First of all, clicking the thanks icon wasn't sufficient for this post - so thanks.


It can be hard to keep up with the changes being out of the loop - this was vital information.


Bingo!


The frustrating part for me is simply the complete lack of consistent logic, at least from my vantage point. For instance, I'm a recovered drug addict. I've been clean for twenty-three plus years. Ask my pdoc if I'm still an addict and he'll tell you that I am absolutely still an addict. "But doc," I cry, "I haven't taken any drugs in over twenty-three years!" He'll reply, "Drugs are just a symptom of the disease of addiction." And he'll be right. So I'm not cured.

Dissociative amnesia is but a symptom of DID. So I'm cured. Cool. Honestly, I could care less what the diagnosis is - or is not; I'm a pretty happy guy, particularly when I don't have to deal with pdocs. I just wish they'd apply the same standards across the board.


Question for you amandalouise, if you don't mind. I'm seeing a pdoc for medical reasons - long story short, my primary care physician can't legally provide pain killers for chronic conditions except under a very few special conditions. One of those is to have a pdoc sign off on it as crucial to mental health. Because a sleep study showed that I was getting zero percent stage three and zero percent REM sleep without pain meds, this was the easiest way for me to get pain management.

So my question is, what are some potential benefits to treatment for OSDD? Chronic pain aside, we're very happy and frankly, we consider ourselves to be more than the sum of our parts. One insignificant example, it's just the first thing that came to mind, is this: We like to play chess. A talent that we have is that she can hold pictures in her head - I can't. So she'll hold the board position in her head and I'll make the moves and so we're able to play blindfold chess - not the most important skill but it's something fun we do together.

Oh, here we go, a more significant example and one that has some significant health benefits for us, particularly as we have several chronic pain conditions. Incidentally, we've had this tested in a lab. Stage three sleep is the restorative sleep exemplified by the production of delta waves. Deep meditation also provides a way to create delta waves and get restorative benefits. I've taught her to meditate and when she does, even when I'm reading or watching TV (as we did in the lab) my brain produces delta waves even though "I" am not sleeping or meditating. It's a neat trick and I believe, the reason I didn't lose my mind prior to getting some pain relief.

I'm just wondering if the potential benefits to treatment could possibly outweigh the arrangements we have now.