[still_crazy]

OK. I go to a clinic. They have difficulty keeping shrinks, so now I'm doing "telepsychiatry," which is where I see a dude in another part of the state over a hi-def webcam. Its...odd. I kind of feel badly for the staff at the clinic, because it seems that it takes a lot out of their day, making this run smoothly.

Anyway...dude has me down to 2 daily psych drugs. lamictal and abilify. I am (apparently...) "clearly, Bipolar I." Which raises a question...

why is it that there's such a horrible stigma against "Schizophrenia," even amongst the severely mentally ill? People will say "why, no, I don't have Schizophrenia; I have Bipolar I" or even "no, no; I'm not Schizophrenic...its Schizoaffective," which makes me think...

"Schizophrenia" is still viewed as a death sentence, isn't it? an invalidation? a sort of nullification of a human being?

ugh. on the plus side, having the official label of Bipolar I = less likelihood of hospitalization. always a good thing. Here where I live, they're trying to focus on "the recovery model," so hospitalization (state-funded) is supposed to be a last resort. The state hospital itself has been trimmed down a good bit. a lot of it was on prime real estate, so the state sold it off and made a cool couple hundred million $$$.

thing is...I come from a "good family," that's currently going the extra mile to help me become one of those "productive adults" I keep hearing so much about. If I was poor and on my own, I'd just be another statistic, and I kind of suspect they'd heap the worst diagnoses on me, just because...that seems to be how things go.

ok. finished ((for now)). :-)

[tecomsin]

hey still crazy,

there's nothing in my view that can replace the support of family in dealing with the vagaries of mental illness as often times these illnesses are incredibly isolating in so many ways people get disconnected from the day to day social rhythms of life, so it is good you have your folks to help you

and yes having some money helps in life and particularly to escape the worst consequences of whatever else is going on.

I don't know how I feel about the state selling off hospital beds. At the very least there are people in prison who belong in mental institutions, to get treatment, much more so than just the criminally insane.

About schizophrenia... I don't know how or why it is viewed the way it is in western societies vs. let's say in tribal cultures with their shamanistic people. Schizophrenia has been around for a long time and it is only in some cultures that the idea of what to do with people is to lock them away out of site. If the condition is viewed as hopeless that makes the moral question of not doing anything to help less intense.

[Wonderfalls]

I think you're right and it's a stark manifestation of how mental illness is seen altogether. I don't think you would want to live in a society where shamans are in charge of other people's lives.

I find it very surprising that any medical doctor would be willing to prescribe powerful drugs to you without having the means to examine you in person. I even wonder about the professionalism of doctors willing to call in prescriptions without verifying that I do in fact has strep throat.

[Sunflower123]

I agree with you. Sometimes I feel the stigma against the bipolar diagnosis as well.