partners and are having children more often.

No way. 100 years ago, the autistic dude living in the middle of no where would find a wife in a mail order catalog. My dad is autistic and my mom locked him in because she was one of the last unmarried women in the college circles at 22, and she tells me she just figured she had to deal with his idiosyncrasies to get married. There is absolutely no way on earth any woman would put up with dating my dad now, let alone marry him. Women have more choices and don’t need to get married anymore. Autism and adhd is less likely to procreate these days than in the past.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bipolar disorder and (some?) epilepsy have a common cause.

The keto diet treats anxiety better than any medication.

What makes you think that?

The mood stabilizers most relied upon in treatment of bipolar are anti-convulsants that are used to treat seizures. And both are (most likely) issues that arise in the brain.

Yes, there is some overlap in pharma drugs between bipolar disorder and epilepsy, but that is mainly for seizures originating in the frontal lobe. So while there is overlap in treatment, they do not have a common cause.

If fact, epilepsy in itself does not have a common cause. Epilepsy is simply reoccurring seizure activity. It's the effect, not the cause. The cause can be a number of things.

Similarly there is not one cause for bipolar disorder.

It's all much more complicated than your personal theory.

Any ideas on where I should look for more info on the cause(s) of bipolar?

NAMI is a great resource. They will link to other studies, journals and scientific papers. There is finally research and funding getting to severe mental illnesses, when in prior decades, those affected were hidden in shame.

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/August-2022/Understanding-Bipolar-Disorder#:~:text=The%20Basics%20of%20Diagnosis%20and%20Treatment&text=Risk%20Factors%3A%20Having%20a%20close,appear%20in%20the%20teen%20years.

Here's another thing that epilepsy and bipolar have in common- multiple causes. Both really are the effect of a cause.

Examples:
Causes of epilepsy (some, not at all inclusive): damage to the brain (illness or injury), strokes, tumors, unknown causes
Causes of bipolar (again, some, no where near a complete list): genetic history, trauma, substance abuse, unknown causes

There is a possibility that a person with a brain injury in the frontal lobe develops seizures and symptoms of bipolar disorder (so the original poster would assume her theory is correct), however, there isn't one singular cause for either.

The evidence of the overlap between the two is the frontal lobe. Similarly, dementia can also affect the frontal lobe, and mirror symptoms of bipolar disorder.

Anonymous wrote:We have more learning disabilities, ADD, and mental illness in the United States than exists in other countries because the people who couldn't hack it in their countries of origin immigrated to the United States, whereas the high-functioning people stayed there.

you're assuming that it's the lazy, idiotic person in, say, Vietnam, who finds a way to get the U.S. and live here? Data is pretty clear that people who immigrate to the United States are more highly motivated and educated than the people that stay behind in their home country. Which makes sense! Imagine the United States was in huge turmoil and it wasn't safe and there was no economy to speak of. Which citizens would find a way to get to Canada, Germany, Japan, wherever -- the people who "can't hack it" or motivated, smart people with some resources?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another theory: my son and I (and maybe his dad too) have super immunity to covid. We never tested positive when testing was required, and never locked down in any way. We aren’t testing anymore as it’s not required but all the colds just feel normal.

I think I have this too. I've been directly exposed to it several times, tested negative (multiple tests afterwards), and the only way I can explain that I've still never gotten covid is some sort of natural immunity. Or maybe it will get me eventually - I'm not worried about that, just about inadvertently passing it on to someone else.

Similar, but I suspect I was exposed to Covid via travel in Dec 2019 when I had a sore throat - rare for me. Maybe I was lucky enough to not have a severe case?

In my family’s experience testing was required for school and work. Three have had it once and the rest have never tested positive. Colds are more severe, but never a positive test for few of us.

I think there's something to this theory. My spouse and my MIL have never had it. My MIL has a public facing job too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rise in neurologically diverse children is due to the artificial increase of hormones--whether it be because of psychotropic drugs in mothers and fathers, plastic hormone disruptors, and IVF treatments, or some combination of those. Some people are more genetically susceptible to these than others and are more profoundly affected in utero.

My theory on this is different. I believe the rise in autism and autism spectrum disorders is due to people on the autism spectrum being more able to reproduce than at any other time in history. In the past, people on the spectrum were unlikely to marry (they were seen as strange or weird...). Now, people on the spectrum are able to be successful due to the rise in computer science careers, and are therefore more suitable marriage partners and are having children more often.

This might be the case except that virtually all the neurodiverse parents are know are well within the range of normal behaviors. Not so with their children.

Anonymous wrote:
My theory is that attacks on abortion rights are a response to the browning of American. More white babies are needed, so access to abortion goes away to increase that demographic.

except that if there were no abortions you would have MORE brown babies