Posted by mtdewcmu on April 7, 2011, at 21:24:59
In reply to Re: Condescension » mtdewcmu, posted by hyperfocus on April 7, 2011, at 5:10:17
My sister is actually the one I consider closest to me, since neither of us get along very well with our parents. But I'm finding she can be more like them than I once thought, and my parents are actually more willing to be there for me than she is.
Oftentimes people with some experience of psychiatry can be the least understanding. When I first started seeing a pdoc, my sister decided she needed to see one too. She took Prozac for a while and actually got put on Ritalin without even having to ask! But eventually she stopped taking psych meds and going to therapy. My opinion is that she was never as bad off as I have been. I think she was just lonely for a while somewhere toward the end of college and before getting married, and it would have passed on its own. But she thinks that experience has taught her all she needs to know about mental illness. She believes that she cured herself and that makes her an expert. It's inconceivable to her that mine could be worse and more intractable.
I think believing everyone else's life is just like your own is a form of mental laziness.
But trying to convince her that my life is different is a catch-22. The more I protest that I've done everything possible, the more she thinks I'm being stubborn and in denial! There's no way to win. If my life got worse, she would just think it was from ignoring her advice. If I find a med that works and my life improves, then I could say, "look, I knew what I was doing and now I'm better." That would be wonderful. But at that point it would be moot because I wouldn't need compassion!
poster:mtdewcmu
thread:982098
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20110407/msgs/982226.html