Mental Maladies

[Nadiine]

There also isn't a cure for diabetes, thyriod disorders or any of a number of other nonpsychologicial hormonal disorders so why would you expect them to be able to magicialy cure a hormone inbalance that effects ones mind.

True, but I had a reason for mentioning that...

if someone's mental/emotional problem IS of a spiritual nature, they're
on meds permanently & it helps manage it...
what leads them to try to figure out if it isn't medical?

& let's never forget that ALL medications take a nasty toll on your
organs over time. I hate hearing how many people are these
xpensive meds while they harm them physically.

 

[Cris413]

Definitetly not always.

My concern is this, a doctor will NEVER tell you it's spiritual. They
will also not deny that you have one or another of the plethora of
disorders - I think it's generic diagnosing like they give out
broad spectrum antibiotics.

I agree...and has been my experience both as an MA and a patient...docs are WAY too quick with the Rx pads. Part of that is the public's fault too though...many don't think they've got their money's worth if they don't walk out with a script.

To be fair...I did have one doc who wrote me two scripts for my depression...one for Welbutrin...and one for "church" he actually wrote "church" on a script pad... and interestingly...when I filled the script for church...I no longer needed the script for Welbutrin...

Don't get me started on the antibiotic problems...there's antibiotics in almost everything...and sadly...bugs get stronger and more virulent and our natural immune systems get weaker and weaker...and we can't come up with new antibiotics and get them approved fast enough....aaaand, I'm gonna stop right there...."hoooold on thar baba louie"...

So they'll ALWAYS find a "medical" problem and put you on some
sort of meds whether it's spiritual or not.
So how does a person actually find out which it really is?

It would be great if docs spent more time evaluating a person's lifestyle...diet, exercise, work environment, home life and such...I mean..if you pump your kids full of sugar every day and use your tv set as a babysitter...no wonder the kids are confused and bouncin' off the walls...

Same with adults...if you eat a bunch of junk...don't exercise and fill your head with a bunch of garbage...of course you're gonna feel like crap.

We have to remember...as patients...we have a bit of responsibility in addition to the doc...like I told my new doc right from the get-go. I'm not an Rx freak...so don't feel like you always have to pull out your script pad to help me.

This is the "age of info" as well...we can research a lot of things ourselves...and I certainly wouldn't recommend any self-diagnosing...but we absolutely can walk into the docs office with some informed questions.

As I've understood, most people on medications end up staying
on medications permanently... it's not some temporary problem
when the Prozac label used to say something to the effect of
seek the source of the depression.
So the meds are no Cure... there doesn't seem to BE a cure.

Most often they tell you...the meds are not curative and meant to help a patient through the psychological recovery process. The thing is...how many of us really want to put that much effort into our lives when we can find relief in a bottle. Why sort our lives out when a Xanax makes our life bearable just the way it is?

Now...I firmly believe there are some very real clinical reasons for people to be on meds...there are many who suffer from bipolar disorder that these meds are truly life saving. And that's really the point...if the disorder is truly physical...meds will help...and if the meds don't help...how about docs and patients consider meds aren't the answer......and start to consider perhaps there is a whole different set of issues going on.

I think it's a horrible problem for anyone to get real help if
they have something going on.

Absolutely!

 

[WalksWithChrist]

I have given this a lot of thought. Even this morning I was pondering this.

I feel that the world will be a better place when medicine and spirit come together.

 

[Sphinx777]

I have given this a lot of thought. Even this morning I was pondering this.

I feel that the world will be a better place when medicine and spirit come together.

As in holistic health?

 

[-~Truth_N_Trust~-]

In my limited experience, I think that mental disorders can be either or both or anywhere in between...

I think that sometimes medication can be very useful in helping to get through day to day things so that the other aspects (spiritual, psychological) can be worked through...

 

[JCFantasy23]

Yes...I knew you didn't mean they shouldn't be found guilty...just my grey matter going into overdrive...

Thanks for the link...I just glanced through it...and will read a bit more...but no doubt...and 'roid rage...yikes!

My doc Rx'd me steroids for a respiratory problem I was having...OH MY...I thought I was going to jump out of my skin and the top of my head was going to fly off. My entire thought pattern was completely askew...I had to take off work because I simply could not think...I would look at my computer screen and nothing was registering in my brain except massive confusion...it was awful. I told the doc...never again!

I dunno...when I suffered from PMS...I was pretty nutz...I mean...I could never kill anyone or anything...but I was pretty angry and hostile...most of the time...but again...I think my lack of spirituality at the time really made it possible for PMS to rage in my life.

There was a case here in TX I think...A woman ran her cheating hubby over with her car...and her lawyers was using PMS as her defense...

And what I found to be really frightening...is how many women thought she was a HERO and supported her totally!

Yep, to me it's all very frightening. I am sure that somewhere down the line there really have been violent crimes committed as a reaction to medicine or hormone imbalances when the person wouldnt have commited the crime otherwise. I realize we cannot use this as an excuse all the time because then everyone would have a cop-out, but facts are facts - and it's frightening! When I had the hormone birth control I was severely suicidal and could not stop myself from screaming at others and had visions of hitting them with chairs and becoming aggressive. I am such a non-violent and sweet person in general that this kind of reaction was pretty extreme.

I was put on a seizure med one time that gave me a minor psychotic break that night. I had a hallucination of my dog in another room, completely forgot 30 minutes, felt no emotion, everything slowed down and I felt like I was in a movie with no emotions and all the colors were different. I remember making myself a drink and remembering how important it was at the time, crucial in my mind with no explanation, to make this drink perfect. I took care with the ice, the glass, and then aparently dumped it down the sink but had no memory of doing so. I looked everywhere for that drink adn finally found it and saw what I had done with it and was just confused, having no memory of it and no reason. Thinkin back now, what if I had done something violent toward someone in the house for no reason and had no memory of it like the glass. It's very frightening when something else is influencing your mind! I would have just ended up some news story where people thought I was this awful person or something, when it was the medicine making me all strange, and going to prison for the rest of my life. It's just scary

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

As one who struggles with these hormone problems, I know how hard it is to deal with. BUT even if we cannot control our emotions, we can control our responses to them.

Such an important statement! I have no sympathy for women who harm or even kill their children, and then try to escape the consequences by claiming some mental disorder (usually depression). I know depression intimately. And when I even *thought* I was going to harm my children, I picked up the phone and called for help personally! I turned myself in BEFORE actually harming them.

Depression is no excuse to commit a crime!!!! Psychosis maybe, but not depression.

 

[Blank123]

i think it could certainly be spiritual but its not always, sometimes there can be a medical explanation and a lot of harm can be done by assuming mental illness always finds its root in spiritual problems. But yes, that shouldn't be discounted as a possible cause.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

As in holistic health?

Yes! Something like that.

 

[Cris413]

i think it could certainly be spiritual but its not always, sometimes there can be a medical explanation and a lot of harm can be done by assuming mental illness always finds its root in spiritual problems. But yes, that shouldn't be discounted as a possible cause.

Really takes some wisdom and discernment.

Like those...who refuse medical care and only see faith healing as acceptable...and worse yet...deny their children medical treatment...

 

[CyberPaladin]

Really takes some wisdom and discernment.

Like those...who refuse medical care and only see faith healing as acceptable...and worse yet...deny their children medical treatment...

Yeah that's something never will be able to understand people who rely on miracles after all if it was that reliable of an event it really wouldn't be miraclous by definition now would it.

 

[Cris413]

Yep, to me it's all very frightening. I am sure that somewhere down the line there really have been violent crimes committed as a reaction to medicine or hormone imbalances when the person wouldnt have commited the crime otherwise. I realize we cannot use this as an excuse all the time because then everyone would have a cop-out, but facts are facts - and it's frightening! When I had the hormone birth control I was severely suicidal and could not stop myself from screaming at others and had visions of hitting them with chairs and becoming aggressive. I am such a non-violent and sweet person in general that this kind of reaction was pretty extreme.

I was put on a seizure med one time that gave me a minor psychotic break that night. I had a hallucination of my dog in another room, completely forgot 30 minutes, felt no emotion, everything slowed down and I felt like I was in a movie with no emotions and all the colors were different. I remember making myself a drink and remembering how important it was at the time, crucial in my mind with no explanation, to make this drink perfect. I took care with the ice, the glass, and then aparently dumped it down the sink but had no memory of doing so. I looked everywhere for that drink adn finally found it and saw what I had done with it and was just confused, having no memory of it and no reason. Thinkin back now, what if I had done something violent toward someone in the house for no reason and had no memory of it like the glass. It's very frightening when something else is influencing your mind! I would have just ended up some news story where people thought I was this awful person or something, when it was the medicine making me all strange, and going to prison for the rest of my life. It's just scary

There are documented cases of people committing suicide and homicide under the influence of drugs...Rx'd or otherwise.

Not super long ago...there was a lot of controversy about the sleep aid Halcion...and the significant number of people who had psychotic episodes while taking it. And of course the antidepressant Prozac as well.

 

[AnneSally]

Oh...btw...please keep me in prayer regarding Prison Ministry...it's something that has been on my heart for a long time...

Oh wow, I definitely will pray for you sweetheart! That is such an important ministry indeed......

 

[Nadiine]

Yeah that's something never will be able to understand people who rely on miracles after all if it was that reliable of an event it really wouldn't be miraclous by definition now would it.

to me, that's testing God entirely.

You either figure God HAS to do that miracle for you,
or your child will probly die or suffer much worse ---

 

[Nadiine]

There are documented cases of people committing suicide and homicide under the influence of drugs...Rx'd or otherwise.

Not super long ago...there was a lot of controversy about the sleep aid Halcion...and the significant number of people who had psychotic episodes while taking it. And of course the antidepressant Prozac as well.

so true - and nevermind the toll they take on the physical organs
of the body (side effects) -
liver damage is common.

 

[Tenebrae]

Yeah exactly, but in our secular scientific age society doesn't acknowledge or attribute anything to the spiritual. I heard someone who does prison ministry speaking about this too and why so many people end up in prison, because they have no hope and society doesn't treat the spiritual so they're just acting out and not being properly treated....he said a lot suffer from mental problems but the root causes of their problems are spiritual and he gets frustrated because society and the medical community wont acknowledge, and he said that's why it's vital that Christians visit prisoners because they desparately need spiritual help which the system wont and doesn't provide (because it doesn't even acknowledge it).

Theres a shift in that perspective, its gradual, but it is happening. Mental health workers are being more encouraged to look at the problem from a holistic approach, taking into account the spiritual.

book is about how in the modern world we look at all of the problems as being psychological and we can not deal with spiritual problems with psychology. mental help for mental problems, spiritual help for spiritual problems

I dont believe its as black and white as all that. I've encountered clients who have had the most debilitating mental illnesses, with aspects of spiritual activity as well as clients who have spiritual issues with some aspects of physical stuff that needs to be dealt with.

The one important thing to know about mental illness is that nothing is as ever as black and white as the experts make out, and it is so important to actually take time to get to know the person and find out about their story before speaking advice into their lives. The wrong advice can confuse, and condemn even if that was not the speakers intention

 

[Tenebrae]

As I've understood, most people on medications end up staying
on medications permanently... it's not some temporary problem
when the Prozac label used to say something to the effect of
seek the source of the depression.
So the meds are no Cure... there doesn't seem to BE a cure.

I think it's a horrible problem for anyone to get real help if
they have something going on.

There is a big problem with doctors prescribing continual supplies of benzodiazapines which are supposed to be used for no longer than three weeks. I recall one client who had been on the infernal things for 13 years.


As for antidepressants for me, it gave me my life back,before taking them I was pretty much catatonic, and afterwards when they kicked in, it was like I got my life back. If I continue to be stable for another six months, then I'll get rid of them.


Antidepressants wont work for everyone, it is however misleading to say that they dont work for everyone

 

[Tenebrae]

I have given this a lot of thought. Even this morning I was pondering this.

I feel that the world will be a better place when medicine and spirit come together.

its starting to happen.

We are still dealing with the horrible medical model that turned people into Diagnoses rather than treated them as whole people


Change is afoot though

 

[MrJim]

its starting to happen.

We are still dealing with the horrible medical model that turned people into Diagnoses rather than treated them as whole people


Change is afoot though

I've noticed some of that even visiting my MD~asking questions that seem to not have anything to do with my condition, and when I ask why he/she is asking (no shyness here) they explain the bigger picture.

 

[Tenebrae]

I've noticed some of that even visiting my MD~asking questions that seem to not have anything to do with my condition, and when I ask why he/she is asking (no shyness here) they explain the bigger picture.

I can think of one example where a clients home life contributed to them becoming acutely unwell and needing our service. The clients flat was cold and damp, had mold growing in the bathroom. with time the client was settled in a less dank flat and low and behold his mental health improved.