is Mental Health, Inc. a big trap?

I think it's a trap for elderly in nursing home too. Yes it's the system that prescribe pills willy-nilly, when is this gonna stop? This is an issue of pill popping culture too. I'm hoping everyone's health care stay affordable.

Without mental health inc, where would I turn for help when delusional or out of my right mind? I would be locked in prisons or institutions and forgot about. It's not a perfect science but it's something that many people need. Some people have mild symptoms and for them I can see it as being a potential trap but what about people with severe illness and distress, where can we turn if mental health inc didn't exist?

I feel it's important to ponder these questions and to seek one's own truth.

I was very interested in orthomolecular medicine 30 years ago and have remained interested. I, personally, was too stubborn and would only consider an orthomolecular approach for many years. I was treated by M.D.s specializing in orthomolecular medicine.

I have lost a large part of my life due to my dedication/bias for orthomolecular medicine. I feel I was foolish to listen and to buy so heavily into orthomolecular medicine.

While orthomolecular medicine may be supportive in some ways, I have never seen anyone become fully stabilized using the orthomolecular approach solely. I am not saying someone has not done well; yet, I knew many people involved in seeking treatment at an orthomolecular clinic and nobody was ever doing well enough to show any length of stability in their lives. We have all, those of us still alive, have had to go back to psych meds. We may or may not use supportive supplements in addition, though not primarily.

I truly regret my own lengthy period of devotion to orthomolecular medicine, as I lost too many years of my life floundering, waiting for the orthomolecular approach to help. I am very sorry I had bought into it so heavily and exclusively for so many years.

One of my close friends is still very attached to orthomolecular psych treatment approaches. I am very saddened as I watch her life continue to deteriorate. She did well on meds -- just two years ago -- very well. Yet, she had decided she no longer wanted any meds. She is under the care of a well-known Naturopath, specializing in orthomolecular psychiatry, yet her own life gets worse every month. It's all incredibly sad. I cannot reason with her and I feel strongly her Naturopath is doing her a huge disservice by continuing to sell her supplements which are not helpful enough at all -- and not encouraging her to get the help she desperately needs. She is very ill on all levels and deteriorating more and more with time. She has lost any insight on reasoning and her orthomolecular Naturopath is strongly supporting her demise.

Again, I feel people need to sort this out for themselves.
However, please understand the fact that traditional allopathic approaches to psychiatric care are not all bad. An integrative, mixed approach of both approaches may be much more balanced and may (or may not) prove optimal.


WC

Do you know what they call alternative medicine which Been proven effective? Medicine.

Northwoods is an actual location? I had assumed it was a reference to Operation Northwoods. Disappointed!

me again. I do Orthomolecular (my own version, based on reading the Hoffer material) with my lil cocktail.

I would --not-- be stable and all that good stuff on just high dose vitamins. Great idea, I'm sure there are people out there who have gotten good results, but I'm not one of them.

The Orthmolecular with the medication has helped me recover. I'm calmer, moods fluctuate a bit less, and--this is huge, for me--I don't get major adverse effects from the Rx treatments. Even the neuroleptic, Abilify, doesn't cause any major problems for me, and I once had tics, tremor, and a touch of The Thorazine Shuffle. ((good times))

The vitamins may have helped my overall health, too. My skin looks awesome. Apparently, some forms of B3 (I take niacinamide) can help some skin problems, both topically and orally. I'm wondering if that's what happened. I don't get headaches nearly as often, which is a blessing.

Plus, all drugs--psych and non-psych--can deplete vitamins, stress out your body, etc. I think the emphasis on the B-vitamins has helped me because I take --2-- anti-epileptics, and even the newer anti-seizure drugs deplete b-vitamins, D, and E (probably other vitamins, too).

Maybe its not a huge money making, soul crushing, victim-producing trap. A lot of my problems with Mental Health Inc. before had to do with status issues and, honestly, I ran into some rather vicious "professionals."

I'm going to stop thinking on this as much and just get on with life, as best I can.

Still, I thank all of you for your responses.

There will never be an answer because MI is a non clinical pursuit. Everything simply builds from that platform. Are we over medicated? Can't say. Are we over diagnosed? Can't say. What we can say is this - if we decide to strike out on our own, then we're on our own.

I can see how people might think that but I can not, for if it was a money trap it would be far more assessable. The Pdocs are aging out and there's not enough new ones to take there place. PCPs are now having to write RXs and they don't have the expertise they need so people are getting cought up in wrong diagnosises and wrong meds which makes things worse.

Therapist there are more of and some do seem to make things worse but I mostly blame that on bad training.

Having said all that my beginning experience was being put on the wrong meds which did indeed make things worse and I did get caught in a destructive cycle. But it wasn't a money trap it was ignorance. We're taught to accept the medical profession as authorities and not question them....that's the trap. I believe everyone should educate themselves and question.

For every person wrongly diagnosed there are several others who need a diagnoses and treatment. Many are homeless and being abused on the street....using drugs because they hate themselves and see no way out or ways to stop the voices or delusions. I worry a little about the people being wrongly diagnosed but chances are they have something and are receiving some support. I just worry so much more for the MANY people who are scared, confused and have a real illness they cannot accept or see through. Are some people diagnosed bipolar who obviously are not? Yup....sure are but they keep going to get their pills and seeing doctors so they must think they need it....who am I to argue with them. I don't worry as much about the people receiving help they don't need, I worry about the ones needing help they cannot get access to.