What mental issue do you think you have?

The disease of addiction, currently arrested.

 

you're clinically bonkers.

...i'd know, so am i.


but back in my days as a psychology major avoidant personality disorder always made me think of catholicism

 

some do make the mistake, actually.

no, i'm not forgetting that,
and yes, choosing to view one's mental troubles as able to change through dialogue, mindfulness, and introspection is very different than going to a medical doctor who wants to treat the troubles in a narrow scope of symptom/cure approach through chemical means

 

I am not a psychiatric doctor, but I do play a nut on the intertube..

 

I apologize for being so doubtful, but do you say this from experience?
If a psychologist cannot differentiate between a slight mental quirk and a full-fledged mental disorder, particularly after years and years of formal education, internship, and peer-reviewed journalistic essay/thesis work, then they should lose their license, or rather, have never been in possession of one to begin with.

I meant that going to a therapist for help is no different than going to a physician for help, unless by "narrow scope of symptom/cure approach through chemical means" you were taking a jab at psychiatry, in which case I'm right there with you.

 

Iron deficiency?

 

magnetic personality ..

 

I have anxiety issues. I have never been diagnosed and when I started my new job my anxiety was so bad that I asked for meds but the doctor said she didnt think I needed any, that I just needed to work through the source of anxiety and learn ways to calm myself down. Once I got used to the new job and started feeling more comfortable my anxiety decreased so much. And then ofcourse there are the "mental issues" or insecurities that everybody has.

 

i agree, and yes

cool, i was
and now i understand what you mean, thank you

 

You'll hardly be surprised that I agree with Jung. It's open to debate as to whether this is a deliberate component in a larger effort to program the population as a whole that certain types of thinking are symptomatic of mental illness when in fact it represents an enhanced ability to reason and see through a ruse being perpetuated by the establishment- the nature of which is better debated in politics or conspiracy- depending on the credibility one wishes to give such rhetoric.

The question of "why" occurs here... why is mankind apparently so given to the self discovery of neuroses and other possible deficiency for the seeming purpose of wearing like a badge? I sometimes get the rather comic sense that a diagnosis of bipolar, ADHD, OCD, or other Disorder du Jour-- even self diagnosis, serves to enhance ones status in a way- like there really ought to be a trophy given to, say, Miss OCD 2010.... and yes, in the past I've entertained thoughts that I myself may be either suffering from depression or was bipolar.

I eventually reached the verdict that I had simply neglected to cultivate certain coping skills. I was also caught in the pattern of processing things I couldn't change as negatively as possible. As one could imagine I was a pure joy to hang around...

The thing is, with Pharmaceutical giants being able to advertise prescription-only drugs via mass media the means of getting their message across has regular Joe effecting a self diagnosis and a media-provided brand name to take to his Primary Care Provider (PCP)... formerly known by the archaic title of Doctor whose Purpose Is To Sign The Obvious Prescription (PITSTOP).

Watering down the numbers with non-sufferers seeking other avenues than self discipline to help cope with the punches that life will throw at you works to cheapen and trivialize it for those who actually have the conditions and absolutely need the medications. Of course the likes of Pfizer or Merck don't object... because all that excess business is working to keep prices... well... maybe not... of course nationalized health care has included price controls on dr... no wait, it hasn't... I'll be sure to come up with something....


eventually....

 

Just like going to a physician, there are many cases of malpractice amongst the psychiatric world, except that in the case of mental health, the victims usually have a much harder time getting any help afterwards.

To start with, psychiatry is not an exact science, it is still mostly based on trial and error... "Here, take this pill, see if it helps, Oh, it didn't then try this one... next time we'll try some combinations"

Even if it was as simple as setting a broken leg, psychiatrists and therapists are people, just like everyone else, and are prone to bias and mistakes. Do a search to see how many people have had problems getting a simple break dealt with properly...

Here's a whole book about malpractice in the psychiatric world...

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/155/3/445

 

I agree Tom, it is definitely a field that is pretty young and still growing and learning.
And what you said about medication is my main problem with psychiatry, which is why I believe therapy to not only be more healthy, but also more effective, except in extreme instances where medication is absolutely required, and those kind of cases really do occur.
Psychiatric medicine is definitely overused but I think it does have it's place.

 

Also...........therapist is not a synonym for psychiatrist. Therapist= talking about stuff, getting at the core of the issues......psychiatrist=meds and sending you back to your therapist to talk about your issues. So many peolpe associate psychiatrists and meds with therapy/counseling and it's not like that. Most people in counseling aren't even on meds because for a lot of us talking about stuff is enough...unless you are schizophrenic, for example, and the meds are needed to regulate things that no amount of therapy can help with.

 

diagnosed for a mild case of insomnia by the doc, got some ambien out of it . i don't take it as prescribed though (one 5 mg pill every night), only when i'm having an ambien party (snort 3) or legit need to to sleep (eat 2)

not really though, only if i nap or am excited about something. or if shit is loud.

college would really suck for my without the ambien, i can just sense it. dorms are full of napping, excitement, and noise haha.

 

Psychiatrists are a type of therapist who are licensed to, and often do, employ communicative therapy.
Just because psychiatrists have the legal ability to prescribe medication does not mean that is all they do, or that they will even necessarily do that.

 

i dunno, my view of psychiatrists is along the same lines as crazy's. not from personal experience, but when i was dating my ex he went to a therapist and a psychiatrist. therapist for talking, psychiatrist for meds.

now that doesn't mean that i think all psychiatrists are mainly meds, but i think the majority are mostly meds, limited talking. perhaps only talking so that they can put you on the "right" meds.

 

Well as far as the process of formal education goes for becoming a psychiatrist, they have to go through all of the training that a regular therapist has to go through.
They learn all of the same knowledge, techniques, theories, and therapies, except in the case of the psychiatrist they have to learn even more.
No psychiatrist prescribes medication as some sort of miracle cure, in any sort of psychology by any practitioner, communicate therapy is absolutely vital.

 

well again there has to be SOME communication to dish out the meds but a psychiatrist certainly isn't going to sit you on a comfy couch and say how do you FEEEEEEEL about this

 

You're right, most psychiatrists aren't embodied caricatures so they probably wouldn't open a therapeutic discussion with the cartoonish "tell me how you FEEEEEEEEL".
However, I wasn't agreeing with you in the sense that psychiatrists only communicate to get a feel for what medication they need to "dish out".
My main assertion and disagreement was that psychiatrists utilize communicative therapy for it's own merit, rather than just as a means to an end.

 

To clear a few things up, I never said that there was no place for either psychiatry or therapy, I just disagree that they are always helpful or needed.

I also wasn't saying that I view all psychiatrists as nothing but pill pushers... What I was trying to get at is that the field of mental health is not even close to hard science.

Mistakes are more common then not. People being diagnosed with all sorts of various dis-orders on a trial basis to see if the latest theory will work on this one patient.

What it comes down to, is that looking at any of these professions as THE solution is assigning way too much faith to people who are at best, making educated guesses.