What people can do when they get help for mental illness - Elyn Saks

[welsummerchicks]

The last few weeks we've been following the tragedy of the Arizona shooting, an example of what happens when people with mental illness, don't get help.

Then we have Elyn Saks - a highly respected person with schizophrenia who is an expert in law and mental health, and teaches at a university in California.

This is the difference between what happens with treatment, and without. Treatment works. People can be happy and live decent, productive lives.

Who in your world, needs to know, that treatment can help and life can be better?

 

[bakerjw]

A lot of the results depend on the severity of the schizophrenia. I have a cousin who is a zombie while on his medications as compared to an extreme paranoid who is constantly hearing voices without. Either way his life sucks.

Glad it works for some people though.

 

[welsummerchicks]

That is not a given for severe illness at all. I have a friend with extremely severe illness who is going through a very demanding program in Engineering at a very good university, and he is not a zombie. Saks also was very, very ill and paranoid and is teaching law at a prestigious university.

It is not a given, that because someone has a lot of symptoms, that they have to be a zombie if they take medication.

 

[babylady4]

You cannot lump everyone into one catagory; everyone's body chemistry is different, so we react to medications differently.

I doubt it would have made a difference if this guy was treated or not. Think of the guy at the military base who went on the shooting rampage, nobody was expecting it.

Sometimes there are no explanations and nobody to blame but the individual responsible.

 

[Frosty]

I know somebody who has depression, they put him on an anti-depressant. The medication made him paranoid to the point that he was cowering in a corner with a gun, thinking that somebody was coming to get him. He won't try any other medications as a result, he is afraid to. Medications do affect people differently.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I guess it is pointless to even suggest here that people can and even generally, get better through treatment, LOL!

If antidepressants make him that paranoid, he needs to see a doctor; he probably has a mood disorder and not depression at all. He may very well be misdiagnosed.

 

[darkmatter]

The truth is that since the 50's when mental illness started being diagnosed and treated with various drugs and therapies, one third has gotten better, one third has gotten worse, and one third cycles between episodes the rest of their life. In an earlier agrarian society there was always the sheep herder type work or the odd strange hermit and/or mountain man, woodcutter, etc. There really is no place for disturbed people to find their place in today's society. (unless they're artistic or a movie star)

 

[Frosty]

Am I saying that they can't be helped? Not at all. But if they are put on meds and don't like the results, unfortunately there is a very real chance that they won't try another. Be it that it makes them into a zombie or a paranoid delusional person. They get the idea that any medication will have the same result.

The person that I know had a setback in his life and... didn't take it well. He never really recovered and I miss the person that he was. Now after 21 years like this, he'll probably stay as he is as much out of habit as anything.

 

[turney31]

Quote:
No doubt people can get better with medication, but in my mothers case, when the medicine worked, in her mind she was cured or not really ill after all. Stupid Drs. she says. I don't need this and stops taking it. 48 years of hell! Countless diagnoses. Who knows if any are correct? She is so manipulative it is hard to guage. Has had some of the best Drs. and hospitals. I Am glad you started these threads. Its good to know you are not alone in the insanity, no pun intended.

 

[ElioraImmanuel]

There are a lot of factors that contribute to mental illness and many ways of trying to cope and/or heal. Mental illness needs to be attacked on many levels....spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. Unless you've dealt w/it 1st hand either in yourself or in someone you love you can never understand it's effects. What I do know is that a proper diet, one very high in good fats (coconut oil, egg yolk, good butter, organic/pasture fed beef/lamb/chicken animal fats) makes a difference. The brain and nervous system are extremely vunerable in the mentally ill. Without proper nutrition....whole, untainted foods and supplementation many mentally ill people continue to spiral downward.

Meds are only effective in 1/3 to 1/2 of the cases and they are the most effective when coupled with continuing therapy. In the other cases meds will actually cause a person to descend further into illness or to become a zombie. However, many mentally ill people do not even realize that they are ill. Many see themselves as being the normal ones. If the illness is caused because of a head injury or something like Post Partum Depression that person may actually think that all is normal, being completely unaware that they are off in one or many ways.

Many mentally ill people do not take their meds because they don't like the way the meds make them feel, they don't think they are ill or they have become "normal" because of them and so they discontinue the use. Many medications are taken improperly when they are taken. Today, doctors prescibe these meds like candy. The doctors do not monitor the effects of the meds or the side effects. The side effects are numerous and many can be fatal! Many docs don't have a clue as to how to treat a given patient and many just prescribe a med to get rid of the patient. Many meds are handed out like candy because some pharm rep has offered kick backs and free access to the "med of the month".

Finding a reputable, qualified doctor who actually cares, monitors and does his job is near next to impossible. When you do it is very likely that your insurance, if you have any, will not cover them. If you're lucky to be covered then just getting the doctor to see you is near next to impossible because their schedules are chock full. Even qualified doctors will often misdiagnose or have no diagnosis for a given condition. Many mentally ill are just labeled with the "diagnosis of the month".

Some mental illnesses, such as post partum depression, are completely overlooked, underdiagnosed or chocked up to being "all in the head" and imaginary. The sad thing is that PPD can be largely prevented by having the placenta dried and encapsulated for ingestion by mom. The statement that once a woman has suffered PPD then she will always experience it is a Complete Lie. It's just that modern medicine refuses to see the alternatives. Modern medicine refuses to take into account the spiritual and physical issues. Modern medicine refuses to deal with molds, allergies, parasites or toxic livers, intestines coated with slime etc. Modern Medicine refuses to deal with diets loaded with chemicals, pop, bologna and microwaved food that are completed devoid of anything that promotes wellness. We are not treated as "whole" people. The causes of any illness (mental or otherwise) are not just one thing, nor are the effects felt in just in one area.

Thanks to the ACLU mental institutions are now almost non-existent. Thanks to the ACLU a parent or spouse can not involuntarily commit their child or spouse. Please don't tell me how this can be abused. I have experienced how a 72 hr hospital visit could have prevented tragedy. We saw in Arizona a tragedy that could have been prevented if the parents of Jared Loughner had had somewhere to turn. However, those who love a person who has descended into madness have their hands completely tied. They face a world where all they hit is brick walls....no one wants to help, no one wants to acknowledge, no one wants to take responsibility. How many people have to die before someone stands up and says, "Yes, this treatment is difficult, but we have to prevent this mentally ill person from killing himself or someone else?!"