Posted by violette on December 26, 2010, at 14:57:02
In reply to Re: Are cancer patients maladaptive too? Dble standard » violette, posted by SLS on December 26, 2010, at 11:49:33
Hi SLS,
I wouldn't know if you personally were in denial. I just know it can be a possiblity for some people and that it does happen. You know how complex depression is..and people should know all the treatment options.
But people are not being told all the treatment options. If I had chronic high chloesteral and was given medication but not told by my dr how certain foods can raise cholesteral levels, i'd be angry. Other people might be told this information by their doctor, and choose to ignore it. Still, people suffering should be informed about the condition and the possible causes and treatments.
And as you might know, certain people have genetic tendencies where they can eat the most healthy diet, exercise every day - but still have high cholesteral! You have already said you've tried everything for depression, so maybe that is the case with you and your illness-that you just have the biological disposition and there will be a medication to turn it around, maybe genetic therapy, like the person with high cholesteral with the healthy lifestyle, who might have genetic cures someday to prolong their life.
But most people know that food affects our health. I am not so sure if most people know about being in denial, maladaptive behavior-and whether it applies to them because psychiatrists, in my experience and what i've read, do not usually talk about this to a patient. Or some may understand it at the rational level, but not get it at the emotional level. Rationalization is actually a major sign of denial. Rationalization is very common to people with addictions. And there are ways to rationalize all sorts of behavior. Rationalization could also be someone's nature and have nothing to do with illness, just as wine and vodka alone have nothing to do with addictions. It can be a tool though.
i just know that it is nearly impossible to remain in denial while doing pscyhoanalytic therapy. The only way to know if one is in denail is to try this, but as i mentioned, it can be dangerous. It's unfortuante that psychonalytic therapy basically got a bad rap when health care expenses grew and after 2nd generation antidepressants were rx'd for mainstream use.
If someone who lives a mental illness free life in other ways has a fear of flying - people might agree that is a psychological illness (a phobia). It might not affect someone's life so much. But if someone gets a job that requires air travel, maybe CBT can help them overcome it and they would try the therapy. But-a fear of flying can be a symptom of something else-a fear of not being in control-resulting from disavowed childhood trauma. It could grow to fear of elevators, fear of riding on public transportation vehicles and extend to fear of being in relationships. Soemone in that situation might need more intense treatmetn that gets to the root of the phobia-the fear of being controlled by another rather than CBT therapy which is used to redirect thoughts.
I think depression can be a symptom of other things, just like the phobia. Because depression is more complex, it can take much longer to discover a treatment that works. Like fear of airplanes is a psychological issue, denial is a psychological issue. Denial has less to do with biology, other than how your brain has chosen to deal with emotional content. The next person might choose to drink alcohol to disavow emotions, ect. Of course depression can be a symptom of heart disease and many other medical issues. Searching for meds can be a good thing as you pointed out, a strong will to get better. I am only rreferring to maladaptive behavior associated with denial, not the other things.
The main point is that the possibility exists that some who have mental illness for many years could use this forum or an endless search for meds (or many other things) to remain in denial. In fact, it might actually be scary to be well, as irrational as that sounds-for someone who's only known a life of depression. And for some who think this could be relevant to their illness, and who haven't exhausted all their options, they might want to try psychoanalytic therapy as another option-because as i said before, it's nearly impossible to be in this therapy and denial at the same time. Since PA is looked down by some professionals or because it is very costly and time consuming, it is sometimes ignored.
That's all i'm saying. People can try PA and still search for medications and still take medications. A person would then know they were formerly in denial if after starting this therapy, they become less and less interested in searching for, talking about, reading about, medications. I don't think anyone knows they are in denial until they have actually come out of denial.
And by the way - when i came here first searching for medication information, i was triggered by some of the posts here. Especially ones that said peoples' illnesses are only a result of chemistry, other things of that nature. Imagine coming back from a war zone, suffering from PTSD, looking for medication help-then coming across posts (proably not ones written by you) that say brain chemistry is the only source of mental illness. Some might be not be bothered by this, but i can say this from personal experience, for me, it used to be like hearing that the traumas experienced have nothing to do with your illness, your suffering. the atrocities you bore witness to or were forced to take part in-doesn't 'count'. Cruel, sometimes sadistic torture does not cause mental illness-it's really all about chemicals, neurotransmitters. There is something wrong with you for having such disabling symptoms, since others came back from the same experiences without PTSD. The emotional triggers, the stigma, works both ways. as someone who has experienced emotional triggers repeatedly, i do understand why you or others would be upset by some of the content of the posts you read here.
poster:violette
thread:973794
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101218/msgs/974695.html