Thank you, Carrie. There is so much to absorb and consider in your story that I am going to bookmark it and reread it later.
In my own very long experience with depression and suicidality, I have figured out that I cannot take advantage of talk therapy until my brain is working right. Meds help that to happen. For me, it takes both.
Again, thank you.
Pam
I’m with you, truth.
When environment, genes, dysfunctiomal family, childhood trauma, and a host of other influences combine, one might need a boatload of therapy, and maybe even some meds (they’ve worked for me), to overcome them. And in the US, these things are not so easily obtained.
Perhaps someone who “rose above” such things benefitted from some protective factors, such as a loving family or good physical healthcare, or others.
I resent the term “buckled under” used above. You’d “buckle” too if you’d experienced some of the trauma I’ve seen in my clients.
Unfortunately, many of the depressed people I know do not have the insight to recognize depression as a signal of something they need to resolve. It can take years of therapy to reach that conclusion. I hope the day will come when there is enough funding to allow people to get therapy and/or meds, as they wish.
And please, when I am in the black pit of despairing depression, do not suggest that I get off my ass. I read that as an insult, as if I wouldn’t get off my ass if I could. In that situation, I’m more likely to kill myself than I am to “get off my ass” to figure out why I’m depressed. You know that, right?
Very true. What do we do while we wait for the sociopolitical task to be accomplished?
“tardive receptor supersensitivity disorders” Crap, that is so scary, and I agree that it’s hurtful that they have a name for it but don’t deal with it by changing their prescribing criteria. And do primary care docs even know this is an issue??
“Is that really worth getting through some hard times or subduing children?”
I don’t know about that. But it has certainly been worth it to save my life, which tricyclics and SSRIs have done several times. And I don’t care if I ever discontinue my Paxil. If not for antidepressants, I would have been dead by suicide long ago.
And, having worked with severely depressed adolescents in residential treatment, I haven’t seen drugs used to “subdue” children but to save their lives. Adolescents are impulsive, and our clients have done some alarming things to try to kill themselves.
I’m afraid the public and uneducated primary care providers see these drugs as feel-good pills and don’t understand that they aren’t to be used lightly. Not just to cope with hard times. I blame pharmaceutical advertising and reps for that. Damn them. And I understand that some psychiatrists are nothing more than pill pushers. Damn them.
But I get afraid that these meds will be so maligned that someone will try to outlaw them. That’s why I get so prickly when they are used inappropriately. I need them, and so do others. I hope you feel better, Jeffrey. God bless you.
p.p.s. You can also share this on facebook. This is what i wrote if it suits your purposes:
“This is a wonderful innovation for psychiatric patients. Many of them get bounced around from doctor to doctor and there’s no time in a 15-minute med check to tell a doctor much of anything. This program allows a patient to prepare for his or her appointment. I would be grateful if you could click this link and vote for this project to be funded. Thank you!”
p.s. Remember to vote!
Ah, and a good thought it is! I believe I need to take a look at my Living Will and see if it addresses that. And my Power of Attorney. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I am so grateful to have found this web site! While my meds literally saved my life, I am learning so much about others’ experiences and viewpoints. And I’m pretty happy to see this being approached as a civil rights issue. I have recently taken back the label “crazy.” And I’m going to keep it, much as LGBT folks have taken back the label “queer.”
I think the first commenter made some good points. I have to agree that being anti-meds is probably not the place to begin. Perhaps Medical Choice or Informed Consent would be different ways to frame it. But I am a relative newcomer here, so if these frames have already been discussed, never mind. I have to disagree, though, about community members being unable to come together. Sure, there are differing worldviews, but I think we can still agree on some basic ways forward.
Thanks, again!
Thank you, Oryx, you make such good points.
It seems like our society is so divided in so many ways. A friend of mine points out that when many people are against even providing basic healthcare for fellow citizens, we have come to a prettty sad place. I don’t know if this is even fixable.
Thanks for your great ideas; I hope this article gets wide circulation. I plan to refer and link to it in my own blog. Good stuff.
Thanks for responding once again, Stephen. It’s good to make your acquaintance. 🙂
I so appreciate this, Jacqui.
I have been suicidally depressed many times, but I have never heard voices. I have talked with voice-hearers in the hospital very matter-of-factly, but I never thought about this approach until I heard of HVN, just a few weeks ago.
Your post is enlightening. I am a peer specialist, and I am so grateful for the information I get at MIA. I am in your debt.
Pam
Thanks, Tina, great insights on profiling.
I, too, have concerns about the vague wording in the president’s recommendations, but I hadn’t equated it to profiling.
Thanks again.
Pam
I’d also be pleased to have any other MIA community members comment on the blog — no sign in is required, but a first name would be cool if you’d be willing to provide that.
Stephen, thanks for your gentle response.
You are so right about psychiatrists and talk therapy. My psychiatrist is pretty old school, and even though I have been seeing him for a very long time (another anomaly, I believe), he still spends all of our med check time actually asking me questions and listening to me.
I have also, however, seen psychiatrists in the hospital who spent only five minutes with me and then changed my meds. And now the insurance companies kick you out of the hospital before anyone can observe whether med changes have any effect, anyway. The whole process is in a sad state.
I know that I have been very lucky in having a long-term relationship with a single psychiatrist and in having private health insurance to pay for some talk therapy. In my experience, I needed the meds to help me think straight before I could make much use of talk therapy. But I know, and you have brought to my attention again, that my experience isn’t typical.
I guess when I read many of the posts on MIA, I get afraid that people will advocate so hard against drugs that I will lose my own meds. Fear makes me prickly and I respond as such.
I would be honored to hear your thoughts on my more recent blog posts at http://www.PricklyPam.com. I most value comments from people who have “been there.” I would like to see if I am reflecting the “mental health” situation accurately for others. I want to be a voice for those who are not often listened to. I don’t know how well I do that.
Thanks again, Stephen.
Yep, advertising money talks. Loudly.
We have to just take whatever steps we can. We can legislate that GPs can’t prescribe certain kinds of meds. But we also have to allocate more funds for counseling and peer support. Meds are *not* the only treatment for “mental illness.” Unfortunately, corporate greed is going to lobby hard against that kind of legislation and treatment. Pharma and “health” insurance companies won’t allow their profits to be cut without a fight. So the ultimate fix will be getting corporate/tycoon money out of politics. I didn’t say it was easy, just that it needs to be done.
The author issues a lot of snarky “why isn’t” and “could it be” statements but he doesn’t offer any solutions, suggestions, or calls to action. He is just mad at “gun grabbers” and meds. He just complains. Maybe that’s why the article was removed: because it doesn’t say anything constructive.
Please keep in mind that you do not speak for all of us, nor does the author. I’m grateful for my psychiatrist’s help.
What is your suggested solution to the problem of mass shootings?
Oh, puh-leeze, “left-fascists?” The fascists are on the right; look up the meaning. What would it profit the “gun snatchers” to snatch guns? The weapons used by the mass killers certainly *are* relevant. If they weren’t semi-automatic with large clips, the body count would have been much lower. And saying that depression very rarely leads to violence is true, it very rarely does. But it can. I, myself, have been in such a place of darkness that I planned to kill family members and then myself with — wait for it — a gun. See http://www.pricklypam.com. And psychiatric meds saved lives in my case.
I don’t know who this author is, but he seems to be as rabidly against psych meds as he is for eliminating all gun control. Why does it have to be one or the other? Can’t we advocate for tighter restriction of prescribing psych meds while, at the same time, advocating for some gun control to reduce body count in the event that some sociopath goes on a rampage?
Thank you, Carrie. There is so much to absorb and consider in your story that I am going to bookmark it and reread it later.
In my own very long experience with depression and suicidality, I have figured out that I cannot take advantage of talk therapy until my brain is working right. Meds help that to happen. For me, it takes both.
Again, thank you.
Pam
I’m with you, truth.
When environment, genes, dysfunctiomal family, childhood trauma, and a host of other influences combine, one might need a boatload of therapy, and maybe even some meds (they’ve worked for me), to overcome them. And in the US, these things are not so easily obtained.
Perhaps someone who “rose above” such things benefitted from some protective factors, such as a loving family or good physical healthcare, or others.
I resent the term “buckled under” used above. You’d “buckle” too if you’d experienced some of the trauma I’ve seen in my clients.
Unfortunately, many of the depressed people I know do not have the insight to recognize depression as a signal of something they need to resolve. It can take years of therapy to reach that conclusion. I hope the day will come when there is enough funding to allow people to get therapy and/or meds, as they wish.
And please, when I am in the black pit of despairing depression, do not suggest that I get off my ass. I read that as an insult, as if I wouldn’t get off my ass if I could. In that situation, I’m more likely to kill myself than I am to “get off my ass” to figure out why I’m depressed. You know that, right?
Very true. What do we do while we wait for the sociopolitical task to be accomplished?
“tardive receptor supersensitivity disorders” Crap, that is so scary, and I agree that it’s hurtful that they have a name for it but don’t deal with it by changing their prescribing criteria. And do primary care docs even know this is an issue??
“Is that really worth getting through some hard times or subduing children?”
I don’t know about that. But it has certainly been worth it to save my life, which tricyclics and SSRIs have done several times. And I don’t care if I ever discontinue my Paxil. If not for antidepressants, I would have been dead by suicide long ago.
And, having worked with severely depressed adolescents in residential treatment, I haven’t seen drugs used to “subdue” children but to save their lives. Adolescents are impulsive, and our clients have done some alarming things to try to kill themselves.
I’m afraid the public and uneducated primary care providers see these drugs as feel-good pills and don’t understand that they aren’t to be used lightly. Not just to cope with hard times. I blame pharmaceutical advertising and reps for that. Damn them. And I understand that some psychiatrists are nothing more than pill pushers. Damn them.
But I get afraid that these meds will be so maligned that someone will try to outlaw them. That’s why I get so prickly when they are used inappropriately. I need them, and so do others. I hope you feel better, Jeffrey. God bless you.
p.p.s. You can also share this on facebook. This is what i wrote if it suits your purposes:
“This is a wonderful innovation for psychiatric patients. Many of them get bounced around from doctor to doctor and there’s no time in a 15-minute med check to tell a doctor much of anything. This program allows a patient to prepare for his or her appointment. I would be grateful if you could click this link and vote for this project to be funded. Thank you!”
p.s. Remember to vote!
Ah, and a good thought it is! I believe I need to take a look at my Living Will and see if it addresses that. And my Power of Attorney. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I am so grateful to have found this web site! While my meds literally saved my life, I am learning so much about others’ experiences and viewpoints. And I’m pretty happy to see this being approached as a civil rights issue. I have recently taken back the label “crazy.” And I’m going to keep it, much as LGBT folks have taken back the label “queer.”
I think the first commenter made some good points. I have to agree that being anti-meds is probably not the place to begin. Perhaps Medical Choice or Informed Consent would be different ways to frame it. But I am a relative newcomer here, so if these frames have already been discussed, never mind. I have to disagree, though, about community members being unable to come together. Sure, there are differing worldviews, but I think we can still agree on some basic ways forward.
Thanks, again!
Thank you, Oryx, you make such good points.
It seems like our society is so divided in so many ways. A friend of mine points out that when many people are against even providing basic healthcare for fellow citizens, we have come to a prettty sad place. I don’t know if this is even fixable.
Thanks for your great ideas; I hope this article gets wide circulation. I plan to refer and link to it in my own blog. Good stuff.
Thanks for responding once again, Stephen. It’s good to make your acquaintance. 🙂
I so appreciate this, Jacqui.
I have been suicidally depressed many times, but I have never heard voices. I have talked with voice-hearers in the hospital very matter-of-factly, but I never thought about this approach until I heard of HVN, just a few weeks ago.
Your post is enlightening. I am a peer specialist, and I am so grateful for the information I get at MIA. I am in your debt.
Pam
Thanks, Tina, great insights on profiling.
I, too, have concerns about the vague wording in the president’s recommendations, but I hadn’t equated it to profiling.
Thanks again.
Pam
I’d also be pleased to have any other MIA community members comment on the blog — no sign in is required, but a first name would be cool if you’d be willing to provide that.
Stephen, thanks for your gentle response.
You are so right about psychiatrists and talk therapy. My psychiatrist is pretty old school, and even though I have been seeing him for a very long time (another anomaly, I believe), he still spends all of our med check time actually asking me questions and listening to me.
I have also, however, seen psychiatrists in the hospital who spent only five minutes with me and then changed my meds. And now the insurance companies kick you out of the hospital before anyone can observe whether med changes have any effect, anyway. The whole process is in a sad state.
I know that I have been very lucky in having a long-term relationship with a single psychiatrist and in having private health insurance to pay for some talk therapy. In my experience, I needed the meds to help me think straight before I could make much use of talk therapy. But I know, and you have brought to my attention again, that my experience isn’t typical.
I guess when I read many of the posts on MIA, I get afraid that people will advocate so hard against drugs that I will lose my own meds. Fear makes me prickly and I respond as such.
I would be honored to hear your thoughts on my more recent blog posts at http://www.PricklyPam.com. I most value comments from people who have “been there.” I would like to see if I am reflecting the “mental health” situation accurately for others. I want to be a voice for those who are not often listened to. I don’t know how well I do that.
Thanks again, Stephen.
Yep, advertising money talks. Loudly.
We have to just take whatever steps we can. We can legislate that GPs can’t prescribe certain kinds of meds. But we also have to allocate more funds for counseling and peer support. Meds are *not* the only treatment for “mental illness.” Unfortunately, corporate greed is going to lobby hard against that kind of legislation and treatment. Pharma and “health” insurance companies won’t allow their profits to be cut without a fight. So the ultimate fix will be getting corporate/tycoon money out of politics. I didn’t say it was easy, just that it needs to be done.
The author issues a lot of snarky “why isn’t” and “could it be” statements but he doesn’t offer any solutions, suggestions, or calls to action. He is just mad at “gun grabbers” and meds. He just complains. Maybe that’s why the article was removed: because it doesn’t say anything constructive.
Please keep in mind that you do not speak for all of us, nor does the author. I’m grateful for my psychiatrist’s help.
What is your suggested solution to the problem of mass shootings?
Oh, puh-leeze, “left-fascists?” The fascists are on the right; look up the meaning. What would it profit the “gun snatchers” to snatch guns? The weapons used by the mass killers certainly *are* relevant. If they weren’t semi-automatic with large clips, the body count would have been much lower. And saying that depression very rarely leads to violence is true, it very rarely does. But it can. I, myself, have been in such a place of darkness that I planned to kill family members and then myself with — wait for it — a gun. See http://www.pricklypam.com. And psychiatric meds saved lives in my case.
I don’t know who this author is, but he seems to be as rabidly against psych meds as he is for eliminating all gun control. Why does it have to be one or the other? Can’t we advocate for tighter restriction of prescribing psych meds while, at the same time, advocating for some gun control to reduce body count in the event that some sociopath goes on a rampage?