PTSD therapy simply put is talking about past hard times to a supportive person or supportive group. Since I’m reluctant to see a therapist I use this site and you all are great to use as a support network when I think about past hard times. I don’t have PTSD but mild PTSD. Except its pretty much gone because of my writing about it on this site. Though in the future I will need to get it off my chest again. Just not as much as the last time or the time before that. My life is going well now and it would have been a lot harder to achieve where I am at without all the discussions I have had with you all on this site.
I have to ask. Where is someone experiencing psychosis supposed to go if not a schizophrenia support forum? I guess I’m a little confused on that. I tell my son that he will find support here and others to talk to regarding his beliefs and ideas and not be judged for them. I guess only if he is stable…
The news category gets posts discussing all forms of treatment including ones that are not based on psychiatry. Some posted by SzAdmin. I guess I am confused on that as well.
This post wasn’t intended to slam people about their posts but since you guys continually ignore that, I’ll take the bait.
What is support?
Is it playing in a “who’s the most ill” competition?
Is it the feeding into each others delusions?
Is it slamming the only effective treatments for this illness?
Is it promoting illegal drugs that have been proven to make this illness much worse?
These are all regular occurrences on this forum. I’d think with your being a mod that you would have noticed these things.
The best way to support people, and indeed to follow the path of recovery one’s self, is to stick to positive and reality based treatments and topics. I fail to see how being in disagreement with these negative posts is stopping people from getting any support.
I would hate for this to become one of those mental health forums where you’re only welcome if you are in remission/stable. The discussion of ongoing symptoms including delusions and how others deal with them is surely an important part of the forum.
Reality based tx i can see but it’s not always possible to be upbeat and positive topic wise especially if going through a bad spell.
Positive topics as opposed to the negative topics I outlined in my post. Sigh.
Some more thoughts:
If this site is a support site then this forum could be considered a form of collective group therapy.
For those of you who have participated in group therapy, I ask, how many of the topics I outlined above would be encouraged in a face to face group therapy session? You don’t have to answer, we all know.
@BarbieBF
You were posting not long ago about your frustration with your son smoking weed and drinking. If your son were to visit this forum today, what opinion do you think he’d get about doing illegal drugs from the posts here?
What do you think he’d read about taking medication?
Or think about psychiatrists or nurses?
It seems that there is a general belief that people should be able to post anything and that those of us who disagree or think it’s negative should just remain silent. As if every topic and behavior is excused by schizophrenia. I disagree.
I feel that people coming here shouldn’t have to wade through a sea of negative posts to get real support.
I have never seen anyone playing ‘I’m more ill than you’ . At any given point some people may be more symptomatic of others and all of us to some extent slide up and down a scale of wellness.
Are you suggesting that some choose to take on board others delusions and make them their own just by reading about them?
I agree that extreme ’ medication is evil’ type stuff is counter productive but i think moderate discussions as to the therapeutic limitations of medication or various therapies is not.
The last one is a tricky one. Should we only post stuff pointing to a link between cannabis and psychosis and ignore contradictory evidence ?
I loathe having to do someone else’s research but in this case I’ll do it.
From wikipedia:
Folie simultanée describes either the situation where two people considered to suffer independently from psychosis influence the content of each other’s delusions so they become identical or strikingly similar, or one in which two people “morbidly predisposed” to delusional psychosis mutually trigger symptoms in each other.
I think that my son would do what he normally does. Read what interests him and gloss over that which doesn’t serve him.
Yes i was aware of that but not sure people are closely enough connected here for that to happen.
Such a blase attitude saddens me.
Edit: No, I refuse to believe that is your true attitude. Maybe a joke, maybe a slam against me, I don’t know. But I do know that you care more about your son that that post would indicate.
I have posted when delusional and hallucinating voices , i got some support and if i have ever caused someone else problems i am sorry. I read people’s posts that catch my attention and if they are delusional i feel bad for them and think about my own suffering. I don’t know how i would feel if people knew i was on this forum. My partner knows and so does her family. They were less than supportive, worried about me taking on other people’s symptoms. People talking about drugs and alcohol remind me of my dad, he self medicates heavily to hide and handle his symptoms.
When I’m not doing to well I can relate to some of the delusional posts, and even contribute.
If this were a forum where it was only about the positive, wellness, recovery mode, I’d feel it were missing something.
I’m not in the mood to read well sanitized for my protection posts.
If I were actually doing that well, I wouldn’t need to be here.
I first heard that in AA twenty years ago.
The one about sharing? My Dad told me that one. I don’t know whose credited with it.
I figure that’s where they are in their lives and I accept that. Like someone said, this is forum for schizophrenics and for most aspects of schizophrenia. I personally sometimes don’t read LONG threads that are pure delusions. When someone goes on and on, It’s like forcing myself to read a book I don’t like. But it doesn’t bother me. If something doesn’t interest me, I simply don’t read it. I notice that these long delusions get ‘likes’ and people often respond so that tells me there’s a market for those types of posts and they have a place here and it helps people. At the least it is something someone out there identity’s with and relates to. I don’t think it’s right to promote drug use in any way or glorify it. And I think people shouldn’t advise people to go off meds. That could be dangerous and it is irresponsible.This is common sense. I’m guilty of telling stories, I guess I could rationalize it by saying I sometimes do it too to show how low I was and how far I’ve come and to show other people who are going through the suffering that I can relate too what they are going through I was once there, (and still am in many ways) and I survived and they can too. I don’t read every thread, everybody doesn’t read my threads. And they don’t have to if they don’t want to. People want what they can relate too. I CHOOSE threads that interest me. It’s a large forum, I think there’s room for everybody.
I personally think it’s good to share beliefs however psychotic they may b. Sometimes when I’ve been truly out there, the only people who could talk me down were other patients. I never listened to the nurses or drs but someone who experienced the same asme made me calmer and more rreadily accepting of a rational explanation. Afterall if we’re both hearing the voice of Barack Obama, we can’t both b telepathic. So at least one of us has to b wrong. That type of discussion I found to b very helpful and I firmly believe that this is a safe envoirenment in which to air our worries and odd beliefs. As we c not everybody responds to medication and I still hear voices medicated or not. I will still have a wobble when something I believe in happens to worry me. Some support I can’t get from this site as there r simply experiences I’ve had that maybe no one else has but I will keep on asking just in case they have as like I said b4, we can’t both b right and I find that grounding. I’m lucky in that I know where my voices have come from so I know they r not real however often they talk but for others it’s not so cut and dried and I have been in that position myself so I know how they feel and will continue to help in any way I can. As for delusional beliefs, I find it helps to discuss past beliefs with others so I don’t feel so unique. Some of mine have made me laugh in hindsight and I have shared that humour on here and it was a very popular thread so I think that it helps bring a sense of community. Everyone is at a different stage and I think we need to b supportive of everyone no matter what the post and there are both positive and negative ways to do that. I’m happy for u that u r at a stage where u can see ur illness for what it is but others may not b so fortunate and I think u can b a littlecutting at times. I understand ur iimpatience since u r stable but I don’t think the way u say it is particularly helpful at times. Just my opinion. Hope ur not offended xxx
Isn’t the whole point of sharing something/venting is to get it off your chest and out of your head? Some of us don’t have any other outlet to say what is really on our mind. If you take that away, we have nothing left, and that is a horrible place to be.
Can I get an AMEN… thank you in back kind person.