Do you believe in mental illness, ie bi-polar, ADHD, ect are real?

Question

I'm not bashing mental patients, drs or anything. It's just there is no actual "test" like an x-ray for a broken leg that I know of. However, I have seen that deep brain therapy on a tv special about severe depression and it was incredible.

What do you think? Is mental illness diagnosis way over used, is society just looking for pills to make them happy or what?

Answer 1

It's sad to see someone who is, to put it bluntly, ignorant of the reality of mental illness. Depression has been determined to actually show different levels of neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and serotonin and is most certainly not just trying to get "happy pills." So, there are "actual tests."

If you had ever experienced depression, you would know that getting medication is to make you feel normal, not "high." ADHD might be overdiagnosed in some, but that hardly means it is not real, and no one trained in medicine doubts bipolar illness is real, either.

That deep brain stimulation can work should have demonstrated to you that this is something real, not imaginary, and whether you intend to or not, you are bashing people with real illnesses with thoughtless comments like "just looking for pills to make them happy."

If anything, mental illnesses may be underdiagnosed and undertreated, and part of the reason for that is people who still don't want to believe these illnesses are "real."

The reality is that one in ten people will experience a serious mental condition in their lives. That means it is extremely likely that you or someone close to you will be affected, and I certainly hope those around you or them will be supportive and caring, instead of doubting they are really sick or accusing them of drug seeking. Depression KILLS people: how much more "real" do you need it to be?

Answer 2

Patricia G's answer on here is best.

If you had a mental illness, you would not be asking this question. In the "old days" doctors could not detect what caused a stroke either, but it still happened. They just didn't have the technology yet. Diabetes, either. Mental illnesses are the same way, we don't have the technology yet to do a firm diagnosis, but it's getting there. And so far as PET scans, which are great, they don't help in diagnosis and treatment yet, so insurance won't pay. They are useful research tools, but are not helpful medical tools. so researchers can scan a brain and see that person's brain isn't working right, but they can't tell exactly what's wrong. The person will still have a very individual response to the meds, because the meds are not processed directly by the brain, but rather by the liver (and other genetic and environmental factors-but i'm not a medical researcher).

I can't believe anyone is actually asking this question anymore. This "debate" is over in the medical community -mental illnesses are clearly disorders of the brain!

Answer 3

Well, I guess looking into the subject a little further might be a good idea, because with many mental disorders there are actual tests that can tell you what chemicals are deficient and what those deficiencies will result in. People that actually have rather severe mental illnesses have bloodwork quite a lot while finding the right medications and levels to see what exactly they need.

Psychology is a soft science, true, but neuroscience is a hard science. These disorders do scientifically exist and the chemical deficiencies are recognized by the scientific community, so yes, I believe in them.

True that diagnosis for many of these mental illnesses are rather overused as to avoid thousands of dollars in psychological treatment to cure the symptoms, that surely doesn't mean that the disorders themselves don't exist.

Imagine everytime a person is weak, they say it's cancer or lukemia. We know a person that blames every bit of fatigue on it while testing negative surely doesn't have it, but we do know that cancer does indeed exist. I don't think mental illness is much different in many cases.

Answer 4

Yes, I believe that mental diseases are real diseases. Some are from damage, some are from chemistry. some are delusions. But they are all real.

I certainly do not believe they are from demonic possession, or just people being melodramatic.
Although some people do get pretty melodramatic.

I think tha attention deficit thing is overdone with a lot of kids that are just bored getting drugged by their teachers for reasons of control over classes that are just to big. How many kids should a teacher really be dealing with in a group? Some classes have over 50 students with one teacher. Far too big.

I actually think the Buck up, be strong, self control, mind over matter crap is way overdone. I think that attitude causes incredible amounts of harm to people and to society as a whole. If taking a couple of pills puts a clinicaly depressed person on a functional level I think that beats having a stubbornly determined person who is still suffering massive depression.

Answer 5

DEFINITELY mental illnesses are real. Western medicine is too structured and therefore is not able to measure these illnesses. Most mental illnesses are caused by a real imbalance in brain neurotrasmiters. The spiritual explanation is that the person has a spirit attached that makes him have all these symptoms. This is why Chinesse medicine is the one that best treats this through acupuncture. I tell you all these because I am a suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Believe me, they are real. With real emotional and physical symptoms. It is not just " in our heads". If you do not suffer from a mental illness you are very lucky. However I agree with you that the diagnosis has been over used. [e-mail]

Answer 6

I can only tell you my story. My mother and her ancestors were most likely bipolar. I am on meds for bipolar/mood swings and anxiety. Even as a child I was depressed. I won't say it wasn't situational in the beginning and became a disorder as time went on. Depressed people have the potential to kill themselves or others. The pills don't 'make me happy' they allow me the happiness I already had and lost. I think society is looking for pills to solve everything, but, not only for mental illness.

Answer 7

It may be overused but you have to take into account that things like depression, manic depression, etc., are more commonly accepted now than in the past. So people who have suffered are not as embarrassed or afraid to seek help.

I think our society is a lot more stressful than say 20 years ago. That can definitely have an impact on one's mental health.

Answer 8

I have a child who became schizophrenic when he turned 18. Once you have seen a brilliant young person become deeply psychotic, you will believe. It is an awesome and terrifying thing to see. Pills help, but finding the right pills, doses, doctors, hospitals, etc, has been 4 years of trauma, and we're not done yet. And none of his pills have produced a life of happiness, but I'd thank God if they did.

Answer 9

Mental illness are definitely real. Especially ones like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and autism. However, I've heard that ADHD has been challenged as not existing.

Answer 10

I have a step mom who is bipolar and I had an ex girlfriend who was also bipolar. My opinion is kinda complicated for me to put in words on here, and to try and explain my reasoning. Basically, I believe that bipolar is real, but only to an extent.