While I think generally psychiatry is a positive force in mental illness - there are, I think, many areas for improvement.
What do YOU think are the areas that are most need of change in the field of psychiatry?
(and by “psychiatry” I mean both the psychiatrists and the medications/drug industry.)
stop pushing the newer AP’s and give the older meds a chance. they aren’t as expensive and they are just as effective as newer AP’s, with the same risk of tardive…?
I would reduce the amount of red tape involved with getting people treatment. I’d make things easier for families and loved ones to be a part of a patient’s treatment. HIPPA is great but sometimes gets in the way of family helping their loved ones.
I do not consider the lack of better medications a failure of psychiatry. Psychiatrists work with what they’ve got. Things will improve in time but I wouldn’t call it a failing of psychiatry.
Also I it seems that many who fault psychiatry are really upset about the decisions made by their particular psychiatrist. I’ve had some great psychiatrists but not every doctor is as good. Don’t fault the system for the failings of any particular doctor.
First of all, I want to say that a few years ago, after my divorce I got completely destabilized - I was in bad shape mentally. I was manic and depressed at the same time and psychotic. I was very close to going to the hospital again.
I was mood cycling so bad - paranoid and incoherent - not making sense of reality.
My psychiatrist prescribed me 2 new meds - Abilify and Depakote ER. He loaded me with Depakote and I started taking the Abilify - these meds saved my F@#&ing life! The meds work - period. Thanks to these meds, I quickly stopped cycling and slowly but surely gained insight and stability. No hospital
The meds work - I will probably have to stay on my Risperdal and Lamictal indefinitely - and thats ok - I really dont have the option of going med free and deep down inside of me I know this and so do my docs.
I would like changes to the Diagnostic system and hoping for safer but more effective meds.
I wish to God that the anti psychiatry crowd stop pushing their beliefs onto others that need their meds.
Look I am not a big fan of the side effects of some of these meds - but I also do realize that my life without them would be completely dysfunctional - I worked for 25 years and I was ON meds - would not have happened OFF meds
They may be just as effective - but there does seem to be significantly higher risk of EPS (like TD)
With regard to adverse events, extrapyramidal symptoms were significantly more likely to be reported for FGAs(first generation antipsychotics)—especially for haloperidol—than SGAs (second generation antipsychotics).
well I take Prolixin (fluphenazine) and my ex wife takes Trilafon (perphenazine) and it’s the first time my ex wife ever was on a med that she fully stabilized on.?
Major funding for research into negative symptoms treatments
As far as psychiatry goes, I like my relationship I’ve had with almost every one I’ve had over the years. I have a skype meeting with my psychiatrist next week. that’s how they handle seeing the doctor at the clinic. Skype.
the dark lord’s opinion is ;
not to make sz scared of what they see and hear
not to put sz on high doses of meds straight away
for shrinks to have an open mind
reach sz early in teenage hood.
to value ’ brain training ’ which i was doing when just a child with out help
to endorse a healthy eating and exercise regime
to ensure the family or carer accepts and understands sz
and for shrinks to know that the sun does not actually shine out of their arse and for them to actually have ’ real ’ compassion for their patients.
also the buildings are so ominous which sz have to visit, if they were surrounded by gardens and a lot more colour in furnishings etc…sz would be more relaxed.
or better still to be treated in their own home…like in northern europe.
take care
**All of the above…and don`t get me started! 
**
I think one has to remember that statistical “significance” can be a fractional amount of what a layman would call a significant difference. Many people who are not scientifically literate are ignorant of how little a difference it can be.
More emphasis on environmental and social factors that impede good mental health, More emphasis on the negative symptoms and social care needs arising out of serious mental illness. More humility and willingness to listen in pdocs treating patients.More opportunity to try therapy approaches for those who have tried and not been helped by medication, or who have experienced intolerable side effects. Better medications with less side effects,especially ones that help cognition and negative symptoms. A move away from the current obsession with CBT and it’s trumpeting as a universal psychiatric panacea.
A system that recognises that non acute, chronic patients still need support; currently if you are in that category you are often put on autopilot care/treatment wise.
Psychiatrists to become more political in challenging social and welfare changes that negatively impact on the disabled and disadvantaged. A move away from closing day centres and drop ins. In the UK, recognition of social skills training for those with poor social skills. Testing when first coming under psychiatric care for things like aspergers and learning difficulties/disabilities.
I would have them have a complete working model of the brain, with every possible neural pathway mapped out. Of course, there are a hundred trillion neural connections in the brain, so this is a tall order, but with the advent of quantum computers it might be possible.
Psychiatry is a fledgling discipline, and I would identify the cause of an illness before proclaiming a cure.
Personally I think that psychiatry still has a long ways to go. I don’t think that a lot of psychiatrists have the understanding of MI that they should. If they have been in the field for 10-20 years and haven’t done any new research or followed any of the new studies then their view point can be somewhat archaic.
I get more frustrated on occasion with the ‘professionals’ that I deal with then my son. I’m a part of several groups and the lack of knowledge is sometimes astounding. That if the person recognizes they are experiencing a symptom or has some insight then they can’t be sz. If they don’t hear voices then they can’t be sz.
Children that are experiencing obvious symptoms as early as age 2 yet pdocs refuse to diagnose then statistics state that childhood onset is rare…
The genetic testing… I have heard of parents asking for it and getting told that it is only used as a last resort, after the person has been tried on lots of meds that don’t work. Great way to perpetuate non-compliance.
A couple of the most retarded questions I have been asked from psych nurses while my son was inpatient for having a psychotic break. “Your son thinks you are trying to kill him. Do you know why?” or “He’s not eating. Is that normal for him?” hmm duh!
Treatment teams that I have to fight with to get them to pay attention that what my son is experiencing is not just ‘behavioral issues’.
Recently in one of my groups a mother of a 14 year old was told her son’s case was hopeless. She was told this by 4… not 1 or 2 or 3 but 4 doctors… Ridiculous.
I don’t even think MRI’s are done to rule out other causes and if they are done it’s only to look for masses instead of being used as a form of diagnostic to look at other indicators.
I think the whole medical community surrounding MI needs a major overhaul. Medical staff need better training on the symptoms and signs and how to deal with psychosis because most of them don’t have a clue.
Medications: I have advocated to have my son taken off medications that were completely unnecessary. The right medications… they weren’t covered, so he ended up on Adderall and relapsed. No one should have to fight or justify the expense of a medication that their pdoc prescribes.
We all know that medications are not a cure. We all know that medications don’t help everyone. I really hope that in the next 10-20 years we see a shift in the attitude of ‘Suck it up and take your meds…’ with more emphasis on other forms of treatment like therapy, CBT, ECT etc.
Thanks! Saves me from having to type a lot ! All that.
I’ll add one thing: Stricter regulations and true testing of medications, instead of experimenting on people, which is basically what they do.
This of course would involve political and legal actions that at the same time would incur the wrath of the pharmaceutical companies and some doctors because it would threaten their multi billion dollar enterprise.
I’ll even go a step further… Any medication that is known to cause suicidal thinking or carries the warning label for such should be a last resort, AND doctors must monitor the patients better…not just send them home with new and potentially lethal pills and say come back in 2 weeks! AND, on top of that the patient MUST have a close family member or care giver involved, and agreed to be around them for the first few weeks in case suicidal tendencies spring up, and these watchers should be trained to know what signs to look for and ready to intervene at a moments notice. This would stop at least some of these cases of medication related suicide or suicide attempts. the watcher could also make sure the person on meds was being honest about everything because I know for fact some patients are given meds and hide things or lie to their doctors, while all along at home they are cutting or planning a suicide attempt.
This would also involve a bit of revamping HIPPA as Malvok said, so to involve another person in the home, and have that person able to talk to the doctors.
If it were up to me I would probably ban the suicide pills outright, but I am trying to be realistic here in dealing with the warped world in general.
Oh, one other thing… any psych meds must be given by a psychiatrist or doctor trained and licensed to do so, not just a doctor or NP that can legally prescribe meds but has no training in psychiatric issues.
Honestly? I would like to see more psychiatrists taking a recovery oriented approach rather than a ‘management’ approach. Will all SZs recover completely? No. Are all capable of a significant degree of recovery and improved function? Yes, I firmly believe so. Unfortunately, this will never happen if they are only ever told, “don’t try this, don’t stress yourself, etc.”
Life IS stress. You can either be stressed because you pushed a bit too hard and riled your symptoms, but still got through a day of work and earned some pay… OR… You can be stressed because you don’t work, you have no $$$, and you see people around you with lifestyles you want and can’t have. I know what kind of stress I like to have. Thank gawd I finally found a pdoc who recognized this and steered me towards the latter.
10-96
Amen…I would like to see all of this not in 10-20 years-maybe more like NOW! Put more money into funding to find a cure-or something nontoxic that will actually help with symptoms
i would ask them to try harder and refer to therapists and things more often, also listen to the client more and ask more questions instead of just blindly listening to tick a box.