schizophrenia

alright. i can understand that. i just think SOME people need the help of meds., some dont.

 

I think this is the best reply so far!

 

She is a small ghetto smurf.

 

I'll tell ya what...I have been on every anti-depressant known to man, and the longer I have been on it the worse I have gotten! I think some meds can mess you up even more that you already are or thought you were! I used to only be depressed sometimes, but now I can't even leave my house...I'm scared of people, I haven't had a job in 3 yrs because I am terrified! I'm even kinda scared to post even though nobody knows me. It's messed up! I guess though if you are honestly a threat to yourself and others, meds might be able to help.

 

Well l sure do hope you have given up working in the medical field, as l feel you wouldn't be a great asset there..

 

i had the same expirience with anti-deppresion meds years ago. they worked for a little while at first, but then just made me more deppressed. its a scam imo, thats how they make money....cause you cant sell anti-deppresants to individuals who are no longer deppressed. i was told i had a chemical imbalance and i would never be able to be happy without meds. then one day i decided to stop taking them and decided i was going to find happiness. iv never felt better.

 

Have any of you ever taken a clonapin?? How about lithium?? If you were not crazy before you took it you will be after you take it. Thats the truth.


If a person is a threat to them selves or others they should be in a mental institution. Thats the point of them right? If they cannot lead an active, productive life then put them somewhere someone can take care of them. I really don't believe in this type of medicine. I think somewhere we have went very wrong because now we think that a pill can fix any problem we have. It can't. We have to change our lives, change our selves, change what ever it takes.


Like Pressed_Rat said.. not every case is full blown. There are people that function just fine in life. I know that if I went to a doctor I would be diagnosed with all kinds of mental disorders and would be put on numerous drugs. Why? I don't feel like I need them. Whatever is wrong with me is not out of control because I keep it under control. Yes, there are some people that can't keep there issues under control, I realize this, but I don't think pills are the answer. Not that I really have any other answer, but I'm sure there is one out there that we haven't discovered because we depend on the pills to cure us.

 

i agree about the depression thing. actually, if someone even needs med. for depression it is SUPPOSED to be short term, not long term...

however, i think schizophrenia is different.

 

This is very well said, olhippie54 is a very smart man. I totally agree with what is said here.:sunglasse

 

Exactly I agree Trish, Like my bipolar disorder that has been diagnosed by a Good psychiatrist. I have to say the proper medication for people that truely have these mental problems is a good thing.:sunglasse

 

Schizophrenics need to be treated through a method that's been proven to be effective. It's that simple. They might be geniuses, but in todays world they're astronomically more likely to kill themselves, be killed, kill someone else, commit violent crime, and be living on the street rather than expressing that genius in any worthwhile manner. The 40% that don't receive treatment for these disease account for some truly devastating statistics; you can read them here:

http://www.psychlaws.org/GeneralResources/Fact1.htm

http://www.schizophrenia.com/szfacts.htm

Asking society to open it's mind and see the true value of these people sounds really really great, but just a little farfetched. I mean damn, we haven't even gotten past racism yet.

What's really sad is that with proper funding, the medical establishment believes they can completely cure this illness within ten years.

 

If people don't want to take SSRI's they don't have to... its a personal choice, and they're not for everyone who feels a little blue, they correct an imbalence in the flow of N5 (serotonin) between synapses, to where the serotonin produces a more noticable effect in the brain.

This can be very helpful to people with depression, but they don't have to take it if they don't want to... a pill isn't going to make you happy, you have to do that for yourself.

But depression and schizophrenia are very different. Schizophrenia is a very serious disorder, depression, is manageable... you control your own hapiness... while some drugs may help corect the flow of your brains happy chemicals, you still ultimatly have the say in whether you're happy or not.

Nobody choses to be schizophrenic... its often caused by an organic abnormality, and if not diagnosed and treated early, the problem can become much worse.

Schizophrenia isn't somebody being a little quirky or unusual, or misunderstood. Schizophrenics suffer from violent dillusions and very very frequently become much worse if not properly treated.

Not everyone with schizophrenia needs to be looked up, newer anti-psychotics have had a good deal of success, especially if the illness is diagnosed early.

 

That's exactly the point. With medication these people can lead active, productive lives. It's when they forget to take their medication and have a psychotic episode that they can't.

 

exactly fulmah.

 

I have read that schizophrenia is or can be viral



Single infection can have lasting effect
Researchers say the study, published in the February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, adds to a growing body of evidence that even a single infection can permanently alter physiological systems.

Gaining a better idea of how infection in newborns can impair memory in immune-challenged adults may help researchers grasp how exposure to environmental stressors or germs before or just after birth may make people more prone to neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, they said.

The study authors pointed out that prenatal viral infection has been linked to autism, cerebral palsy and schizophrenia. Bacterial infection is also a risk factor for Parkinson's disease. It's estimated that complications involving infections of the uterus and its contents occur in up to 20 percent of pregnancies. – (HealthDayNews)

and comes in varying degrees from feeling negative, depression, and full on schizophrenia. So i would imagine like a lot of infections they are hard to treat.. some 'infections' are treatable with medications others not. And i would also think that their are diffrent strains and also they can mutate.. so it is evn harder to treat ?.


So a change of diet, more vitiamins etc might make you feel better.. just like when your not well for other reasons.. Is the disease curable ? i don't think so...just treatable. I feel sorry for the doctors having to almost pigeon hole people into certain categories and treat them with drugs or other other forms of 'cures'.. Some like Pressed rat said probaly are better of being slightly 'schizophrenia' they might have a mild case of autism or some other illness thats not even schizophrenia at all... not in any way being a doctor i have no idea...


Their is not a cure for the common cold and i doubt their will be cure for this.

 

well, matthew, you've touched on a good point... a lot of times for an insurance company to pay ANYTHING for mental health...it could be therapy, meds, anything.... they have to provide a diagnosis or the insurance companies so "no". it's really shitty.

 

could that be why possibly people are just given low medium or high medication for quicker diagnosis e.g he seems to be able to speak and looks alright : low.

 

I answered the question with a 'yes' only I am not sure about all people who are diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1994 my original diagosis was 'Chronic Paranoid Schizophrenia' after being on a locked unit for 35 days. I was on medical leave from a Nursing Facility and put on medications. Alot of medications. So from the replys here I would have then been 'drowned' or 'put out of my misery' or 'not able to deal with life' I was or am one of 'them' in a sense.

When the insurance gets ready to run out and they can not figure out what is really wrong or don't feel like really finding out a 'schizophrenic' diagnosis is the most broad and easy or convient for the mental health people or psychiatrist to give and most of the time never questioned? It is an easy diagnosis not usually challenged and thus automatically qualifies people for state programs like Medicaid which the mental health system can milk for all they are able to get from the state and federal government in terms of 'funding'.

Honestly I do not believe the people alot of people in the institutions right now are actually schizophrenics at all. There are so many diagnosis which 'mask' the symptoms of schizophrenia. True Schizoprhrenics who have had attempts to have talk therapy and work with COSTLY intensive therapy may find out they are suffering with such disorders as now I am diagnosed with like BiPolar Disorder. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder In adults, along with dozens of personality disorders. These illness' other than Schizophrenia when severe such as mine do need medication as well in order to keep me from being a harm to myself. Others never have been harmed by me in 10 year history.

When I first entered the locked ward on a 'Voulentary' basis, such I knew something was not right and I needed help. I was forced to 'admit' I heard voices in order to exit the unit so I lied and told them what they forced me to admit that I did in fact hear voices. Hell after that many days I wanted a cigarette. Well I tried to go back to work only couldn't finish 2 hours of my shifts as I was on so much 'THORAZINE' which is a tranquilizer that deadens chemically the frontal lobes of the brain. I admit I DO need the medications I am currently on. The only anti-psychotic I am on now is Risperdal.

Compared to at one time Haldol injections every 2 weeks, Thorazine, Dalmane, Stellazine, and about literally 25 other psych meds living in a group home. Paying rent out of the Social Security check.

Only now diagnosed bipolar and others, I live alone with the support of a case worker and support system in such. After 9 years of bitching I finally got a Liscensed Clinical Social Worker for outpatients. I would tell them over and over, I am not schizophrenic why will you not give me a Therapist to talk to for one hour a week. The answer is or was always the same "Talk Therapy Does Not Benifit Schizophrenics" Only since I began talk thereapy after a year MY Medications are at the lowest levels in history of my mental illness and the schizophrenic label has been removed.

Only I have seen severe schizophrenics in some of the locked wards I have been in and Yes! Yes! Yes! most definatly they do need medications for the violant behaviours and no concious awareness of their actions. Even with medications some schizophrenics are only able to function in a locked facility with the meds. The number one reason I have seen mentally ill patients being sent to the state hospital is absolute refusal of their medications. When not on meds a 100 pound person looking sweet and nice has the force of power of 10 men at 200 pound range. I have seen them 'take down' some little bitty old lady's and have to call in police to get them down and restrained as the strength while they are psychotic is unreal almost unatural. Anyway this is just my opinion from having been on the 'inside' or the other side of the double locked steel doors.
Peace to all humans.

 

That’s one amazing post, Rxhead... I feel your frustration. It sounds like you’ve been through a lot, and have learned a lot. In my eyes it’s the people like you who’ve toughed it out that have the most to teach; that can help with finding the best solution.

 

How can you say something like that? What kind of message is that? Ignorance in the worst form.

My mother has a mental illness, I have been raised in a home that spoke about people's illnesses as something that people should try to understand, not be ignorant to their problems.

Yes at times it has been hard to live with her and yes at times I've wished that I had a "normal" mother but living with her and taking the time to understand has made me a much stronger, better person.