Posted by ShawnThomas on November 12, 2012, at 10:00:47
In reply to Re: playing chess with psychiatry » ShawnThomas, posted by sleepygirl2 on November 10, 2012, at 0:49:28
> I didn't really think you had a paternalistic view, but you did raise some interesting points. I was inserting a little sarcasm, perhaps aimed at my experience with mental health care (not just my own). Maybe I like a good debate.
> I think it takes a tremendous amount of faith (in something so imperfect) to take psych meds. I like my Pdoc, everything is ultimately my decision, and I trust that he's applying his knowledge toward increasing my quality of life.
> The idea, that I can lack some insight, seems so strange to me, but I have to think it is true, even though I'm pretty grounded in reality.I like a good debate as well. Sometimes I leave out details when writing, and it's always helpful to have others draw them out of me.
Nobody has comprehensive insight into what goes on in his or her brain, but that's just a fact of life. I think that the vast majority of psychiatric patients have sufficient self-insight to make informed decisions about their treatments. No matter how grounded we are in reality, we still must accept that we are unaware of much of what goes on in our brains and how various drugs can affect millions of cells in the brain.
I agree that many psychiatric medications are rather imperfect. I don't believe that everyone who takes psychiatric meds has complete faith in them; many people take them in spite of serious doubts. I admire the courage of many people who take psychiatric drugs; it can often be a rather scary proposition. There are a lot of heroes on this board, and I hope that some of them can learn to see themselves in that way.
poster:ShawnThomas
thread:1030834
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20121029/msgs/1031120.html