Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyllya
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.
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.
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.)
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I will admit when you pull apart what I wrote like this I sound pretty confused. So I am feeling a bit better now and want to clarify some things.
Psychiatric medication has a poor history of efficacy. Less than 30 per cent are helped. That leaves 70 per cent who try psychiatric medications without any relief, or bad side effects. Read the accounts of those on this forum. It would not make anyone think these drugs are the "go to" cure. And how about when you come off them? Brain zaps? No thanks. You should also be aware that many people do not believe anxiety and depression are biomedical diseases. I am one of them.
My counselor is goal oriented. It is obvious she wants to see improvement in a short period of time. We are using CBT. If I do well she is pleased. If I am having a bad week she is very displeased. I don't have social anxiety and do not have trouble telling her how I feel. I just wanted to see how she would react if I suddenly improved. Remission? I am not bipolar. I don't think severe anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation are going to suddenly disappear in one week. That's...crazy. The counselor did not suspect I was lying. And if she did I would expect her to challenge me. This counselor certainly would.
I sent her several emails saying I was unhappy with how treatment was progressing. Her response was that she would help me find support out in the community. This is BS. We have been this route before. This is because the mental health care the insurance company is offering (who employs this counselor) is subpar. The failure is their failure and should not be put on people wanting decent care. I should not have to be directed to spend my money out in the community because my insurance company does not offer adequate mental health care. The phone chats are free but as I have said they are quite superficial. I might as well be doing CBT on my own.
I don't have the time or money to waste on therapy that doesn't work, and on medications that don't work.
I don't have the time or money to waste on half-measures, and "ain't that too bad this is all we can offer" mental health care treatments. It is a travesty.
I am at the point where I feel I want to commit to just getting better on my own as I can do all the Mickey Mouse modalities suggested such as mindfulness
, exercise, good diet, vitamins, good sleep hygiene, CBT, DBT, herbs, herbal tea, spiritual practice, hobbies, etc. etc. etc. etc.
I don't need poisonous psych medications messing up my system. I am not saying the medications are not needed for other conditions. I am saying that they are not needed for anxiety and depression. The highly addictive nature of benzodiazepines suggests they should be taken off the market...as they and ADs are causing people to become lifelong prescription drug addicts.
I am happy to hear you got rid of your depression and suicidal ideation. That is beautiful and I am very happy for you. That is what I wish for and I won't stop until I find my cure. It maybe outside of the medical establishment. As well as out of the reach of greedy Big Pharma making millions of dollars with ineffective drugs with their hit-or-miss efficacy.