Was asked yet again if I wanted to take part in a research program . They are recruiting people from the depot clinic. To qualify you have to have bipolar or schizophrenia. It was the same with the first research program I wasn’t suitable for. If they knew my diagnosis at the depot clinic they wouldn’t suggest these bipolar/schizophrenia only programs. One was a medication adherence program and the one today something to do with depot injections(judging by the title). I think they just presume all who go to the depot clinic are bipolar or have schizophrenia. I guess I must be a major exception to the rule.
Got asked today If I’d heard any voices or had paranoia. Very much the kind of questions they’d ask if thinking you are schizophrenic.
Voices are a (virtual) non issue. Only time it’s been debatable(as to whether it’s inner thoughts or inner voices) has been when trying to get off to sleep and that hasn’t happened since being on the depot.
The paranoia is a tricky one too as I hardly interact face to face with anyone so most of my paranoia stems from online interaction. Of course some might argue that it’s a certain degree of paranoia as well as social anxiety that has me keeping to myself a lot.
What’s your formal diagnosis Firemonkey? Sorry I forgot.
I’d gladly take part in studies, but there aren’t so many in my area, unfortunately.
I think I would find it slightly rude of the depot clinic workers to just assume you are sz or bp. Not saying there are is anything wrong with having either of those. What I means is it is revealing of how much of an interest the staff have of your case by just assuming everyone on a depot has sz.
Saying that this is totally the way community psychiatric care is going in the uk.
It’s all about nurses/doctors just doing ‘risk assessments’ where I reckoned most of the motivation stems from a fear of being sued rather than what is in the patients best interest.
My CMHT is changing so much and not for the better.
Paranoid personality disorder.Sz/a are old diagnoses.
The thing is I think the first program especially which was about medication adherence would have suited me well and if the second was about how well a depot works(there has been a fair amount of research in that area) then I can’t see how restricting it to bipolar or schizophrenia is that important. With the first program I got switched to depot because I wasn’t taking my medication regularly. On the surface it was about difficulty remembering but how much might have been psychological, ie difficulty remembering because deep down I questioned whether I needed it, is open for debate.
With the second program the reason for being on a depot supposedly is to combat psychosis or agitation in autism. Although by far the greatest reason is combating psychotic symptoms. Irrespective of whether you are seen as bipolar or sz/sz-a unless they are widening the net to non psychotics and non autistics you would normally be reckoned to be prone to some degree of psychosis if you are on a depot. If I am on it because I am prone to psychosis then measuring how well it helps should be important irrespective of carrying a bipolar/schizophrenia diagnosis.
It seems I’m suitable for being on the depot but not suitable to be included in an assessment of it.
I do think at the depot clinic they go through the motions. They have stock questions they ask you ie ,in my case,first and foremost how are you sleeping/eating and have you been out/had visitors . Every now and then they ask about paranoia and voices.
This time when asked I said I was doing reasonably well which prompted them to ask what I meant. I brushed it off by saying as well as can be expected. After mentioning something last time and getting the bum’s rush I wasn’t in the mood to expand in any great detail. The truth is they focus on a narrow set of factors and invariably fail to see and get to know the whole person. The thing being most people are much more than just a set of text book symptoms.