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But not one person said that their therapist was a great help, or even that any mental health help has drastically improved their situation.
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Mental health help has drastically improved my situation. My depression is in complete remission. (It was previously severe enough for suicidal ideation.) Treatment for ADHD has left a lot to be desired, but even that is a huge improvement over no treatment.
I know I've been fairly lucky. I agree with everyone who says psychiatry is currently a pile of stupid. But if I didn't accept treatment, then I'd be in a worse situation.
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Originally Posted by DechanDawa
What I have been feeling is that yes, all the responsibility for healing is being put on me. If they say I am doing well but I don't feel like I am doing well...I am at fault. I refuse to take psychiatric drugs because I feel for me this would not be the right treatment. So I am at fault because I am not accepting standard treatment.
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Well, yeah.
Psychiatry is branch of medicine. They can offer you medical treatment. If you don't want medical treatment, what do you want them to do? In extreme circumstances, they can give you involuntary treatment, but that's pretty much the same as the standard treatment, just involuntary.
I can understand wanting something better than the current standard treatment. However, if they could invent something better, they already would have, and they'd be making it available to everybody and it would
become the standard treatment.
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Originally Posted by DechanDawa
When the counselor called I said I was great and she was all cheerful and talked to me for 20 minutes. Twenty minutes!
No mention of...where did the depression go? Where did the suicidal ideation go?
I mean I could be lying to her while standing on the roof of my apartment building! How clueless can these mental health people be?
It makes me laugh.
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If you're unable to disclose your symptoms (e.g. due to some kind of social anxiety or something), I can sympathize with that. But how are they supposed to know you're lying? Major depressive disorder is often episodic, so if you pretend you're in remission, they have no reason not to believe you. And even if they do realize or suspect you're faking recovery, are they supposed to just accuse you of lying?
Is it easier to describe your symptoms in writing? Maybe if you ever decide you want treatment, you can type your symptoms up and email it or hand them the paper. (You will probably have to answer some questions verbally though.)