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The mentally ill are pretty much the last group of people that it's "OK" to discriminate against and/or make fun of. The pervasive stigma makes people reluctant to seek treatment lest they be labled; the stigma also serves to keep otherwise well-meaning people to support community mental health programs.
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Originally Posted by joee
Physical illness effects no one but the sole individual unless contagious
No? The person with a degenerative but treatable illness who refuses to take his/her physician's advice and medications doesn't affect the whole family?
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Originally Posted by SuSuSushi
I don't look down on people just because they have a mental illness.
I DO look down on people with mental illness that should be on meds, KNOW they should be on meds, yet stop taking them.
Why should you be looking down at anyone? Can you tell whether or not they can afford their medications or visits to the psychiatrist or therapist? Even with health insurance, options are restricted for people with mental illnesses. Psychiatrists that accept insurance in the first place are hard to come by; psychiatrists accepting a sliding scale for payment often have long waiting lists. Insurance often limits behavioral health care visits; again, therapists accepting sliding scales have long waiting lists. Prescription plans often won't pay for certain medications, no matter how helpful they are to the patient. Free samples and prescription assistance are dwindling.
Certainly there are people who stop taking their meds as a conscious decision because they don't like the way the medications make them feel. But isn't that as much a part of the illness as any other symptom?
Certainly there are people who stop taking their meds as a conscious decision because they don't like the way the medications make them feel. But isn't that as much a part of the illness as any other symptom?
No, it's not. If you need meds, and you know you need meds, and while you're on those meds you know that you should not stop taking them, then if you voluntarily choose to quit taking them you are the only one at fault for whatever you do while you're off your meds.
Just because someone is mentally ill doesn't mean they automatically get a free pass on whatever actions they commit.
To answer the original question--fear and ignorance and ignorance and fear. As far as not getting a pass on mental illness, I think many meds have serious and severe side effects that physicians and the public minimize. Obviously if you are totally unable to care for yourself --or be around other people safely--without meds, your judgment about your need to take them might be impaired. But many meds do not perform as advertised, period.
We took our daughter to a shrink to get help with some (admittedly abnormal) behaviors which, although manageable within the context of the family, were driving us crazy. We set one limit--she could not, healthwise, afford to gain any more weight or it would set of a series of more serious health problems. He tried her on a drug (now advertised as a supplement for depression drugs that don't work) that caused her to gain twenty pounds in two weeks. This represented a 30% weight gain for her height. Acceptable for the behavioral improvements? No. The real irony--she was not depressed but she sure was after gaining that much weight.
If you need meds, and you know you need meds, and while you're on those meds you know that you should not stop taking them, then if you voluntarily choose to quit taking them you are the only one at fault for whatever you do while you're off your meds.
Please do some research (or talk to someone who's borne the side effects of medication for a mental illness) before you make such a pompous judgement.
To answer the original question--fear and ignorance and ignorance and fear. As far as not getting a pass on mental illness, I think many meds have serious and severe side effects that physicians and the public minimize. Obviously if you are totally unable to care for yourself --or be around other people safely--without meds, your judgment about your need to take them might be impaired. But many meds do not perform as advertised, period.
We took our daughter to a shrink to get help with some (admittedly abnormal) behaviors which, although manageable within the context of the family, were driving us crazy. We set one limit--she could not, healthwise, afford to gain any more weight or it would set of a series of more serious health problems. He tried her on a drug (now advertised as a supplement for depression drugs that don't work) that caused her to gain twenty pounds in two weeks. This represented a 30% weight gain for her height. Acceptable for the behavioral improvements? No. The real irony--she was not depressed but she sure was after gaining that much weight.
This is a very very good point. Psych drugs are often "off label" drugs, meaning that they have not been tested for the purpose they are being used. Some have drastic side effects, some lesser, but all have some. Weight gain is one of the more common.
The AMA has stated that they consider the weight gain a clear health hazard but pdocs continue to perscribe meds which cause drastic weight gain without taking it into account. I look up every drug before taking it down the fda papers, and note the common side effects and the red flag warnings. These are seldom mentioned by doctors.
I have refused meds which cause weight gain (health reasons), extreme dizzyness (lived upstairs) and a couple of other things which only I discovered. People do go off meds sometimes when side effects are too much and the medical community brushes them aside. And when the clinic lets you run out because they are too busy (happened to me) and when as stated before, there is a long waiting list to get into a clinic or see a doctor. Or because they are broke and can't afford them. Yes you can get them from the drug companies but it takes time and they are picky about who qualifies. You cannot simply walk into a clinic and get help, or go to your local psycharitist unless you can afford their very expensive rates. Getting on meds is OFTEN a long and drawn out affair.
Yes, people who flatly refuse treatment are not taking the responsibility for their life. But we have that right. Would it be better if, on the word of a doctor, anyone could be forcably medicated?
And some have problems but do not know. Denial is a powerful thing. Consider this thread, and the words some have used like "they". It defines the very thing its about. If you had a problem and suspected, but knew all about that would you be anxious to rush out and be dxed? Would you like that label on your medical records? Would you like to ask for a ride to the mental health clinic?
The irony is that the very attitude toward mental illness, which is as physically based as diabetes or cancer, causes the very kind of behavior that some here are citing. Years ago cancer patients found people shunned them or they lost jobs so others wouldn't "catch" cancer. This did not encourage anyone to take precautions and early detection. Mental illness is the same. You can't catch it from us. If we are able to work we can be very good employees, and in some cases better than the "normies". We aren't scary.
I'll bet that everyone out there knows someone who is "mentally ill". Maybe they have not been diagnosed, but more likely they have, are on meds and you have never guessed. Individual quirks are just that. When you don't have a reason to make a list you dont' make a big deal about it.
In case anyones interested, I'm bipolar. I spent a long time with my own coping mechanisms, and when I was finally diagnosed got control of my life. But I knew something wasn't "normal". If it hadn't been such a hard thing to accept a possible "label" a lot of my life might have been different.
I have a 25+ year history of severe major depression and PTSD. I've been suicidal three times and have been in a partial hospitalization program once. But I have NEVER felt "stigmatized" because of my depression or other mental health issues. I just don't see it -- I don't see this so-called stigmatizing of or "looking down on" someone who has these problems. I keep hearing that it's out there, and I'm sure that once upon a time it was very prevalent. But in my own experience, I just haven't seen it. Maybe this is because I don't have any problem talking about my history. I don't feel shame about it, therefore I don't perceive any kind of negative stigmas or judgment from the people around me. (I think people often find what they're looking for. Since I'm not looking for stigmas, I don't find them.)
This is were the misconception comes in, it is a chemical imbalance, that is there with or without medication.
I disagree. I think the meds help correct or manage the chemical imbalance. For example, a friend of mine's sister suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and without her medication, she hallucinates and hears voices. With her medication, she can function.
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The mental ill sometimes crave to me normal so bad they go off meds for the need to be what society deems normal it is quite sad.
Do you think that's the reason? I would imagine that people go off their meds mainly because of adverse side effects and/or cost of medication. Our former stockbroker is bipolar and went off his meds periodically because he said he felt too "flat." He was used to extreme highs which, he said, helped him in his job.
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