Roll Call Eight

WeepingWillow23 that's all you can do-- just put one foot in front of the other and do the very best that you can do. I wish you the very best!

I'm contemplating walking away from psychiatry all together. It's just not helping me in the way they claimed it would. If anything, it's just triggering my paranoid ideation which is the last thing I need. I'm so past done with it all right now. I'm not going to rush into any decisions right away, but I don't know what to think or do anymore.

I have been there too.

My son's pdoc lowered his olanzapine dose yesterday from 3.75 mg to 3.125 mg.

Have you tried therapy without the meds? It's another approach...everyone is different but it's worked for a couple of people in long term recovery. I'm waiting for a video/book about it by Daniel mackler. Will make a thread when I get them.

Is he trying to get off entirely or just get to the lowest practical dose?

I still have hope that eventually he'll get off it altogether. I think he just wants the lowest effective dose.

His goal was to get down to 5 mg. Now that he's lower than that, he wants to get to 2.5 mg. I think mainly that's because he has to cut pills into halves and quarters right now. It would be easier to just take a 2.5 mg pill.

His pdoc commented when he first started seeing him that olanzapine isn't one of his favorite APs. Too many side effects. But it works for my son, so he agreed to leave him on it. He said he does have a few patients on a low dose of it.

So olanzapine is interesting its a lot like clozapine. Both of them are sort of last line APs because of the side effects but they are the only APs that work in a ketamine mouse model...so NMDA and glutamate instead of dopamine.

That's interesting.

I almost asked if there were any lifestyle or dietary interventions he could use instead or in addition, but ... he wouldn't do them anyway, so

Has anyone read treating the untreatable by Ira steinman? I'm not sure what to make of him. He's a shrink who tries to get people off meds and uses psychodynamic analysis with them but he's so freaking condescending. Can't decide whether to buy the book apparently he presents 15 cases so that's interesting to me. He also gave a talk on you tube also condescending at parts but interesting in its case material. I'm sick of shrinks talking about this like its the most horrible possible thing that could happen to someone, you would think somebody died or something. People dream every night and nobody tells them it's a terrible delusion and they need to stop to get well. Anyway if anybody has read it let me know.

Recently, a guy told me, "You are boring." It has been years since I heard that. Apparently, I need to get a life, because I have unique interests. Why should I get a life when mine is just fine?

I went mushroom hunting today and found some cup fungi and cordyceps.

Psychoanalysis means run!!!!

IRA STEINMAN M.D. I read some of his stuff here and it does seem he has an ego. He takes credit for "curing" one of his patients! His patients do the real work in psychoanalysis, for Pete's sake, not him.
Anyway, it would be good to read more stories of success and just ignore the commentary by Ira. I suppose it's his methods that do matter, not his ego.

What matters to me is that there is evidence of recovery.

I can't believe someone said that to you, you're anything but boring. I always have to look up your mushrooms...Cup fungi look cool.

Hmmm technically I get billed for psychoanalysis by pdoc and I like him fine...but we don't do anything really since its only 30 minutes quarterly.

I don't think you're boring at all, I actually look forward to reading your posts because they're always so interesting.

I don't understand why superficial "small-talk" crap is okay, but if you mention something like mushroom hunting then people look at you like you're weird. It doesn't make sense to me at all.

You mean psychodynamic therapy right? Psychoanalysis isn't usually indicated for people with a psychotic disorder.

Thanks for the compliment.

Yeah that's true. You should see him diss other pdocs too like he's the best. The study he talked about on you tube he kept going back to how no one had asked the critical questions that unravelled the psychosis. Then he kept saying how she had this eminent pdoc for twenty years so he was that much better. Still you're right it's the recovery I want to read about but I'm not sure if its going to be veiled in so much self congratulatory muck that the true basis of the recovery will be lost.

Well steinman is psychodynamic but my pdoc does psychoanalysis I don't know what the difference is...I'm not really sure he's doing it or not we just chat and he tells me how well I'm doing etc. mostly he's medication management but I only have one drug so that takes five minutes max. And we talk the rest of the time. But yeah on my bill it says psychoanalysis I've never asked him what he's doing.

The world doesn't make that much sense. That may help explain why I like mushrooms so much.

I always feel reluctant to post, because I never know what to say and how to comfort people in need.

I was thinking about Sigmund Freud when I made my comment. The only thing I agree with is his defence mechanisms.

Do you talk about the conscious and unconscious?

Little D: although psychoanalysis is not generally indicated for psychosis and Sz, it should be, don't you agree?

I also enjoy what you have to say and I find you very interesting and fun! I have always loved mushrooms/fungus. There is a Fungus Festival in Santa Cruz , Ca. where I come from.http://scfungusfair.org/

Sorry, I'm in a very bad mood.

No we just talk about things I've done he wants to make sure I'm being social enough and not in my own world and stuff like that. Last time he asked me what my goals for the year were that kind of thing. It's definitely like a mini therapy appt. but no unconscious stuff.

I am not sure what my opinion is on that. I do agree with dream analysis, because it can be very insightful.

What bothers me about Freud are his psychosexual development stages. Electra complex? **** retentive?

Carl Rogers really appeals to me.

Yeah I'm not sure about Freud either but my pdoc was really all over sex the one time we talked about it. Basically I wasn't at all interested in anyone because the risperidone had shut down my period and he freaked out and said I would never get married or have a boyfriend. I remember looking at him like he was crazy because I really did not want one I had no desire at all. Then he backed down and said no you should do what you want to do. It was weird and clearly some baggage he had brought to the table and not me.

Sometimes, psychiatrists can get very passionate. Mine tried to make me change my diet. She even lectured me on the perils of not eating breakfast.

Why do some people think every person must get married?