Replace “grad student” with “former catholic” and that’s my husband. Lots of deprogramming still needed on that one.

Does this mean academia is like the catholic church?

Totally agree with you. And also the effect of drugs like antipsychotics. Even the skinniest people gain weight and have trouble keeping it off.

You are not wrong, but I also want to say that the antivax movement started in the UK with Andrew Wakefield. Then US made it way more widespread.

I can speak to that from a somewhat personal perspective because I lost my older brother a few years ago, which means I got to witness my mom losing a child.

I know that she would have greatly appreciated simple flowers later after his passing. She got a lot of flowers and stuff when he passed, which made her feel like he was very loved by his friends.

But then a year later, only a few people remembered. And I think that’s what hurt her the most after the obvious pain of losing her son. That people forgot.

So if you knew his son, you can write a card about how you still remember him and add flowers to that.

It’s usually not about the actual thing you give him but how it’s presented and the words that go with it.

P.S. you are a good person.

Of course I know her. She’s me.

This was going to be my suggestion.

Relaxed body is going to generally activate your parasympathetic nervous system and relax your brain as well - here is a study showing that progressive muscle relaxation has a statistically significant effect: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8272667/

And I can guarantee you that you go into a theta state during sleep. Young children up to age of 7 spend a lot of time in a theta state, and as adults, we go there during REM sleep. It’s considered to be a highly suggestible state, that’s why it’s used in hypnosis (more on theta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theta_wave)

Hypnosis is nothing mystical like some people claim. It’s literally just putting you into a deeply relaxed state so your brain is more willing to go with whatever is happening, but you still retain full control and can choose not to accept a suggestion.

When it comes to deeper hypnotic states and people claiming they couldn’t control themselves and did what the hypnotist told them to - I cannot speak to that because I am not trained to do that, and I am not sure exactly how that works because I’ve never experienced it or witnessed it.

I do believe that some people are highly suggestible while others are not - and IMO it has to be with how easily they can go into that theta state. I’ve had clients who just couldn’t get into it no matter what we tried - and it wasn’t because of aphantasia, they just have a hard time relaxing in general and are concernced about what is going to happen under hypnosis. It’s not for them, and that’s fine.

I don’t believe that there is a single therapy approach out there that will work for everyone - although purists will definitely claim their approach is the best.

I think a lot of people misunderstand hypnosis. It’s just putting your brain in a relaxed state (theta waves) that you normally experience when you sleep and dream. If you experience that state when you are asleep, you can also experience it awake. It’s just a matter of finding the right relaxation technique.

One thing I didn’t mention in my comment is that for people who struggle to visualize, we just do a progressive muscle relaxation induction rather than a visualization. No need to imagine anything.

I’m a therapist and also trained in hypnotherapy. It is possible or but harder IMO. I just tell people to “pretend” instead of “visualize.”

“Pretend you are standing at the top of a staircase” is something most people can do even if they don’t get a visual. It’s “a felt sense.”

You can do this test: if you pretend or imagine to bite into a lemon, do you start to salivate a bit even if you can’t see it in your mind’s eye? If yes, you can be hypnotized. If no, doesn’t mean you can’t, but it means there will be extra work.

“Vibes of an Apple” are fine. You don’t need to see it, just to have a felt sense of it for the most part. Of course, everyone is different, and I cannot say this would work for everyone.

What do you mean by that? The standards of education or mental health in schools?

In the U.S., schools are funded by property taxes, so schools in rich areas are fine, although educational standards suck across the nation.

Depends on the person. I’m a therapist, tons of my clients are very upset, scared, crying, having trouble sleeping, depressed, feeling powerless and angry, etc.

This administration’s actions are taking a huge toll on some people’s mental health.

And people who are trans or gay? They are scared and many want to get out but can’t.

Having said all that… there are plenty of people who are not bothered because they are not informed and don’t realize how bad things really are.

On fingers? Look, some of us need an abacus.

Edit: I also distinctly remember the claim that humans fart 14 times a day on average. Are you telling me this figure was just made up? Without counting the farts with smart underwear?! That’s a travesty. I was spreading misinformation this whole time.

Asking the very important and frankly, controversial questions.

Admit it, y’all couldn’t resist correcting them.

It’s actually…

I put the source in the comments: https://news.byu.edu/intellect/study-visually-captures-hard-truth-walking-home-at-night-is-not-the-same-for-women

Source: https://news.byu.edu/intellect/study-visually-captures-hard-truth-walking-home-at-night-is-not-the-same-for-women

Source: https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2026/02/06/chimps-use-pretend-objects-suggesting-they-have-imagination-and-can-engage-in-pretense/

So you want the person to go out of their way to find an uncensored meme instead of posting what they find? Who the fuck cares? People who complain about censored words on Lemmy are way more annoying than the censored words themselves.

Plus, engagement bait to what purpose? There is no karma, there is no money to be made here, there are no “influencers”.

You are literally getting mad at people for posting content on a platform that desperately needs more content.