Shown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Christ_empowered on May 3, 2016, at 9:39:03
I'm now diagnosed as Bipolar I of some sort. I take meds, I'm recovering, its good times.
thing is...back when I was younger, I was diagnosed w/ personality disorders, odd, everything but bona fide "mental illness."
Its interesting to me, how the professionals get to construct the narrative of my life and tell me what "really" happened. The former treatment ppl narrative: you were/are npd, odd, etc. and made poor life choices.
The current treatment ppl narrative: You were/are mentally ill and didn't perceive reality correctly for a long, long time. You're blessed to be alive and stable.
I do respond well to meds. It took a relatively long time for most of the voices to fade...adding an antidepressant helped significantly.
Its just...why do mental health people have so much power? Some are good, mind you, but some are...elitist, self-important, money hungry, self-righteous....they use diagnosis as a weapon.
Oh, yeah, and the former treatment ppl in my case now say "he recently developed schizophrenia." In their version of events, I was a pathetic "loser" who later developed schizophrenia, largely because of "poor life choices."
--sigh--
Posted by Lamdage22 on May 3, 2016, at 11:14:34
In reply to mentally ill...or pathetic loser?, posted by Christ_empowered on May 3, 2016, at 9:39:03
"loser" who later developed schizophrenia, largely because of "poor life choices."
>
>
> --sigh--Wh actually said that?
Posted by J Kelly on May 3, 2016, at 11:31:10
In reply to mentally ill...or pathetic loser?, posted by Christ_empowered on May 3, 2016, at 9:39:03
Hi CE,
Let me start by saying you are not, nor were you ever, a pathetic loser. Shame on them if they made you feel that way.
> I'm now diagnosed as Bipolar I of some sort. I take meds, I'm recovering, its good times.
Hey this is great!
>
> thing is...back when I was younger, I was diagnosed w/ personality disorders, odd, everything but bona fide "mental illness."Sounds like this is behind you. I'd forget about it and move on.
>
> Its interesting to me, how the professionals get to construct the narrative of my life and tell me what "really" happened. The former treatment ppl narrative: you were/are npd, odd, etc. and made poor life choices.We've all made some poor life choices. Maybe some more than others. Were you self medicating? Is that what you're/they're talking about here? You can't go back but it sounds like you're making good choices for yourself now so good for you!
>
> The current treatment ppl narrative: You were/are mentally ill and didn't perceive reality correctly for a long, long time. You're blessed to be alive and stable.I guess this is true, yes?
>
> I do respond well to meds. It took a relatively long time for most of the voices to fade...adding an antidepressant helped significantly.Well its good you respond to meds.
I was truly psychotic for 9 months. They diagnosed me with schizoaffective disorder. Geodon pulled me out of it and I ditched that diagnosis.
>
> Its just...why do mental health people have so much power? Some are good, mind you, but some are...elitist, self-important, money hungry, self-righteous....Just the way it is.
> they use diagnosis as a weapon.
How so? I'm curious as to what you mean here.
>
> Oh, yeah, and the former treatment ppl in my case now say "he recently developed schizophrenia." In their version of events, I was a pathetic "loser" who later developed schizophrenia, largely because of "poor life choices."This sounds like crap to me. I'm glad things are going well for you now.
Jade
Posted by Lamdage22 on May 3, 2016, at 12:14:20
In reply to Re: mentally ill...or pathetic loser? » Christ_empowered, posted by J Kelly on May 3, 2016, at 11:31:10
Its bad enough that others are so hard on you, so at least dont do it yourself.
Your family loves you.
Posted by Christ_empowered on May 3, 2016, at 13:03:55
In reply to Re: mentally ill...or pathetic loser?, posted by Lamdage22 on May 3, 2016, at 12:14:20
feeling kinda down and sorry for myself. I live in a small town...I'm the pariah, the outcast, The Other.
My parents provide more than enough shelter, protection, stability, etc. It just gets rough...one set of neighbors will yell stuff loud enough for me to hear...in my room, while I'm trying to do other things. Ugh.
I'm remarkably stable and...well, it is something of a miracle that I'm alive at all.
I'm hoping I can just move forward from here, no more complications.
Thanks again...
Posted by Tabitha on May 3, 2016, at 16:23:24
In reply to mentally ill...or pathetic loser?, posted by Christ_empowered on May 3, 2016, at 9:39:03
> I'm now diagnosed as Bipolar I of some sort. I take meds, I'm recovering, its good times.
>
> thing is...back when I was younger, I was diagnosed w/ personality disorders, odd, everything but bona fide "mental illness."It's good to keep in mind that mental health diagnoses are somewhat arbitrary categories used to describe people. Look at how the DSM has evolved over time to match social trends. For instance being homosexual used to be considered "mental illness", now it's considered to be a normal variation of people. Asperger's was invented, became popular, then was recently eliminated.
The only real use for mental health diagnoses is to map people to the treatments most likely to help. Even then, as you probably know, it's a trial-and-error process to find effective treatment.
I guess what I'm saying is try not to get hung up on a diagnosis.
Posted by baseball55 on May 3, 2016, at 18:59:03
In reply to Re: neither » Christ_empowered, posted by Tabitha on May 3, 2016, at 16:23:24
You've written about this before. All about small towns and the south and social class. I understand your anger and the terrible reality that psychiatrists unethically mistreated and gossiped about you.
I'm not saying that all psychiatrists are ethical, but that kind of small town judgement and gossip and everybody knowing your business and having an opinion based on how they perceive your family (trailer trash! what do you expect?), just doesn't happen in big cities. I find it very hard to relate to your situation.
I don't think psychiatrists are more likely to misdiagnose people because of their family backgrounds in cities. For one thing, it's never obvious what their backgrounds are. People don't know everybody's business.
Posted by Christ_empowered on May 3, 2016, at 19:16:59
In reply to Re: neither, posted by baseball55 on May 3, 2016, at 18:59:03
me again. I was having a mini pity-party, lol. Its just...well, I was labeled severely, hopelessly, incredibly NPD as a 20 year old and...wow. Small towns are rough w/ stuff like that.
I now am learning to think outside the labels. I'm not bipolar or whatever....I have issues. I do better on these Rx meds for what ails me. I do prefer Bipolar I to Schizophrenia as a label because the Schizophrenia label often=limited treatment options (all AP/AAP, all the time), more being expected to live, think a certain way...
Blah blah blah. I'm less angry now. I am where I am for this season of my life, and its actually mostly a good situation. I live in comfort and safety, my parents have forgiven me and warmed up to me, I'm doing productive things with my time, etc. etc. etc.
Its just...interesting. If you're labeled mentally ill, most people will at least go through the motions of showing some kind of compassion or...cutting some slack, I guess. Especially if you and/or the people taking care of you have resources. BUT if you're labeled a junkie, NPD, ODD, all that, its all punishment, all the time.
I'm done now. Thanks for the replies.
Posted by babbler20 on May 22, 2016, at 21:57:42
In reply to mentally ill...or pathetic loser?, posted by Christ_empowered on May 3, 2016, at 9:39:03
antidepressants are basically placebo
This is the end of the thread.
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