I would like to know your views on our mental health industry in America ecspecially concerning psych drugs.?

Answer 1

i think psych drugs have gotten absolutely out of control. i am a therapist, so i certainly don't maintain that there is no such thing as mental illness, but it's looking more and more like there is no such thing as personal responsibility. people want happy pills for themselves and calm down pills for their kids and nobody wants to have to do any work. i think many psychiatrists have sold their souls to the drug companies and care only about how much money they can make by giving one size fits all diagnoses and downplaying the importance of true therapy- the talking kind. mental hospitals and state agencies are revolving doors where nobody ever gets any better, and the mental health professionals often become jaded, uncaring, and ineffective. so the short answer would be, i think the mental health industry is a joke. sorry to go off, this is just one of my hot buttons! great question!

Answer 2

Depends what type you are watching. Sometimes porn can help you to know your own sexuality better or give you ideas to engage in. Then there is porn that victimizes others - and studies show that the more you are exposed to this, the less you connect with that thing (i.e a woman) as person. It is more of thing, than a being.

Answer 3

I think too many drugs are prescribed. Sure, it's easier than taking whatever time is needed to help the patient sort through whatever the issue is, but it doesn't solve the problem. Certainly many people are helped by use of drugs, but too many are not. I think back to my younger days, many moons ago. People just didn't seem to have all the mental issues that are diagnosed these days. Then again, a lot has changed in society since then.

Answer 4

I rely on mine everyday. If I don't have them I'm afraid I will eventually kill someone.

Answer 5

The mental health industry is just another branch of healthcare--cardiac, orthopedic, endocrine, mental, etc. Like all branches of healthcare, there are different ways to treat patients.

Most physicians start with the most conservative measures at first, depending on the severity of the case. Then, if these tactics don't work, they will move on to more aggressive measures. At first, a physician may recommend some counsiling, excersize, good eating, etc. If these aren't successful, they will move to medicine--antidepressents, antianxiety, etc.

Of course there are people who 'abuse' the system, perhaps getting on medication when it really isn't necessary. For example, if someone complains of depression for a month, maybe antidepressents aren't the answer. They could be going through a stressful time. Everyone encounters stress at different times and situations throughout life. However, it doesn't necessarily mean they are drug candidates.

On the other hand, some patients really have these issues. Whatever the etiology, they have chemical imbalances causing them to be depressed, anxious, manic, etc. No matter how much counsiling and excersize they do, they cannot improve without counteracting the chemical imbalance with drugs.

Depression is very prevelent in our society these days, unfortunately, with all the stress we go through. If these medications can help people recover or 'feel better' to a state where they can function more normally, why not support it?

Lastly, it is important to know that although drugs and other conservative therapy is important for many mental health issues, another solution is God. If America would return its roots closer and closer to God, I bet depression rates would fall. People are becoming more and more 'lost', seeking something/someone to fill a void in their lives. The answer to full completion is God. He loves us and will really move in our lives if only we seek Him.

Answer 6

I spend an hour and a half going through an outpatient evaluation with my supervisor every week. We talk to a parent or other caretaker and the child, both separately and individually. We get as much information as we can in that time, and then we leave to debrief our attending psychiatrist for 5 minutes, she comes into the office and says "Your child is suffering from depression... we recommend an antidepressant." Then the parent leans back with a lowered brow and concerned, confused look on their face. It happens almost every time, and a couple in which the child was, by self- and parent-report, not at all depressed (CDI total score of ONE!).

Every week I watch psychiatrists go down the DSM checklist - depressed mood, loss of interest, fatigue, sleep disturbance, appetite/weight, concentration, irritability, suicidal ideation (psychomotor agitation and excessive guilt are less emphasized). Never seen active S.I., but the rest of those symptoms have so much overlap onto other disorders (PTSD, anxiety, ADHD and others), as well as overlap into normative developmental stages. I haven't kept count, but I would confidently bet that our attending has suggested SSRIs for 9 out of every 10 patients coming in for an evaluation. In my honest opinion, 1 out of 10 appears to really need a medication intervention.

I'm not an anti-meds activist or anything. In fact, I recommend medication evaluations to my patients occasionally. But I do this when the most important factor, in my opinion, is met. "Symptoms must significantly impair social/academic/occupational functioning." That criteria is so often softly justified around here, if not simply overlooked. The kid has 45 minutes initial insomnia followed by fatigue at school, for example, and the criteria is as good as met.

I don't have a lot of trust for psychiatrists. I don't even have a lot of trust for the research. I have heard (and believe) that pharmaceutical companies help fund many of the studies that examine the effectiveness of medications, and therefore have considerable influence over which studies are published. Even IF this wasn't a factor, I do not feel that research studies can speak to the infinite number of individual factors we see with each patient/client. Therefore, the fact that "research supports" SSRIs, CBT or whatever else will not convince me that it's the first thing we should say to a patient with a bad mood and a complex situation.

One of the more honest MDs in my clinic said this the other day. "We have to remember that SSRIs do not treat depression. Rather, they have coincidentally been found to alter the way a statistically significant percentage of people experience the symptoms of the disorder. This is important, and very different than what we tell our patients, is it not? And the reasons why this happens, the side-effects, long-term or short-term, the appropriateness of use for kids of certain ages... nobody really has any idea." What a sobering and scary comment, eh?

Answer 7

While I think medical technology is awesome, and we have come so far in understanding neurotransmitter behavior, we still have a long, long ways to go. There are still other chemical reactions occurring that we are not aware of, and other neurotransmitter interactions that we do not understand yet. Thus, when we rely too heavily on medications, we are not considering that we may be tipping the balance in some other direction that will later require more meds to rectify. This is not, ultimately, "the answer" to mental illness, as it only masks "symptoms", and does not address the *root* "causes". Therefore, I do not advocate heavy reliance on prescriptions designed to relieve mental dysfunction, although I do agree with *very* short-term use of such tools to help stabilize emergency situations and then weaning off ASAP.

I am not a proponent of behavioral psychology as a primary "answer", however, I do advocate that behavioral modifications are necessary for mental health adjustments. But I say this needs to be achieved in conjunction with cognitive therapy, and also spiritual exploration... that is, body, mind *and* soul need to be cared for in order to reinstate holistic homeostasis.

Yes, even with those individuals society deems "abhorent"... child molesters, murderers, and the like, I believe drugs are not the final answer. This does not mean I think they should be "let out" to run free... they still need to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. They have mental maladjustment histories that can be addressed, and should. Even those suffering from diseases that cause mental dysfunction can benefit much more from behavioral/cognitive therapies than meds. I have years of first hand experience working with mentally challenged adults and Alzhiemer's patients, and have seen the amazing things behavioral/cognitive training can do. Even such disorders as schizophrenia can be overcome without meds... in this case, there is much evidence beginning to emerge on the fact that dysfunction within schizophrenic development occurs as a direct result of social phobia of the disorder, so that the sufferer "reacts" with fear to their condition because those around them in their social environment are reacting *to them* with fear, and their condition worsens simply because of the spiralling-out-of-control fear alone. Remove the fear, and meds are no longer needed to numb it.

The reason why people have to "stay on" their meds after starting them is two-fold. First, if they suddenly go off, they suddenly lack *all* neurotransmitters... the meds start producing them, and the body stops making them on its own, so that when meds are stopped, no neurotransmitters are made at all. There is a "down time" where the person feels way worse for a while before they start feeling better again, before the brain kicks in and starts producing them again. Here's the thing... exercise will produce the same effects that anti-depressants do, with much less risk of side-effects, and much more than just better mental function for results... i.e., improved health (lowered risk of heart attacks and better weight management practices). Second, meds do not provide tools for new ways of thinking (as cognitive therapy does), or behaving (as behavioral modification therapy does). If one does not receive new tools for interacting with their world, they have to stay on the meds because if they go off, they will go back to behaving and thinking the way they did before taking the meds. However, behavioral/cognitive therapies enhance healing, and support weaning off the meds once one has learned how to self-regulate. They no longer need the meds to regulate "for" them.

So, I do not feel meds are the Holy Grail. But I feel they are helpful if used properly and wisely, and only for the shortest time absolutely necessary.