Summer and Antipsychotics in the City | MEANJIN QUARTERLY
Seroquel is prescribed for people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It is a powerful antipsychotic. It blocks dopamine receptors in the brain that, when working excessively, can trigger manic episodes or exacerbate schizophrenic symptoms. It was the drug my father had been taking in the months before he died, when I was twenty-two.
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The dose I was given was just 50 milligrams—enough, my doctor said, to reset the motor in my mind like a circuit-breaker, so I could sleep. People who need to take it to treat their schizophrenia take seven times that amount every day.
I have never had an experience that was comparable to the night I took an antipsychotic.
Related to this: Writing On The Internet.
I have zero memory of taking this photo. I wanted to capture this moment, obviously, for some reason at the time. I think I was much more narcissistic when I was in my twenties, like many young people on the internet are, trying to prove constantly that you are someone, that you’re doing something. Which also makes me think, though, are we really that much more narcissistic than people older than us? Or would this have happened to anyone who waded into a time and place where it was possible to capture and share every moment of your life with everyone you know? If we told ourselves no stories of our lives, then the things that happen to us would just be an extraordinarily confusing string of unconnected occurrences.
Meanjin Relaunches
And it is quite glorious! They are in the process of making everything ever published in the journal available through the site. You should also read this piece by Lorelei Vashti while you are there.
