i have always been sympathetic to anti/critical psychiatry views - But i do find my perspectives/opinions slightly changing.
i think there is a Denial of illness with Anti-psychiatry, & it doesn’t sit right with me.
Regardless of whys & wherefores (questions that can’t be categorically answered) - i was in a highly psychologically/emotionally disturbed, very extreme state - that lead me to the doors of psychiatry.
i remember when i was first admitted - The psychiatrist said should we have left you running around the countryside in a highly disturbed state? i think he had a point.
i can’t understand the worried well & people with less severe conditions/experiences taking issues, especially with being drugged. But what about those with a pre-existing severe condition?
i’m all for a shift/change to the system, to far more humane, holistic & comprehensive, psychological & social support approaches - to far more caring & understanding systems of care. But to deny that there is any problem to begin with, & to deny the severity of the problem? It seems silly in some cases…
Got banned from the ‘Mad in America’ web site - Was defending the validity of psychiatric diagnoses & reality of severe mental illness. The place seems to be a hot bed of extreme anti-psychiatry views.
Well there are all sorts of views on this site… I like that… we’re all different and different things work for different people.
I’m pro-med and psychiatry. I wasn’t in my past… and I got worse. But the past 6 years I’ve been working on getting better… With some glitches here and there.
But for the most part… I’m doing better now then I’ve ever been.
The part I like about this forum… for the most part… if you have an opposing view to someone… and you present it respect to others… it’s all Ok.
There’s a lot of horrible psychiatrists that deservingly give psychiatry a bad wrap. A good psychiatrist will want you stabilized on as little medications as possible.
Anyways, I’m wary of all anti-psychiatry information because scientology is behind a lot of it. And I hate scientologist.
I am not anti meds or anti psychiatry … but … the psychiatric medications we take are in great need of improvement, these meds are harsh.
Thanks to the Diabetes that these meds have caused me, and long term lithium use in the past, my kidneys could now be damaged a bit.
The side effects keep going on and on … when will the damage end.
Diabetes, metabolic issues, liver damage, and now my ■■■■■■■ kidneys!
I am seriously going to talk to my pdoc about going on a diabetes friendlier drug!
I don’t consider myself to be anti-psychiatry. I consider myself to be anti-prescribing medication before considering any other possible methods of treatment. SO MANY people are prescribed medications that they do not really need to be on and then suffer from both long and short term side effects when maybe all they needed were weekly therapy sessions or a support group/learning aid etc.
For example, I am fairly high-functioning considering my disorders. I am also not a danger to myself or others. And yet after a 30 minute convo with the first pdoc I saw she prescribed me 2 different antipsychotics. The long term damages would not have been worth the benefits in my case.
Only people who are unable to function/a danger to society should be medicated right away as a first choice. Others should be lead to alternate forms of symptom management, which if proven unsuccessful could then be recommended medication.
As of now it feels like anyone could walk to a pdoc, say they hear voices and get drugs.
It all seems to be very individual. There is a place for a wise use of medications, but i also feel the primary approach should be far more comprehensive & humane psychological & social alternatives.
I think treatment should be tailored to what the individual needs/wants. Though there may be a discrepancy between what is needed and what is wanted, Some here manage without meds and yet others struggle off meds.
Perhaps non medicine approaches should be tried first but meds introduced if no improvement after a certain while or a significant decrease in functioning/increase in distress occurs.
I think medication should be given as at low a dose as possible.
Some people have other problems that keep them from believing in medication and not just anosognosia. I agree with the article that said that people with more severe Sz improve more with medication. I have more severe Sz.
I was in therapy when I was pretty young. None of my psychologists ever gave me any personality disorder diagnoses. The way I see it, personality disorders just make you harder to be around. The person with the personality disorder can’t see their diagnosis as easily as someone can see Sz once they have it.
I’ve had problems with doctors working on family members, but I also had a grandmother who was an RN. I believe it is the luck of the draw with who you get.
The problem with both psychiatry and general medicine today is this cookie cutter approach. The doctors believe manipulated statistics before they believe our experiences. I don’t if it’s a form of laziness or greed or ego or authority and control issues. All I know is that is very very dangerous to the health of the society and might be even more deadlier that the disease. For whatever many of our doctors no longer think or care to think. I do like this site very much. I can speak my mind respectfully and get treated with respect. All individual views are welcome here. This is as good for health and well-being as are the meds and therapy.
