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Post by Admin on Aug 18, 2018 17:20:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2018 8:57:40 GMT
I would love to be free of the drugs but I think it's too late for that now, certainly as far as the antidepressants go.
I have to be careful of mentioning even drug dose reduction or I could end up getting the injection. That's how little freedom I have over taking them, despite the adverse effects that I have told them about.. but they ignore.
The problem with having a mental illness is that every bad side effect is seen as your imagination. I can go into a stuffy room and have trouble breathing. That is not imagination.. that's real and in the summer it can be a problem. Unfortunately the powers that be do not think so.
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Post by Admin on Aug 19, 2018 9:43:13 GMT
I would love to be free of the drugs but I think it's too late for that now, certainly as far as the antidepressants go. I have to be careful of mentioning even drug dose reduction or I could end up getting the injection. That's how little freedom I have over taking them, despite the adverse effects that I have told them about.. but they ignore. The problem with having a mental illness is that every bad side effect is seen as your imagination. I can go into a stuffy room and have trouble breathing. That is not imagination.. that's real and in the summer it can be a problem. Unfortunately the powers that be do not think so. Sorry to hear all that. Yes it's a mine field & an incredibly individual, in depth & complex area. i could stop the medication that i am on, but i am reminded of the very stark realities of what happens when i do. & i don't want to go back into very severe / extreme psychosis. There is this kind of catch 22 / double bind, that people need appropriate levels of psychological / social understanding, help & support for their needs & an appropriate response to what they experience in withdrawal. & this is part of the whole wider debate about how to best treat people. But even with the 'ideals' maybe for some people medication is the healthier option? All things considered, in the now, the medication i take does take the edge of things, & does give me a certain stability & degree of quality of life. i think it's too late late for me as well to try getting off it again.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2018 15:56:12 GMT
It is very individual, and you have to weigh up the pros and cons of trying to come off or reduce meds. The longer you are on them I think the harder it is to stop taking them.
I just wonder how long is too long before it's an impossible task to stop completely. The antidepressants have been in my system for 26 years so I think I might literally die if I tried to discontinue them, my brain will be so used to them. The antipsychotics have been about 7 years altogether, and having heard that 6 weeks is long enough to become dependent on them I do worry that I might have to take them for life. Certainly I do think with me it may well be a chemical imbalance.. caused by taking antipsychotics for a neurotic disorder for 5 years at a high dose. It is strange how the symptoms only occurred after I stopped taking them. So in some cases there might be something in that theory. But I don't think schizophrenia is that simple and there are multiple causes of the symptoms, and how they are treated during the first episode is key to how the condition progresses (or not), in my opinion.
If people were treated in such a way that total recovery was seen as possible and they were helped in a genuinely healing and empathetic environment, then maybe the 'meds for a life long condition' narrative might not be the dominant one, and people could be genuinely free of the drugs and the system.
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Post by Admin on Aug 19, 2018 16:53:41 GMT
It is very individual, and you have to weigh up the pros and cons of trying to come off or reduce meds. The longer you are on them I think the harder it is to stop taking them. I just wonder how long is too long before it's an impossible task to stop completely. The antidepressants have been in my system for 26 years so I think I might literally die if I tried to discontinue them, my brain will be so used to them. The antipsychotics have been about 7 years altogether, and having heard that 6 weeks is long enough to become dependent on them I do worry that I might have to take them for life. Certainly I do think with me it may well be a chemical imbalance.. caused by taking antipsychotics for a neurotic disorder for 5 years at a high dose. It is strange how the symptoms only occurred after I stopped taking them. So in some cases there might be something in that theory. Yea - it's very easy to get totally dependent on these drugs, & there are brain changes & withdrawal effects caused by these drugs. i fully agree.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2018 17:04:41 GMT
Try telling a psychiatrist that there are withdrawal effects and it is very easy to become dependent on them though, I was told by one of the last doctors I saw that there is no dependency effect on antipsychotics. I do think many of them are in denial over that one, or just blatantly lying. And of course no one would ever admit that the vulnerability to psychosis I seem to have could have been caused by the very drugs a psychiatrist prescribed me, it's all my faulty biology. I think I am going to have to let that one go, lol, however I have never outright accused a doctor face to face of it, because I suspect I might come off worst. It is how it is but it shouldn't be, and it happens to a lot of people, which is why it really is a modern day scandal.
A health service that routinely dishes out meds and gives us new illnesses instead of curing the initial problem is not likely to care much for empathetic and genuine healing, I fear, which explains why we are still in the dark ages on that one.
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Post by Admin on Aug 19, 2018 17:33:25 GMT
Try telling a psychiatrist that there are withdrawal effects and it is very easy to become dependent on them though, I was told by one of the last doctors I saw that there is no dependency effect on antipsychotics. I do think many of them are in denial over that one, or just blatantly lying. And of course no one would ever admit that the vulnerability to psychosis I seem to have could have been caused by the very drugs a psychiatrist prescribed me, it's all my faulty biology. I think I am going to have to let that one go, lol, however I have never outright accused a doctor face to face of it, because I suspect I might come off worst. It is how it is but it shouldn't be, and it happens to a lot of people, which is why it really is a modern day scandal. A health service that routinely dishes out meds and gives us new illnesses instead of curing the initial problem is not likely to care much for empathetic and genuine healing, I fear, which explains why we are still in the dark ages on that one. We can say that the general understandings & treatment approaches to mental health are shit. That the primary biomedical approach is wrong & damaging & that there are far better ways of treating people. But it's Not going to make any difference to the wider society / system & the status quo. Try & seriously speak out on, question & challenge how everything is & prepare to be shat on even more, by just about everyone, baring some exceptions. You can't 'win' with it all. Let it all carry on as it does & will. i'm Not sure what point there is any more in trying to fight it all?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2018 17:55:47 GMT
Well we can only hope that things will eventually change, the problem is that there is so much stigma and dehumanization of the mentally ill that abusive treatment is seen as acceptable. I was reading an online article today about the 'mental health crisis', and it was the most viewed of the day from the Guardian. But I think that was because it started off as "my daughter, the murderer". People are only interested in mental health wne someone kills another person. They don't care about the suicides or poor treatment of the mentally ill.
I wouldn't give up, though, the more voices of dissent towards the current system and its flaws the more chance of finally being heard. It is a cause too important to abandon. We need your voice and others'.
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Post by Admin on Aug 19, 2018 19:13:08 GMT
Well we can only hope that things will eventually change i find it very hard to see how it all will? Yes - general / mainstream society & the system does Not care, & i have No idea what would change all that? i think that there is just as much a problem within the mental health community itself as well. There is No unified movement even within mental health areas, so i don't see how there can ever be a wider social movement to try & effect genuine change? i carry on & do my bit, but in the grand scheme of things what really can i do about it all? i can't change other people, i can't change a single person, let alone the wider society / system.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2018 20:18:14 GMT
Yeah you can't change other people, but you can sow the seeds of change, and get people thinking and questioning things they have taken for granted. You can provide and impart the knowledge of better alternatives to current practices in psychiatry. What people do with that knowledge is up to them, but they can make an informed decision if they are not ignorant of those alternatives, as to whether they agree to join the 'fight' or prefer things as they are. Unfortunately the majority seem to go with the status quo, but that seems to be a general trait of human nature at present, to go with what you know rather than try something different.
There is no unified movement and I do think social media divides rather than unites a lot of the time, as there is a group to suit everybody and it creates more factions.
They do say it is easier to change yourself than everyone else. If no one ever challenged what was considered fact, however, society would not evolve. A lot of great thinkers were ignored in their time, but revered later when they were proved right.
I don't know if and when things will change. But it won't happen overnight, and it definitely won't happen if people give up and don't speak out about it. You can only do your best, and you can't say you haven't tried, unlike some of us lightweights who comment on things occasionally online.
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Post by Admin on Aug 19, 2018 22:53:35 GMT
Yeah you can't change other people, but you can sow the seeds of change, and get people thinking and questioning things they have taken for granted. You can provide and impart the knowledge of better alternatives to current practices in psychiatry. What people do with that knowledge is up to them, but they can make an informed decision if they are not ignorant of those alternatives, as to whether they agree to join the 'fight' or prefer things as they are. Unfortunately the majority seem to go with the status quo, but that seems to be a general trait of human nature at present, to go with what you know rather than try something different. There is no unified movement and I do think social media divides rather than unites a lot of the time, as there is a group to suit everybody and it creates more factions. They do say it is easier to change yourself than everyone else. If no one ever challenged what was considered fact, however, society would not evolve. A lot of great thinkers were ignored in their time, but revered later when they were proved right. I don't know if and when things will change. But it won't happen overnight, and it definitely won't happen if people give up and don't speak out about it. You can only do your best, and you can't say you haven't tried, unlike some of us lightweights who comment on things occasionally online. i dunno? Certain things seem obvious, & if they Not to some people then i suppose that they Never will be?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2018 20:11:45 GMT
Even now a lot of people are just ignorant about mental illness and its causes/treatments, but that may be down to apathy; no one cares about the mentally ill, until it affects them. If they did then things would not be the way they are I would hope.
You can't force people to give a shit, all you can do is put the information out there and hope that it sparks interest in someone.
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