Psychiatry Exposed

[Jackalope]

A depressive moment that only seems to re-enforce all the things you were depressed about in the first place, eh you gutless worm?

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Obvs, wouldn't joke if I'd never been there.

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Pretty much, amigo.

Incidentally, it was that gutlessness that ended up bringing me around to seeking psychiatric help - which, incidentally was in part responsible for helping myself find away to not leave a nasty mess for my loved ones to clean up.

[The Grand Nudger]

Well, I'm glad that we all lack the courage of our convictions, from time to time. Thankfully, I didn't have to spend too much time with pills before I figured out a cheaper alternative (with fewer side effects).

[Nine]

I'm not saying don't take drugs at all, but if you do, then at least be well-informed about the possible side effects that it may have on you. That way you'll be able to make better decisions. Just be very cautious.

I think some people would be surprised how often feeling suicidal is listed as a symptom on anti-depressants/anxiety drugs. It's no short term deal either, like I said some of the drugs take a couple of weeks to ware off. Fucking with your brain chemistry is a serious thing.

[Jackalope]

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Honestly after studying psychology for years I was extremely disappointed. To me you have a couple of parts to it. The scientific parts with neuroscience where they actually get real results and everything is on the up and up. Problem is you need machines that can cost hundreds of thousands just to run so the whole thing runs in a experimental and completely impractical way. It's just not yet useful to the majority of people who need help. On the other hand you have something that mimics sociology where you just kind of make educated guesses and do broad studies that can be interpreted in a load of different ways.

For the treatment side you have a bizarre mix of the two, you have the trial and error guesswork from what the studies seem to suggest could work. On its own it might help but really your just slowing down the issues and trying to keep the person in check with talking therapy. Then you have a variety of drugs that are an absolute pain in the ass to get right. For example anti-depressants can take weeks to work then leave the person worse off than when they started, then you have weeks of waiting for the drugs effects to ware off. Then the onto the next drug. Without doing the science the trial and error is just inevitable.

Psychology as a medical discipline is just a clusterfuck. You start with a doctor that rarely has much in depth knowledge of disorders. So that doctor has to guess which problem you have based on a bunch of symptoms that can mean anything from Schizophrenia, anxiety, depression or a physical condition with psychological effects. Usually the easiest option is just to pick one to make them feel better now they have a name for the thing and give them anti-depressants as they tend to nuke some of the symptoms for some with mild issues. Now assuming it's more than something that can be brushed off with a few days off and some happy pills the real clusterfuck begins. The patient now gets to enjoy being passed from person to person making up a new diagnoses. Here you get put on a waiting list (Years long) for therapy and you get to have new drugs with all new side effects each month until you either get sick of coming back for help or are lucky enough to find the right drug for you.

Way I see it psychology is just nowhere near ready to be effective in treating people effectively. Your average doctor doesn't have the knowledge to diagnose the myriad of disorders and the quest to fix an imbalance is years long and full of awful shit. My advice personally would be to talk to a councillor not a psychiatrist, I think the actual act of speaking your thoughts out loud will help and councillors are cheaper and easier to find. If you're really struggling take the drug quest but do a lot of research and take a friend or family member to help keep an eye on you and help you find the best one for you.

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Nice post.

Here's the deal. When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail.

In the US at least, the model that seems to be in vogue is for psychiatrists to prescribe meds, and psychologists / therapists to do non-medicinal therapies. Makes sense, in a way - let each work to their strengths, right?

My non-advice is this - talk to a therapist before you talk to a psychiatrist. You may not need medication, but if you see the psychiatrist first - well, he's a hammer, you're a nail, and you're going on meds, and you may be able to work through what is troubling you without them. Or maybe not - but any decent therapist will know when it's appropriate to get a psychiatrist involved.

It's also important to realize that there are good therapists and there are bad ones. Education level is not an absolute indicator, but I can say that the best ones I've known were Ph.D or Psy.D level, and the worst were all BS / MS. You rarely get more than you pay for, though you frequently get less.

[Faith No More]

I think some people would be surprised how often feeling suicidal is listed as a symptom on anti-depressants/anxiety drugs. It's no short term deal either, like I said some of the drugs take a couple of weeks to ware off. Fucking with your brain chemistry is a serious thing.

Trying to find the right medication can be just as bad as the illness itself.

[The Grand Nudger]

Suicidal thoughts is a side effect of some flu medications, so it's hardly a point of contention between any two drugs. Don't even get me started on all the ways a pill bottle leverages to describe "sudden, inexplicable death"

[Nine]

My non-advice is this - talk to a therapist before you talk to a psychiatrist. You may not need medication, but if you see the psychiatrist first - well, he's a hammer, you're a nail, and you're going on meds, and you may be able to work through what is troubling you without them. Or maybe not - but any decent therapist will know when it's appropriate to get a psychiatrist involved.

It's a pretty hard to get hold of a therapist in the UK. I do agree though, it's a much better bet to try to work it out with a good therapist and only go the drug route if necessary. I really wish people were better educated about how things like depression and anxiety can easily be symptoms of other things too. Unmanaged asthma or allergies, lack of sleep, poor diet and lack of exercise, even not getting enough sun or fresh air. Mostly not severe cases but a lot of people could be a lot happier with a handful of changes to their daily lives.

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Suicidal thoughts is a side effect of some flu medications, so it's hardly a point of contention between any two drugs. Don't even get me started on all the ways a pill bottle leverages to describe "sudden, inexplicable death"

Sure, but when it falls under the category of common side effects I think it's something to be taken seriously.

[Minimalist]

But the good news is that there is a pill that can fix that, and you should take it,"

You are correct, Rayaan.

Let Chris Rock expand on the idea.

[Angrboda]

The nirvana fallacy is the informal fallacy of comparing actual things with unrealistic, idealized alternatives. It can also refer to the tendency to assume that there is a perfect solution to a particular problem. A closely related concept is the perfect solution fallacy.

By creating a false dichotomy that presents one option which is obviously advantageous—while at the same time being completely implausible—a person using the nirvana fallacy can attack any opposing idea because it is imperfect. Under this fallacy, the choice is not between real world solutions; it is, rather, a choice between one realistic achievable possibility and another improbable solution that could in some way be better.

[Rayaan]

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The nirvana fallacy is the informal fallacy of comparing actual things with unrealistic, idealized alternatives. It can also refer to the tendency to assume that there is a perfect solution to a particular problem. A closely related concept is the perfect solution fallacy.

By creating a false dichotomy that presents one option which is obviously advantageous—while at the same time being completely implausible—a person using the nirvana fallacy can attack any opposing idea because it is imperfect. Under this fallacy, the choice is not between real world solutions; it is, rather, a choice between one realistic achievable possibility and another improbable solution that could in some way be better.

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Well it's not just about being imperfect or not good enough. It's more than that. Psychiatric drugs have been proven to cause life-threatening side affects, time after time, and many times they left patients feeling worse than they were before. And if suicide is one of the common side effects of antidepressants, then that's a serious matter, without a doubt. I don't see any benefits that can counter such a dangerous risk.