[Sparx]

It is very difficult to explain to second person what I am experiencing right now.An ego clash with my relatives once got me locked up in a hospital for four long days, exploiting the fact that there is family history of mental illness apart from the fact that I suffered from a minor psychological disorder. The doctor concerned doesnt even care to take my views into account and prescribes tablets solely based on the views of people around me.So yes, once I face the same situation again it will be a path of no return,since unlike before now they are accusing me of suffering from schizophrenia(earlier they accused me of suffering from depression).
And what I want to know is what will be the effect of tablets for schizophrenia on a normal human being?Will lead to any kind of delusion or will one lose ones sanity altogether?Will I have enough discretionary power left in me to contact some medical authority after a week or a month as until then I am likely to be force fed these tablets.

(More than sympathy I am looking for clear medical advice)
Thanks in advance

[Sometimes psychotic]

Not much happens due to the tablets but if a normal person quits them rapidly they often experience psychosis as a withdrawal symptom.....

[Loial]

I read that healthy individuals given APs will appear to get negative symptoms, which makes sense since it's reducing normal dopamine levels.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by Loial

I read that healthy individuals given APs will appear to get negative symptoms, which makes sense since it's reducing normal dopamine levels.

Negative symptoms are poorly understood I've seen them attributed to actual structural brain damage rather than dopamine levels but I'd say the jury is still out on that one....

[Goldcrest]

You should still be able to think reasonably well, unless they are giving you a large, sedating dose. Sometimes side effects can result in some confusion, but side effects often settle down after a while.

Can you request a second opinion?

[hamster-bamster]

I went through it and it was horrible, but in my case it was also mixed with severe emotional, psychological, economic, and verbal abuse. But it was horrible and yes, the antipsychotics changed the way I thought. Luckily I did not suffer lasting damage on the cognitive level. I did suffer lasting damage in terms of weight gain and acne. Those two side effects ended up being TARDIVE - I am not on AP's but the side effects do not go away.

You are in India and we do not really know how the mental health system works over there, sorry. We do not know if getting a second opinion is an option for you; we do not know if blocking the relatives' access to your dr is an option for you, etc. We simply do not know - those things are specific to each country or even a state or province. Sorry. I would decline antipsychotics if I were you, but I do not know if you have that freedom. Contacting a medical authority now would be better. Also keep in mind that in rare cases of long term use of antipsychotics you develop TD, which can be horrible.

If you absolutely MUST agree to Antipsychotics, by all means ask for Olanzapine. It produces virtually no cognitive and neurological side effects. It can lead to weight gain and a metabolic symptom, but if for you the deal is just to take it for a month, I would go that route. I sometimes take Zyprexa for sleep and can tell you that it does not in any way change the way I think, unlike other antipsychotics I was on.

[The_little_didgee]

When I was a teenager I was given antipsychotics to shut me up. I definitely wasn't psychotic at the time. All they did was make me drowsy which caused some hallucinations. I think I was actually experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations.

[hamster-bamster]

Don't forget the use of old antipsychotics to break the will of political dissidents back in the Eastern Bloc. It is just that nobody ever studied those effects, but the practice of giving AP's to people who did not need them used to be widespread. I do not know what is going in North Korea now...

[venusss]

Yeah, that. Uranium mines seem preferable :/

[Sparx]

Thanks a lot for the advice's.
The way mental systems work in India is pathetic.Once someone declares you as insane you doesnt even get a chance to prove yourself.They simply locks you up thereafter.
There is no luxury of asking for kind of tablets you want etc.The doctor who treated me last time was unwilling to disclose even what he diagnosed me with.

Is it legally possible to demand a second opinion in West?Can someone explain more?I am thinking of a campaign to amend mental health laws

[Altered Moment]

At one time in the United States in the 50's and 60's and before it was similar. If you were pretty bad mental health wise they put you in a state hospital and fed you anti psychotics to keep you sedated and not cause problems. Like thorazine and halidol. Large doses. A family may have had you committed or the state.

Things have changed drastically since then but you can still be forced into a hospital against your will if a doctor or family deems that you are an imminent threat to yourself or others. There you will be forced to take meds until they deem you stable and then you can leave. In the UK they call it being sectioned.

There is currently a lot of controversy about forced treatment of people caught up in the criminal justice system.

Normally yes, you have a right to a second opinion and a total say in your treatment, and don't have to take meds, but if you are forced into a hospital then I am not sure how it works.

The world health organization has some guidelines on human rights for mentally ill. If you are going to lobby for more rights you might start there.

WHO | Mental health, human rights and legislation

http://www.who.int/mental_health/pol..._2006.pdf?ua=1

Mental Health Declaration of Human Rights

[Altered Moment]

I think in the United States each state writes their own laws in regards to this.

Here is a handbook of rights in the state of Michigan that includes court ordered hospitalization.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/md...3_413255_7.pdf

I was once involuntarily committed in California and given a nice ride in a police car to the mental hospital where I stayed three weeks. They suspended my drivers license for six months. I am sure they gave me papers that listed my rights but I never read it and didn't have a clue even though I didn't think I belonged there. In reality I did belong there but I was not a threat to myself or anyone.

Here if you are not involuntary committed you have the same rights as any citizen. You can seek treatment or not. You can take meds or not. It's totally up to you. You can seek as many opinions as you want.

[venusss]

Originally Posted by Sparx

Thanks a lot for the advice's.
The way mental systems work in India is pathetic.Once someone declares you as insane you doesnt even get a chance to prove yourself.They simply locks you up thereafter.
There is no luxury of asking for kind of tablets you want etc.The doctor who treated me last time was unwilling to disclose even what he diagnosed me with.

Is it legally possible to demand a second opinion in West?Can someone explain more?I am thinking of a campaign to amend mental health laws

that is ****ing horrible.

:/

[hamster-bamster]

Sparx: after the murders of raped girls in India, there were petitions to the Gov't of India from the West in which Westerners were saying that they would not travel to India and thus not bring their dollars and euros into the Indian economy if the government does not take a hard stance on rape.

I would think that similar petitions for mental health reform would be appropriate and hopefully started BEFORE killings and not after. However, i do not know how effective the petitions to take a hard stance on rape have been, and probably it is too soon to say (since summer it has been 6 months only). But starting a public petition would still be a good thing - it would highlight the problem and open the eyes of many people on it, even if it does not lead to immediate positive changes.