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It just sucks to be mentally ill
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<blockquote data-quote="SuZir" data-source="post: 666395" data-attributes="member: 14557"><p>There are some positives signs in attitudes at least around here. For example this year Mad Prides have gotten quite a lot of press and attention in my country in various cities. And when twenty years ago it started to become okay to first talk about burn outs and then depression, it seems that same is going on more and more with bipolar, Borderline (BPD) and schizophrenia right now. For example during last month I have seen tv document, in very popular document series, that featured an upper middle class woman on her thirties and working in nice job, who told about her bipolar 1 and the times she was hospitalised due manic psychosis and about the process of finding right medication combo and lifestyle factors that helped her be able to get back to work. And then there have been two ar5ticles in very mainstream and popular women's magazine that have had long articles about a writer with schizophrenia and singer with Borderline (BPD) and how they manage to live with those illnesses. And earlier this summer in our most popular sports newscasts had a long story about former sprinter and her psychotic depression she battled during and after her career for years.</p><p></p><p>These type of stories do not present people with mental illness as freaks or problem but someone one could easily identify. Of course it is telling that all the example above are women, in my country it is very common, that some things start to be okay with woman long before and remain taboos with men even a decade or two after (it was same with for example gays, first respectable gay women came publicly out twenty years before gay men who didn't want to be considered freaks started to come out publicly.) Right now it seems, that mentally ill women are socially acceptable and do get compassion but mentally ill men are portrayed as morally corrupt (recent example one very respected journalist, who had onset of bipolar and during mania wrecked his marriage and was promiscuous and tweeted sexual stuff) or downright dangerous.</p><p></p><p>There has also been a big change in treatment of dual diagnosed people in my country during last twenty years. When my dad was on his worst twenty, thirty years ago, it was all about substance abuse and how nothing else can be treated or even diagnosed before extended sobriety. Between then and now there has apparently been some new studies and standard of care has had a big shift. Now it is clearly stated that treatment of mental illness is the priority and while comorpid substance abuse issue should be treated at the same time and the patient should be offered also motivational interviewing or CBT with provider specialised to also substance abuse, the primary health provider for the mentally ill substance abusers should always be a psychiatrist from mental health clinic. Apparently those studies that showed that 60 % of bipolar substance abusers who were provided with working mood stabilisers achieved remission in their substance abuse in three years and new research how episodes of psychosis do irreparable damage to the brain have changed the treatment approach and made mental health treatment a priority and substance abuse treatment secondary for dual diagnostic patients. And because it would be malpractice and cause disciplinary actions for the doctor and clinic not to follow those guidelines, it seems that now dual diagnostic patients actually do get help in totally different way than when this was an issue with my dad.</p><p></p><p>When I was going through it with my dad, it always seemed like he was getting treatment only when he was sober and even then it was mostly geared towards substance abuse. When he relapsed, all treatment also to his mental health issues stopped to start again only after he had been some time sober. And often the mental health side was played down and providers were telling that it was just about drugs and alcohol and when he would stay sober for extended time, all the mental health issues would go away. Of course they didn't. And because at the time it also felt that substance abuse treatment was only for those who were not taking drugs or drinking at the time, every time he relapsed, the treatment stopped and he had to start from beginning later. During these twenty years it also seems that substance abuse treatment has changed and it is not sobriety or nothing any more, but they do provide treatment and harm reduction also for those who are not willing or able to remain sober. Treatment doesn't get cut because of relapse or even if the patient decides sobriety is not their goal (for now), so people are not falling off the grid after relapse like it used to be, but instead supervising doctor remains the same and they just use methods and treatments that fit to the patient at their current state.That continuity of treatment is something that has really gotten better during the years.</p><p></p><p>But with mental health patients it on the other hand seems that patient often has to be active in getting and applying services and good at hopping hoops. And considering that difficulty of taking initiative tends to be common symptom in many mental health problems, that is really counter-productive. </p><p></p><p>So things are slowly getting better, but it is very slow movement and attitudes of the public are even more behind than professionals.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SuZir, post: 666395, member: 14557"] There are some positives signs in attitudes at least around here. For example this year Mad Prides have gotten quite a lot of press and attention in my country in various cities. And when twenty years ago it started to become okay to first talk about burn outs and then depression, it seems that same is going on more and more with bipolar, Borderline (BPD) and schizophrenia right now. For example during last month I have seen tv document, in very popular document series, that featured an upper middle class woman on her thirties and working in nice job, who told about her bipolar 1 and the times she was hospitalised due manic psychosis and about the process of finding right medication combo and lifestyle factors that helped her be able to get back to work. And then there have been two ar5ticles in very mainstream and popular women's magazine that have had long articles about a writer with schizophrenia and singer with Borderline (BPD) and how they manage to live with those illnesses. And earlier this summer in our most popular sports newscasts had a long story about former sprinter and her psychotic depression she battled during and after her career for years. These type of stories do not present people with mental illness as freaks or problem but someone one could easily identify. Of course it is telling that all the example above are women, in my country it is very common, that some things start to be okay with woman long before and remain taboos with men even a decade or two after (it was same with for example gays, first respectable gay women came publicly out twenty years before gay men who didn't want to be considered freaks started to come out publicly.) Right now it seems, that mentally ill women are socially acceptable and do get compassion but mentally ill men are portrayed as morally corrupt (recent example one very respected journalist, who had onset of bipolar and during mania wrecked his marriage and was promiscuous and tweeted sexual stuff) or downright dangerous. There has also been a big change in treatment of dual diagnosed people in my country during last twenty years. When my dad was on his worst twenty, thirty years ago, it was all about substance abuse and how nothing else can be treated or even diagnosed before extended sobriety. Between then and now there has apparently been some new studies and standard of care has had a big shift. Now it is clearly stated that treatment of mental illness is the priority and while comorpid substance abuse issue should be treated at the same time and the patient should be offered also motivational interviewing or CBT with provider specialised to also substance abuse, the primary health provider for the mentally ill substance abusers should always be a psychiatrist from mental health clinic. Apparently those studies that showed that 60 % of bipolar substance abusers who were provided with working mood stabilisers achieved remission in their substance abuse in three years and new research how episodes of psychosis do irreparable damage to the brain have changed the treatment approach and made mental health treatment a priority and substance abuse treatment secondary for dual diagnostic patients. And because it would be malpractice and cause disciplinary actions for the doctor and clinic not to follow those guidelines, it seems that now dual diagnostic patients actually do get help in totally different way than when this was an issue with my dad. When I was going through it with my dad, it always seemed like he was getting treatment only when he was sober and even then it was mostly geared towards substance abuse. When he relapsed, all treatment also to his mental health issues stopped to start again only after he had been some time sober. And often the mental health side was played down and providers were telling that it was just about drugs and alcohol and when he would stay sober for extended time, all the mental health issues would go away. Of course they didn't. And because at the time it also felt that substance abuse treatment was only for those who were not taking drugs or drinking at the time, every time he relapsed, the treatment stopped and he had to start from beginning later. During these twenty years it also seems that substance abuse treatment has changed and it is not sobriety or nothing any more, but they do provide treatment and harm reduction also for those who are not willing or able to remain sober. Treatment doesn't get cut because of relapse or even if the patient decides sobriety is not their goal (for now), so people are not falling off the grid after relapse like it used to be, but instead supervising doctor remains the same and they just use methods and treatments that fit to the patient at their current state.That continuity of treatment is something that has really gotten better during the years. But with mental health patients it on the other hand seems that patient often has to be active in getting and applying services and good at hopping hoops. And considering that difficulty of taking initiative tends to be common symptom in many mental health problems, that is really counter-productive. So things are slowly getting better, but it is very slow movement and attitudes of the public are even more behind than professionals. [/QUOTE]
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