Mental Illness

[Peregrinator]

Politics, anecdotes, concepts. I thought a clearinghouse thread might be nice to have. I know there's a lot of experience on the GB from all perspectives.

Maybe as a start, the question, "Why do we treat mental illness differently from other illnesses?" would be worth discussing. One example: science is increasingly showing that addiction is an organic sickness of the brain. An organ is diseased, causing symptoms. Those symptoms, however, lead to prison, rather than treatment.

 

[dolf]

u mad bro?

 

[Peregrinator]

Ooodlyxoodlydooodlywuuublles!

 

[tactful]

Stability, could be a key factor, in mental illness.

 

[LiFeNdEaTh]

interesting..

 

[BotanyBoy]

I'm not fuckin' CRAZY!!

Everyone else however? Certifiable...

 

[islandman]

Hard to diagnose 'crazy' when we don't know what we're looking for.

Much easier to say "Stop doing that!", and when they don't, put them in jail.


We humans do enjoy putting things into a nice, little box.

 

[LiFeNdEaTh]

I'm not fuckin' CRAZY!!

.

lol funny post

 

[islandman]

^^^loco

 

[dolf]

ok, i'll bite. ptsd and depression.

sexual violence and an abusive upbringing had the same effect on my sanity that physical violence would have on my body.

flash backs, nightmares and night terrors, panic attacks, anxiety, a desire to hide myself away in the safety of solitude, etc.

my ex, despite having suffered serious depression in his teens & having the loving support of his family, was irritated and of the opinion that i should snap out of it and that i would feel better if i dressed better.

my family disliked seeing 'the strong one' being weak, so they avoided me like the plague.

i was no longer entertaining and fun so my friends drifted away.

the good people of lit... well there were two types that stick in my mind. the types who took it to be a character flaw, told me i was shit and poked fun whenever they could (which actually didn't bother me, because they were clearly far crazier than i would ever be.) and the people who cared about me enough as a person to put in the time, effort & patience to help me through.

people's reactions are interesting!

i limped on for years before i got medical help. it's hard to see yourself as ill when, from the inside, it just looks like life is terrible and that your reaction to it is inevitable. the turning point was a PAP/smear, where i broke down in tears, the nurse asked why, asked if i'd talked to anyone, put a note on my record. not long after that i went to my doc, who was fabulous. she saw me regularly, arranged therapy, etc. turned out that one year of the right meds and a decent therapist was all it took to make me feel like i could breathe again.

like any injury, it takes time to recover and you need to build up your strength. i had to ease myself back into life, society, work. but i got there. i'd push myself a little, help out at the school, go out for a meal, take up a voluntary job. but i still don't invite people to my house as a rule, because i feel like i need a haven.

there will always be a few scars but i don't walk with a metaphorical stick most days. sometimes i get twinges but if i take it easy i get better. on the whole, i'm a stronger person than before. more self aware, better able to process stress & trauma.

most useful thing said to me,
my therapist: you feel ###, and that's ok!
nobody ever told me it was ok to be angry/sad/hurt before.

least useful thing said to me,
my shrink: you just need someone to look after you.
when you've got to cope on your own that's actually just painful to hear.

any good?

 

[Wat_Tyler]

. . . science is increasingly showing that addiction is an organic sickness of the brain. An organ is diseased . . . .

Apparently, the AMA is revisiting this entire "addiction is disease" idea. Last I heard, the committee was evenly divided on whether to reclassify addictions or not.


If they do reclassify it/them, that will change the discussion a great deal.

 

[Disgustipated]

http://forum.literotica.com/member.php?u=421881

 

[bronzeage]

Politics, anecdotes, concepts. I thought a clearinghouse thread might be nice to have. I know there's a lot of experience on the GB from all perspectives.

Maybe as a start, the question, "Why do we treat mental illness differently from other illnesses?" would be worth discussing. One example: science is increasingly showing that addiction is an organic sickness of the brain. An organ is diseased, causing symptoms. Those symptoms, however, lead to prison, rather than treatment.

Because, if other illnesses don't kill you, we can cure you and it's over.

Mental illness treatments have never come close to any kind of cure. It's just a long trail of making it easier to live with the symptoms. If that's not possible, we try to make the patient less trouble to the rest of us.

 

[dolf]

Because, if other illnesses don't kill you, we can cure you and it's over.

Mental illness treatments have never come close to any kind of cure. It's just a long trail of making it easier to live with the symptoms. If that's not possible, we try to make the patient less trouble to the rest of us.

not always true.

ftr, you're high up on the list of my second sort of litster.

 

[BotanyBoy]

ok, i'll bite. ptsd and depression.

sexual violence and an abusive upbringing had the same effect on my sanity that physical violence would have on my body.

flash backs, nightmares and night terrors, panic attacks, anxiety, a desire to hide myself away in the safety of solitude, etc.

All pothead BS aside, for me it did what 2 dozen pills and 3 doctors couldn't help but fuck up even more...no more panic attacks, night terrors, being wound tighter than a snare drum, insomnia... etc etc

It doesn't make it go away but it makes it far more manageable, you don't even have to smoke buds, a lot of people are having good success with treating numerous PTSD and physical symptoms/problems by juicing the vegetative leaves to get their canabinoids without the THC.

Anyhow...just tossing that out there to ya.

 

[bronzeage]

not always true.

ftr, you're high up on the list of my second sort of litster.

Finally, I made a list. Thank you very much.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Politics, anecdotes, concepts. I thought a clearinghouse thread might be nice to have. I know there's a lot of experience on the GB from all perspectives.

Maybe as a start, the question, "Why do we treat mental illness differently from other illnesses?" would be worth discussing. One example: science is increasingly showing that addiction is an organic sickness of the brain. An organ is diseased, causing symptoms. Those symptoms, however, lead to prison, rather than treatment.

I did my Masters thesis on this topic.

I worked in mental health for many years. Its rare for anyone who isn't demented to challenge the laws of Nature; that is, I've never seen any schizophrenic piss on an electric fence. 99.99% of the bat-shit crazy stuff is willful behavior. The addict knows whats likely to happen when she drinks and drugs.

 

[Peregrinator]

ok, i'll bite. ptsd and depression.

sexual violence and an abusive upbringing had the same effect on my sanity that physical violence would have on my body.

flash backs, nightmares and night terrors, panic attacks, anxiety, a desire to hide myself away in the safety of solitude, etc.

my ex, despite having suffered serious depression in his teens & having the loving support of his family, was irritated and of the opinion that i should snap out of it and that i would feel better if i dressed better.

my family disliked seeing 'the strong one' being weak, so they avoided me like the plague.

i was no longer entertaining and fun so my friends drifted away.

the good people of lit... well there were two types that stick in my mind. the types who took it to be a character flaw, told me i was shit and poked fun whenever they could (which actually didn't bother me, because they were clearly far crazier than i would ever be.) and the people who cared about me enough as a person to put in the time, effort & patience to help me through.

people's reactions are interesting!

i limped on for years before i got medical help. it's hard to see yourself as ill when, from the inside, it just looks like life is terrible and that your reaction to it is inevitable. the turning point was a PAP/smear, where i broke down in tears, the nurse asked why, asked if i'd talked to anyone, put a note on my record. not long after that i went to my doc, who was fabulous. she saw me regularly, arranged therapy, etc. turned out that one year of the right meds and a decent therapist was all it took to make me feel like i could breathe again.

like any injury, it takes time to recover and you need to build up your strength. i had to ease myself back into life, society, work. but i got there. i'd push myself a little, help out at the school, go out for a meal, take up a voluntary job. but i still don't invite people to my house as a rule, because i feel like i need a haven.

there will always be a few scars but i don't walk with a metaphorical stick most days. sometimes i get twinges but if i take it easy i get better. on the whole, i'm a stronger person than before. more self aware, better able to process stress & trauma.

most useful thing said to me,
my therapist: you feel ###, and that's ok!
nobody ever told me it was ok to be angry/sad/hurt before.

least useful thing said to me,
my shrink: you just need someone to look after you.
when you've got to cope on your own that's actually just painful to hear.

any good?

Excellent post, lover. Thank you very much for this.

 

[dolf]

All pothead BS aside, for me it did what 2 dozen pills and 3 doctors couldn't help but fuck up even more...no more panic attacks, night terrors, being wound tighter than a snare drum, insomnia... etc etc

It doesn't make it go away but it makes it far more manageable, you don't even have to smoke buds, a lot of people are having good success with treating numerous PTSD and physical symptoms/problems by juicing the vegetative leaves to get their canabinoids without the THC.

Anyhow...just tossing that out there to ya.

stuff does nothing good for me. i hate feeling stoned and all i can think about are how pretty it would be to kill the irritating people around me.

my doc gave me the minimum dose, we tried 4 different meds before settling on one that did the trick. it was a short term measure and now i cope ok without. it worked.

 

[Peregrinator]

Apparently, the AMA is revisiting this entire "addiction is disease" idea. Last I heard, the committee was evenly divided on whether to reclassify addictions or not.


If they do reclassify it/them, that will change the discussion a great deal.

Yes indeed. I'm not entirely certain why we treat the brain so differently from other organs. I don't see Parkinson's as much different qualitatively from diabetes or CHF. Why doctors do is beyond me.

 

[dolf]

Excellent post, lover. Thank you very much for this.

your turn, psycho!

 

[Peregrinator]

I did my Masters thesis on this topic.

I worked in mental health for many years. Its rare for anyone who isn't demented to challenge the laws of Nature; that is, I've never seen any schizophrenic piss on an electric fence. 99.99% of the bat-shit crazy stuff is willful behavior. The addict knows whats likely to happen when she drinks and drugs.

Interesting point. It's challenging to determine the line between symptoms and douchebaggery. When the organ that makes decisions is impaired, it's hard to now what decisions are the "fault" of the person and which are caused by the disease process.

 

[Peregrinator]

your turn, psycho!

Eh, I got nothing to contribute, really. Nothing I want out there in public, anyway.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Interesting point. It's challenging to determine the line between symptoms and douchebaggery. When the organ that makes decisions is impaired, it's hard to now what decisions are the "fault" of the person and which are caused by the disease process.

From my experience I see that organicity (disease) causes sensory errors but most mental illness causes judgment errors, that is theyre risk takers. Oliver Sacks wrote several books about organic disorders where victims misperceive reality.

 

[Peregrinator]

From my experience I see that organicity (disease) causes sensory errors but most mental illness causes judgment errors, that is theyre risk takers. Oliver Sacks wrote several books about organic disorders where victims misperceive reality.

Yeah, I've read Sacks. He's a great read. I remember when I worked at the PA state loony bin, we had a resident (they call them "consumers" there, something that made me want to blow the place up) who was an asshole. Just a real prick, you know? Everyone sort of just shook their heads and tolerated his passive-aggressive bullshit, acting like it was some issue related to his disease. Until one day he pointed his artillery at me, and I asked him straight out, "James, do you realize that even though you're mentally ill, you can still act like a decent human being?" My boss hauled me into the office and gave me a tongue lashing. She later apologized, when James told her I was right, that he knew he was an asshole and used his dx to get away with it.