Posted by Lisa I have manic depression, and like you believe that advocates are not only a good idea but a necesity at all psyciatric hospitals, As for the overblown hype regarding media coverage and violent crime commited by persons with brain disorders: it is because they are so rare that they get all that attention, and the media loves to sensationalize us ever so. However, they always fail to mention the rarity of these events!! Defamatory portrayals and inaccurate depictions of us will not stop until we make them stop. Until WE start doing more than writing letters to the media and all that. We need to organize and begin doing what was done during the civil rights movement, because that is what we need, we need to start picketing, and filing defamation suits. The faliure of people to recognize, or "believe" in mental illness or brain disorders is a direct result of stigma, and a major reason we must do everything in our power to educate everyone we can about the nonesense of it all. As for treatment, there are many kinds of treatments and whatever works for a person is what they should do, choice is key. Handing out meds as if they were magic candy solutions has become a very lucrative business for the pharmacutical companies, and a very dangerous situation for so many that truly do not need them! Even for those of us that chose to try the medications, what was thought to be the new miracle yesterday is found to have been put out to soon, and now discovered not to be so effective! At least that is the situation developing for manic depressives. The anti-convulsives such as depakote, then, the newer ones like, topamax, lamictal, and gabitril are now being shown not to work as they once believed. Why? Because in a rush to get these new meds on the market, the pharmacutical companies did not do long term trials, that would accurately show the true effectivenss of these medications. Why did the FDA approve them for phsyciatric use? cha-ching, cha-ching. They now believe that a-typical anti-psychotics are going to be the front line mood stabalizers for us,no matter that the vast majority of us have no psychotic features what-so-ever, for some unkown reason they just seem to work, on the mania at least. Depression well,actually none of the so called mood stabalizers actually do much for the depression, jone needs anti depressants for those times, and they have even gone so far as to tell us that electic shock therapy is back and really is very effective, new improved and ever so humane, for depression!! It is indeed a good news, bad news, and some ugly as we persevere. In the end I believe that it is a battle of coping skills, self education, some "experiments in chemistry" as far as medication if you are willing, which I am to a certain point (no way on the E.S.T.!!) more self education, and the strengh of spirit and humour so many of us seem to be gifted with. --Previous Message--
on September 21, 2002, 10:45 pm
Great post!
I'll go ya one further, I think they should be peer advocates, because we have been there and know how we need to be treated.
: The good news : 90% of violent crimes are
: committed by people who do not have
: schizophrenia. In fact, people with
: schizophrenia who are taking medicine for
: it are far less likely to commit violence
: than the average person.
: The bad news : While people with
: schizophrenia make up only 1% of the
: general population, they account for 10%
: of violent crime. This means some aspect
: of being diagnosed with schizophrenia
: makes a person 10 times more likely to
: commit a violent crime than the average
: person. Of course, most of these crimes
: are linked to concurrent medication
: non-compliance and/or illicit drug use, so
: it isn't like anyone need fear the
: normally-functioning person with
: schizophrenia who works at the desk next
: to them.
: The ugly news : The very irrationality and
: outlandishness of certain crimes committed
: in the midst of medical psychosis garners
: a lot of undue media attention. This
: fixes in the public's mind the IGNORANT
: belief that schizophrenia is related to
: scores of unpredictable violent acts. The
: public hears the bad news rather than the
: good.
: Frustratingly, I find that almost no one is
: really concerned with facts - everyone has
: an agenda. Here are some of them:
: Some people who've been diagnosed want to
: dispute that mental illnesses even exist
: so they don't have to take treatment; this
: despite the fact that others are
: desperately seeking care for their
: illnesses so they can resume a productive
: place in society. I say, stop disputing
: that the illnesses exist because that just
: ain't true. But do fight against
: unecessary or inhumane forced treatment.
: Psycho-analysts are still pushing the notion
: that schizophrenia is your own fault, or
: your mother's fault, or society's fault -
: it is a good financial move for them;
: similarly, general practitioners with
: almost no training in psychiatry are
: tapping a goldmine by prescribing
: psychiatric drugs to people who don't need
: them - also a good financial move. I say,
: hold psychoanalysts to the same scientific
: standards as other disciplines - don't
: allow imaginative "theories of
: mind" to dictate treatment
: principles. Also, make it a crime to
: casually dispense psychiatric medications
: for minor difficulties - the industry
: needs to police itself much more
: carefully.
: Psychiatrists are committing people who don't
: need it and shooting them up with haldol,
: while turning away people who are begging
: for help in fear their symptoms might
: cause them to harm someone. I say, every
: involuntarily committed patient should be
: met at the hospital by an independent
: observer and advocate who is trained to
: fight for good humane treatment when
: needed, and against treatment that isn't
: needed. I also say that anyone begging
: for help with psychosis should not be
: turned away.
: The media and tons of famous people are
: focusing on everyday depression, anxiety,
: and mild "witness" trauma and
: calling them "mental illnesses".
: Give me a break! These are NORMAL
: experiences not even approaching the
: cognitive, physical, and perceptual
: difficulties caused by schizophrenia,
: bipolar disorder, and major depression.
: These red herrings trivialize the real
: issue and distract us from helping those
: who really need it. Frankly, if one more
: successful female celebrity confesses her
: own depression as a way of becoming a
: spokesperson for the "mentally
: ill" I am going to pop! It doesn't
: help the cause! It just makes people with
: real illnesses look stupid and weak. I
: say, focus on clear-cut illnesses that
: have major negative impact and also have
: proven treatments. Stay out of the
: quagmire of minor/short-term life
: difficulties and vaguely defined
: illnesses.
: In summary, let's focus on the facts. Have
: treatment available for those who need it,
: use coercion where true danger exists but
: not where it doesn't, and stop trying to
: do social engineering through psychiatry
: or anti-psychiatry.
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