Mental Healthcare: what has it done for you?

[not_a_robot]

I'll go first.
I live in a building for poor people who are chronically homeless and disabled. Yesterday a social worker who is trying to make me a case study for her Master's thesis told me the residents here are "spoiled brats who don't know how good we have it" because the building recently replaced 40year old piss-stained carpets with new linoleum, and we get maid service daily. We get maid service because most residents are too mentally unstable to clean their apartments; I had to make them stop coming in my place by always cleaning ahead of them so they had nothing to do, and always being nude when they enter. It is not a luxury it is a mandatory intrusion.
Psychology students also have to tour our apartments monthly. This is not free, we pay rent to be here, only a small portion is subsidized.

This woman has already attempted to have my benefits cancelled by accusing me of faking my autism also and ptsd because I keep my apartment clean and speak clearly and am friendly to staff (but I am fine because I do not collect benefits, ha ha). She has also lied to attempt to have me sectioned when I resisted her "researching" me for a case study. I had already reported her crazy behavior, so I did not get sectioned, she got reprimanded.

She is so jealous of my "easy" life that she can barely see straight, yet I doubt that she would want to live through the trauma that got me where I am today. Paying rent to live in One Flew Over The Motherfucking Cuckoo's Nest.

 

[Severen]

The meds work. Everything else is bullshit or at least bullshit for someone like me.

 

[cornflowerblue]

I was able to form meaningful relationships, learn social skills, forge my own path in a fulfilling career and volunteer work, discovered many hobbies, no longer feel jealousy or envy or resentment towards others, improved my outward functioning a lot, decreased my physical body pain, improved my sleep, made peace with my past and how I've been hurt before, learned to avoid harmful relationships, learned to really like myself in a genuine way not in a BS "self esteem"'way. I still want to CTB but in a lot of ways I'm very happy, I wouldn't want to trade my life for anyone else's. I'm just tired and don't want to go on, but I have the capability to continue if I had to. It's a different kind of depression. I'm not angry anymore, I'm at peace.

 

[Severen]

I was able to form meaningful relationships, learn social skills, forge my own path in a fulfilling career and volunteer work, discovered many hobbies, no longer feel jealousy or envy or resentment towards others, improved my outward functioning a lot, decreased my physical body pain, improved my sleep, made peace with my past and how I've been hurt before, learned to avoid harmful relationships, learned to really like myself in a genuine way not in a BS "self esteem"'way. I still want to CTB but in a lot of ways I'm very happy, I wouldn't want to trade my life for anyone else's. I'm just tired and don't want to go on, but I have the capability to continue if I had to. It's a different kind of depression. I'm not angry anymore, I'm at peace.

Yeah but it sounds to me, like you did most of the work. People forget that, they themselves have the power heal themselves, at least up to a certain point.

 

[been_there]

idk. Its nive when some make an effort, but wot csn they really do?

 

[cornflowerblue]

Yeah but it sounds to me, like you did most of the work.

Absolutely. Therapy helped me figure out what exactly needed to be done, then once I knew that I could address the problems myself. My issue was always seeing context and being able to define my problems. I eventually learned to do that myself for the most part but I still need some help. It wasn't any gimmicky tips and tricks, the help was in my therapists knowing what to ask to help me conceptualize and make sense of things, and also giving me feedback in terms of perspective-taking or thinking through potential outcomes.

 

[been_there]

I was able to form meaningful relationships, learn social skills, forge my own path in a fulfilling career and volunteer work, discovered many hobbies, no longer feel jealousy or envy or resentment towards others, improved my outward functioning a lot, decreased my physical body pain, improved my sleep, made peace with my past and how I've been hurt before, learned to avoid harmful relationships, learned to really like myself in a genuine way not in a BS "self esteem"'way. I still want to CTB but in a lot of ways I'm very happy, I wouldn't want to trade my life for anyone else's. I'm just tired and don't want to go on, but I have the capability to continue if I had to. It's a different kind of depression. I'm not angry anymore, I'm at peace.

thats pretty cool,

 

[cornflowerblue]

thats pretty cool,

@Severen was right that I'm the one who did most of the work. It's hard to put into words, but I was always missing tiny pieces here and there of knowing how to proceed, and therapy helped me figure those out, then eventually helped me learn the figuring-out process myself. The "unknown unknowns", I guess.

Lol don't get me wrong though, I've also had some therapists that were no better than a cardboard cutout. And I had to switch around a few times because I'd hit a progress limit, this wasn't all from one magical cure-all therapist.

 

[Temporarilyabsurd]

I was an alcoholic during all five or so different therapist interactions.

Delirum tremens obscured any ability to think clearly or have any emotional calm,

I am a bit suprised none of the therapists noticed ...

They failed to notice a lot actually.

A very very low bar of functioning is regarded as sane and acceptable , which I find contemptable.
"Verbally lucid and non violent ? - Nothing wrong with you !"

Basically reading about mental illness and psychology in general has reinforced my
initial take that most therapists are very nice well meaning people and that
to talk with someone about your troubles is a relief ... but major incites and break throughs are
really left up to yourself as your own therapist as you build various models of 'being' or what the fuck ever .

It made me realize FINALLY that it was me with me , and that all the therapists in the world could
say everything was OK , but if I didn't feel it . it meant nothing .

And that is OK . For me . Others may need to concur / agree / fit in , I need to NOT belong . and that is OK .

 

[Jean Améry]

If it had actually helped I would not be in this mess now, would I?

My experience: a huge waste of time, money and hope not to mention a few nice, lasting side-effects. Imo these people don't know what they're doing and psychopathology/psychiatry is still in its infant stages. They deal in hope and the placebo-effect, nothing more. That and drugging people out of their mind so they can't think or feel let alone function.

If psychiatry was completely voluntary and suicide was legal I would hold them in contempt (like I do the catholic church for example) but not oppose them. Now their mumbo-jumbo serves as the justification for widespread human rights violations so imo they are evil and the connection between state and psychiatry should be wholely severed.

Receiving medical care against your will (provided you're not unconscious, bleeding out...) is ridiculous and it's against the law in all medical specialties except psychiatry.

 

[cornflowerblue]

I was an alcoholic during all five or so different therapist interactions.

Delirum tremens obscured any ability to think clearly or have any emotional calm,

I am a bit suprised none of the therapists noticed ...

They failed to notice a lot actually.

A very very low bar of functioning is regarded as sane and acceptable , which I find contemptable.
"Verbally lucid and non violent ? - Nothing wrong with you !"

Basically reading about mental illness and psychology in general has reinforced my
initial take that most therapists are very nice well meaning people and that
to talk with someone about your troubles is a relief ... but major incites and break throughs are
really left up to yourself as your own therapist as you build various models of 'being' or what the fuck ever .

It made me realize FINALLY that it was me with me , and that all the therapists in the world could
say everything was OK , but if I didn't feel it . it meant nothing .

And that is OK . For me . Others may need to concur / agree / fit in , I need to NOT belong . and that is OK .

I never got benefit from therapists who would just let me talk, tell me to be positive, tell me I'll be ok or that I'll get better, or any of that. The ones that helped me were very directive and up front, called me out if they thought I was making things up to fake progress, or if I was spending the session on an update on my week, etc. That's a specific style of therapy though and each therapist does a different approach

 

[RM5998]

Went to the guy my university consults for two sessions. I quit when he said 'every morning, think 5 positive thoughts'. TBH, I should have seen it coming based on the fact that the first thing he asked me was, "How much porn do you watch?" After I told him I was asexual, he said, "I see. So how many hours do you spend watching porn?"

 

[Jean Améry]

Absolutely. Therapy helped me figure out what exactly needed to be done, then once I knew that I could address the problems myself. My issue was always seeing context and being able to define my problems. I eventually learned to do that myself for the most part but I still need some help. It wasn't any gimmicky tips and tricks, the help was in my therapists knowing what to ask to help me conceptualize and make sense of things, and also giving me feedback in terms of perspective-taking or thinking through potential outcomes.

Good for you. I never had any trouble figuring out what was wrong with my life as it was blatantly obvious: my mother's alcoholism and suicide attempt, her lack of courage/constant anxiety combined with an overbearing, narcissistic father which screwed us over big time. In short they completely failed to raise us properly and committed the greatest sin parents can commit: harming their children and failing to raise them to proper adults. I'm suicidally depressed, my youngest brother is bipolar and also suicidal and my other brother smokes weed every day to cope. Ironically of the three of us he's done the best: he's still together with his girlfriend, they have two young children, their own house and his job is stable, fulfilling and pays reasonably well.

Imo so called 'psychotherapy' is nothing more than learning what your parents should have taught you (learning how to cope with life and become a stable, productive adult able to build a life worth living). There's no big secret to life: it's about enduring pain, being careful who you trust, realizing humans are fallible and selfish creatures and it's ultimately up to you to make something of your life.

The problem is that a whole bunch of people are completely inept and incapable of being good parents yet this society allows everyone including the greatest failures who can't even take care of themselves to reproduce. No wonder the suicide rate is so high and there's an epidemic of 'mental illness'...

 

[cornflowerblue]

Good for you. I never had any trouble figuring out what was wrong with my life as it was blatantly obvious: my mother's alcoholism and suicide attempt, her lack of courage/constant anxiety combined with an overbearing, narcissistic father which screwed us over big time. In short they completely failed to raise us properly and committed the greatest sin parents can commit: harming their children and failing to raise them to proper adults. I'm suicidally depressed, my youngest brother is bipolar and also suicidal and my other brother smokes weed every day to cope. Ironically of the three of us he's done the best: he's still together with his girlfriend, they have two young children, their own house and his job is stable, fulfilling and pays reasonably well.

Imo so called 'psychotherapy' is nothing more than learning what your parents should have taught you (learning how to cope with life and become a stable, productive adult able to build a life worth living). There's no big secret to life: it's about enduring pain, being careful who you trust, realizing humans are fallible and selfish creatures and it's ultimately up to you to make something of your life.

The problem is that a whole bunch of people are completely inept and incapable of being good parents yet this society allows everyone including the greatest failures who can't even take care of themselves to reproduce. No wonder the suicide rate is so high and there's an epidemic of 'mental illness'...

Well, yeah. It's to fill developmental or life experience gaps, and to help turn knowledge and understanding into action, there's no miracles or secret ingredients. If you go in expecting a quick fix or some major revelation about the secret key to being happy, therapy will disappoint.

 

[Severen]

@Severen was right that I'm the one who did most of the work. It's hard to put into words, but I was always missing tiny pieces here and there of knowing how to proceed, and therapy helped me figure those out, then eventually helped me learn the figuring-out process myself. The "unknown unknowns", I guess.

People with a certain level of intelligence are capable of introspection, therefore they can heal a lot of their mental problems.

Went to the guy my university consults for two sessions. I quit when he said 'every morning, think 5 positive thoughts'. TBH, I should have seen it coming based on the fact that the first thing he asked me was, "How much porn do you watch?" After I told him I was asexual, he said, "I see. So how many hours do you spend watching porn?"

Positive thoughts help you in life. And ruminating about negative shit makes your life worse. But what these people don't understand is that thinking some positive thoughts does not improve your life if your life is shit... And when your life is shit, you are going to be ruminating about negative shit all the time anyway... Because how can you not do so? You could probably pull off thinking positive thoughts by burying your head in the sand, 24/7 but why the fuck would you want to do that? Ignorance is not some kind of magical path to a lifetime of happiness... In fact, ignorance will only lead to more pain and suffering, down the road.

 

[saw_him]

'every morning, think 5 positive thoughts'.

Lol that's ridiculous. I hope you found another counsellor or therapist

 

[dreamsofdestruction]

I did give talk therapy a few chances, voluntarily and involuntarily at different points in my life. But I have to admit I never really took it that seriously. It all seemed to be very predictable and nothing you couldn't get from just reading a book. So maybe I wasn't as open as I should have been. It can be kind of dangerous to just ruminate on your own silly ideas all the time without getting a second perspective. Maybe that's what I should have done, but I didn't have that much trust in other people.

For me it was primarily something I had to do to get to try out medication most of the time, which in the case of depression didn't do jack shit except producing side effects.

I was also involuntarily hospitalized for a while as a teen for being suicidal. That was actually really horrifying at first but turned out to be a bit useful because interacting with the other patients helped me come out of my isolation a little at the time.

Can't say any of the people I had to deal with have been harmful, at best they couldn't help.

 

[RM5998]

Lol that's ridiculous. I hope you found another counsellor or therapist

No, I decided that therapy isn't worth it in my country.

 

[Severen]

No, I decided that therapy isn't worth it in my country.

Therapy is worth it. Because you don't have to deal with a therapist in order to do something that is therapeutic for you. :) Hobbies, for example, are very therapeutic.

 

[RM5998]

Therapy is worth it. Because you don't have to deal with a therapist in order to do something that is therapeutic for you. :) Hobbies, for example, are very therapeutic.

The thing is, nothing really makes me happy anymore... Some stuff can be slightly soothing, but only for short periods of time.

 

[Severen]

The thing is, nothing really makes me happy anymore... Some stuff can be slightly soothing, but only for short periods of time.

Ah, that dead inside, feeling... I know what that is like. Fortunately, my medication put an end to that. Are you taking any medication?

 

[Rez_MbChB]

I dont think mental healthcare workers resent their patients or questions/discussions like this one. The few psychiatrists I have seen actually seemed incredibly pro-choice when I discussed suicide with them. Bar one registrar (trainee) who actually admitted me to the psych ward. Just wanted to put my opinion on this out there.

 

[RM5998]

Ah, that dead inside, feeling... I know what that is like. Fortunately, my medication put an end to that. Are you taking any medication?

Nope, I don't have access to medication. They've therapist I saw was unable to even give me a straightforward diagnosis, apart from taking over 10,000 words to tell me that I had some form of social anxiety after two 1.5hr sessions.

 

[Rez_MbChB]

hey man your GP should be able to givr medication for this if you talk to them? will probably start with an ssri but can quickly work up from that

 

[RM5998]

hey man your GP should be able to givr medication for this if you talk to them? will probably start with an ssri but can quickly work up from that

Not really... I don't have a GP, because I've never really stayed in one place long enough. And mental health services are a joke in my country.

You can't just see a doctor and tell him, you are depressed, you feel dead inside etc and get a prescriptions for medication from him?

Nope... You get a lecture, and then they call your parents if they can.

 

[not_a_robot]

Nope, I don't have access to medication. They've therapist I saw was unable to even give me a straightforward diagnosis, apart from taking over 10,000 words to tell me that I had some form of social anxiety after two 1.5hr sessions.

Schizoid, maybe, if you're talking in terms of personality disorder.
Autistic, maybe in terms of neurology.
maybe.
But I always say that. I don't know what I'm talking about.
I have those and they try to tell me don't bother pursuing help for autism (there isn't much) and I should claim benefits as Social Anxiety instead.
I was pissed. I already have enough money that is not what I am after, I want to be treated under correct diagnosis because there's no way to get help if the doctor is treating me like someone I am not. I told them no, I will save my pennies to go see a real doctor and then you fuckers hear from my attorney.

 

[Severen]

Not really... I don't have a GP, because I've never really stayed in one place long enough. And mental health services are a joke in my country.

Nope... You get a lecture, and then they call your parents if they can.

Fuck, that sucks ass. I hope you don't CTB before you can get your hands on some medication. They can make a huge difference.

 

[RM5998]

Schizoid, maybe, if you're talking in terms of personality disorder.
Autistic, maybe in terms of neurology.
maybe.
But I always say that. I don't know what I'm talking about.

I'd landed on BPD with my degree in amateur armchair psychology. But yeah, I don't know what I'm talking about either.

Fuck, that sucks ass. I hope you don't CTB before you can get your hands on some medication. They can make a huge difference.

I'm not really interested in medication... I don't believe the money it will cost me in visiting fees to get to a decent doctor to be worth it.

 

[Rez_MbChB]

I'd landed on BPD with my degree in amateur armchair psychology. But yeah, I don't know what I'm talking about either.

I'm not really interested in medication... I don't believe the money it will cost me in visiting fees to get to a decent doctor to be worth it.

what country are you in if you dont mind me asking? surprised that yiu arent just thrown meds, thats usually what you get before you get therapy in my experience

 

[RM5998]

what country are you in if you dont mind me asking? surprised that yiu arent just thrown meds, thats usually what you get before you get therapy in my experience

India. And I'm not in Mumbai or Delhi. When I had my issues pop up, I was in Kolkata, which is a pretty shitty place. And then I went to a university where you have no rights. And I'm still at that university.