Mental Illness

reply to post by devilishlyangelic23


yeah its like if you have a broken leg then people can see whats wrong with you but if something "breaks" up in the brain then they struggle to understand that you are unwell or debilitated by it.
i also had the same thing where as hospital staff and other people would say things along the lines of "your very intelligent, what are you doing here" like intelligence has anything to do with mental illness at all.

I suffer from depression, sometimes it would be to the point of several suicide attempts, others just days curled up in bed refusing to speak. Currently i'm in a great spot, but i've worked my *** off to get here, i don't consider myself sick anymore. I refuse to take any more meds for it because a) they make me sicker in the head and b) i'm one of the unlucky buggers that suffers every side-effect in the book while on medication. So after alot of hard work and 'soul searching' i'm in a place where i can say i'm honestly happy with my life. It took me a good year or two of writing, going through my life, reevaluating my priorities, finding healthy passions etc to get here, but was totally worth it

reply to post by cjcord


yeah i really had to force myself to start with the meds because i had it in my mind that all pharmaceuticals were bad and all that but as i got worse it was my mother who talked me round to trying meds, she told me she could only try to understand how i was feeling and what i was going through, then she asked me to try and understand how it made her feel as a mother to see her youngest son constantly being taken by the police and put in the hospital and to see him try to commit suicide and to see him become like a raging monster when i had my anger attacks, and that really struck a chord with me and i promised id try the meds.
so they prescribed me carbamazepine which is a mood stabilizer used to treat bi-polar.
i can honestly say it was a smart move, since it did what it said on the tin, it stabilized me so im no longer having days where my mood fluctuates up and down by the hour and im not lashing out.
i still think dr's prescribe anti-depressants too quickly and i still have certain views about the phama company's but certain meds do work.

reply to post by Dark Ghost


thanks, i had insight enough to see how good could come about from my illness.

i saw in this a kind of weeding out process which showed me who my friends were and who were just hangers on, i have shed no tears over the loss of communication with those that distanced themselves from me.

and not only that i have learned many valuable lessons over the past year or so which i would have otherwise been ignorant of.

reply to post by bkaust


good for you.

i hope you keep on top of things.

reply to post by EyeOnYou


I'm very happy to hear that you were willing to try.

I believe that many mental illness are hereditary. I know in my family (all I know is my mothers' side) for at least 6 generations there has been the same illnesses. what is interesting to me is how it has been dealt with. My great great grandmother was diagnosed with what would now be called depression. but then- it was considered something way worse. She was institutionalized for most of her life, and submitted to horrible therapies, ECT, etc.

My grandmother had the same illness. She was ignored, then put on BC pills, thinking it was a hormonal issue. She tried to kill herself many times, before she too was put through shock treatments. My mother was undiagnosed until after I was born. They tried many different "new" medications, and she spent 20 years trying to find one that worked.

I was the lucky one who was born when we know more about the brain and how chemicals work with it. It took me about 4 years to find the right med, as even if they are all the same class, they are all different formulations (which is why they are different drugs). Everyone has different chemistry, the trick is being under supervised care until the correct formulation is found. I also feel the need to advocate again- doing self research.

I research every script I am given, as I am on a few, and if you have more than one doc, like a gen practitioner and a psychiatrist- they may not be on the same page, especially if you do not tell each doc what you are taking.

So be alert, be smart, and be honest.

For those who were able to wean off meds after a while- that's great!! I am SO happy that you are doing well on your own. But I am willing to admit that I am not at that point. Sometimes I'll forget to take my SSRI for a few days. Then I'll be snappish, and crying over toilet paper commercials...and I'll realize^^.

Meds, talk therapy, deep breathing techniques, a healthy sleep pattern, and coping skills work wonders. Sometimes you may need all of them, sometimes only two ( I refuse to advocate meds without therapy together, it's a losing battle).

reply to post by EyeOnYou


I also HAVE to add that having a support network is vital. If that means not relying on family, so be it. There are numerous local agencies (such as NAMI, there is a NAMI in most areas of the US), or online groups can be a lifesaver at times.

Sometimes only those who know what it is like will understand what's going through your mind right then. If you need some resources, I would be happy to help. Feel free to U2U me. The hardest part is the beginning of treatment, I remember that well.

I'm an ex mental health worker. A colleague was diagnosed with clinical depression after he 'lost it' one day while at work. But he's ok now.
I just wanted to say that all of us are closer to the edge than we realise. A life circumstance, a change in brain chemistry, a genetic inheritance even, can push us over the edge. Any of us. I have felt myself on the edge sometimes. Some brilliant well known and successful people are bipolar or autistic or subject to depression. In fact sometimes I think, it's almost a requirement!
I would have thought, on a site like ATS, everyone would have come out damning drugs. Not so. It's about going with whatever works for you - be it drugs or any other strategy.
So just to say kudos to everyone who has posted

[edit on 24-1-2010 by unicorn1]

reply to post by cjcord


i was on zoppiclone prescription sleeping tablets for awhile cos i wasnt sleeping for like 3 days at a time then id just about drop anywhere and sleep for 24 hours.

your right too, there is a little history of mental illness in my family.

my dad was on seroxat for a while and he would never tell me why, even to this day he wont talk about it.

but the worst i guess is my cousin, i cant remember what they said was wrong with him but one day he just flipped and bashed his mom (my aunty) in the head with a hammer several times then stripped naked and marched up and down the street a few times, neighbours of theirs saw him walkin around the street naked and obviously called the police.
when the police got to the house he was still naked but was sat in the arm chair as though nothing had gone off.
the police found his mom in the kitchen in a pool of blood and promptly arrested him.
before his trial he got assesd by a shrink whom he told that voices had been telling him to do it for weeks and he did it to make them go away.
so instead of jail he got sent to a secure mental hospital where he still is to this day.
his mum survived but with severe brain damage.

reply to post by cjcord


before i took any medication obviously i looked it up first then made an informed decision.

reply to post by unicorn1


what job did you do?

was it in the hospital or part of the crisis team or other?

reply to post by EyeOnYou


At one time I worked for a regional mental health charity and was responsible for setting up and managing services in Yorkshire UK. Mainly housing but also family support and befriending for people with schizophrenia and other long term mental heath problems. Another time I worked for social services in both supported accommodation and a residential mental health unit where there was an 'emergency bed' for people who had self harmed or were at risk. So direct face to face support.
Just about to start work providing support to people with Alzheimers.


[edit on 24-1-2010 by unicorn1]

Some very good responses above. Meds alone won't be a cure all...it takes a true holistic approach. And for some, meds just are not able to to provide the relief from the symptoms. I have been dating a wonderful girl for the last year. Her symptoms started while she was in college (philosophy major) and became unbearable even with meds (lithium, limactil, ambien, saphris, klonopine). She's been through a battery of treatments and medications with short-lived results, at best. When the latest combo didn't help, her desperation led her to research other treatments available. Two weeks ago she began ECT and has been through 6 treatments so far. I do realize that ECT has a stigma attached to it, I have done my own research too. For her though, so far, it has been a lifesaver (and no, that is not an exaggeration). She is so much more like the person she was before the disorder (her mom's words) and our hope is that this treatment will allow her meds to be more effective (and thus, enable the other treatment methods to be effective). I guess my main point? Mental illness is very real and there is a myriad of treatment options.....never give up the fight.

reply to post by TruthIsPower

Hey truthispower good luck with it all. People would be surprised how many mental health problems start at college age. Particularly schizophrenia.
But in any case. 'mental health' is just how it is perceived. It can have a physical cause exactly the same as any other illness. So some of us come down with arthritis and heart problems etc. Others will have thought processes or emotions affected.
Unfortunately there is still a bit of stigma. Like it's OK to get MS or cancer but not bipolar



[edit on 24-1-2010 by unicorn1]

Hello there!

i have o situation,or if i am correct my parents have!I have a brother who is older 3 years and he has diagnosed scitsofrenia officialy,itsreally bad,sometimes he feels ok but another times,its going on about 20 years now!first he speak some blablabla about secretservice,we lived before soviet union but now he just lost it i think!My parents suffer a lot about this!And funny thing he graduated highschool very good,not like me the younger brother!

reply to post by ekiusa


Paranoia is a classic symptom of schizophrenia - which often starts late teens or early 20s. Typically during college/university.
Sometimes people are aware that they are being delusional, sometimes they are not. Usually meds can control or dampen down the symptoms. But a common scenario is for people to ditch the meds if they are feeling better, then end up at square one.
Schizophrenia is nothing to do with intelligence


[edit on 24-1-2010 by unicorn1]

[edit on 30/12/2009 by EyeOnYou]

reply to post by EyeOnYou

The poster already said he was officially diagnosed.

reply to post by unicorn1


yeah its like i keep saying about the attitude i got from some of the staff when i was in the psych hospital, just because i was articulate, well read and and intelligent it was as though they thought i wasnt allowed to be ill.

intelligence has nothing to do with being mentally ill.

im pleased with how this thread has turned out, ive been completely open with my friends about my illness since i got ill and i have never had any reservations about talking about it.
in fact i would feel worse if i kept it inside and pretended nothing was wrong, in that scenario i imagine i would get worse.

but there still doesnt seem to be much open or candid discussion about these issues in the general media or even on alternative sites like this.

reply to post by TruthIsPower


no meds alone are never the answer.

the way i look at meds when dealing with mental illness is like this.

imagine you've fallen off whatever boat you were on, and your drowning in a chaotic sea, the meds are the life ring thrown out to help you but you still have to swim back to the boat.
so you can either just flounder about in the sea and go nowhere or you can accept the help and slowly make your way back to where you want to be.