Posted by violette on December 26, 2010, at 9:17:54
In reply to Are cancer patients maladaptive too? Dble standard, posted by jerryTRD on December 23, 2010, at 13:00:38
> Maladaptive is when we reject reality.
That's where it gets problematic and why these types of discussions can be fruitful. Someone who is in denial does not know (and thus will not admit to themself) they have maladaptive behavior to begin with.
Stating that a person may be in denial is not saying that a person is *refuting* they may have an emotional source of their mental illness. In psychologcial terms, denial does not mean, but it can, that one is cognitively 'denying' the existence of something such as emotional problems; it means that someone is consciously unaware of the existence of something-the correct technical term is disavow...People in psychotherapy can still be in 'denial' about emotions.
And someone in denial can become upset when their view of reality is threatened. It can also be *dangerous* when things said or pointed out by another threaten the sustainment of that person's (disavowment of) reality, depending on how severe a person's pathology is. Expecially if they live alone, have aggressive tendencies, have no doctor...people have been known to get violent when this happens, such as when a spouse might call them on it. Others can regress etc.
BUT sometimes a psychotic breakthrough happens when someone is coming out of denial, which lets previously disavowed emotions back into their reality, and sets them on a road to recovery. If a person is under proper care, a psychotic breakthrough can br a *good* thing.....its best to let disavowed emotions slowly seep into consciousness, with the safety of a therapist, but it doesn't always happen that way.
Also, a person can merge their identity with their illness after time, which is what Linkadge described earlier.... The illness becomes part of them, and it cannot be seperated from their sense of self. In this case, someone who is no longer able to for example 'search for medications over and over' will lose their identity, their sense of self-the brain will tirelessly protect its sense of self-it is instinctual; sometimes compulsive behavior (not necessarily OCPD) is how it does this (the amygdala is involved in preserving the self). Loss of sense of self can be viewed as psychosis. In cases like this, I believe, psychoanalytic therapy is the *only* way to treat it, unless the person ultimately has a psychotic breakthrough. People can be in psychotherapy and still be in denial but it is nearly impossible to do this in psychoanalytic therapy. And psychoanalytic therapy can be more dangereous than medication trials if mistakes are made.
There is much less stigma, less pain, and it is less threatening to the psyche to think of mental illness in the context of biology only. People search for medications to get better-to end the pain--but sometimes it can actually be prolonging the pain. It is definitely a very intelligent and appropriate question to ask at a place like this. Especially if you've had mental health problems for years and years.
I am saying it could be possible for some people, and thinking in terms of those i've seen this happen to in real life and also case studies i've read in psychodynamic manuals and literature. (The psychodynamic/psychoanalytic approach treats patients holistically rather than treating only symptoms as many biological-only psychiatrists are trained to do).
I also agree that cancer patients can have maladaptive behavior, anyone can for any illness. But there seems to be more incentives for the psyche to develop maladaptive behavior in terms of mental illness.
poster:violette
thread:973794
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101218/msgs/974677.html