Posted by Bradley on March 25, 2001, at 16:19:58
In reply to Re: I envy your succesfull treatment, posted by stjames on March 25, 2001, at 13:32:05
I don't mean to be confrontational. Sure the more treatments a person tries the odds of finding help increase. But what many of us have had to go through is way beyond extreme. I have really lost count of how many treatments and docs I have gone through. My frustration is where we are with mental health treatment. I think it is far behind where it ought to be. The reasons for this are many. Limited amount of funds addressing this area is a big factor. Little focus on the endocrine system does'nt help. Where do you think the future of treatments is headed? It was'nt that long ago that your upbringing was blamed for a persons mental health problems. At least we have progressed beyond that. Current nuero transmitter theories do not explain a large percentage of mental health disorders. Although now my particular disorder is diagnosed as atypical refractory depression, one day it will not be. It will be found to be an endocrine disorder and treated properly. Current research( HPA axis function, cortisol imbalances, androgen role in mood, nuerosteroid fuction,etc.)is addressing different causes of mood disorders, but it is slow slow slow. Yes I envy people that are'nt stuck in this nightmare. I think I can see your perspective, try on my shoes and millions of others and you will find them uncomfortable.
> > Of course you don't see the chaos of mental health treatment, you are one of the few lucky ones that find something that helps. There are millions of us that are'nt succefully treated. You don't hear to much from us because we don't have the energy to do much. We usually just die.
>
> No I am not the few, I would say all my close friends are mentally ill and have sucess with their treaatments. Support groups I have attended indicate 50-60 % of people get better on the first or second meds they try (depression). What I see is that those who say "I'm sick, help me" and then wait remain sick. Those who have a negative view of mental helth providers do poorly.
> If your care is in a state of choas, change it. Seek out others who do well and find out what they do and what docs they see. Don't envy me, nothing magic happened, I just worked hard at getting well. You have to educate and advocate for yourself. I have walked out of several docs offices on a first meeting because they were weong for me. If you are staying with bad docs or docs that are no helping you then it is your fault
> fore waisting your time.
>
> Pat
poster:Bradley
thread:57231
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010319/msgs/57492.html