If psychiatrist's don't know the cause of mental illness or have a cure for it,?

Question

then how do they know what medications to
administer?

Answer 1

Psychiatrist's are Trained Physician's and do know what causes different types of Mental Illness
-For example--Depression is caused by a low level of neurotransmitters
(messenger chemicals that carry signals from one nerve cell to another). The major imbalance is Serotonin--which helps regulate sleep, appetite and emotion(mood).
Doctor's treat this with medications intended known as SSRI's (Serotinin Selective Retake Inhibitors). The goal is to
regulate the chemical imbalance.
Illnesses like Schizophrenia are abit more confusing. It appears likely that multiple genes are involved in creating a predisposition to develop the disorder. In addition, factors such as prenatal difficulties like intrauterine starvation or viral infections, perinatal complications, and various nonspecific stressors, seem to influence the development of schizophrenia.
Doctor's often will try different medications in Depression/Schizophrnia, Anxiety etc.
Example: In Bi-Polar (Manic-Depressive) doctor's will often use Lithium as the first line of treatment They are used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, since unlike most other mood altering drugs, they counteract both mania and depression. Lithium can also be used to augment other antidepressant drugs.

As opposed to physical medical conditions like diabetes, heart disease and arthriris---where there are clear-cut causes, mental illness is much more evasive.

Doctor's often wind up using medications as a trial and error. If it doesn't work, then try another medication. What works for one person, may not work for you. You may have to go about a 1/2 dozen different medications until you can find the one that works with your system. This really is not that unusual.

I have seen my doctor for 8 years. He agrees that increased stress in life including not getting enough sleep, eating poorly, getting anxious about life situations--will bring on symptoms (easier). Therefore, if you have a mental illness, it is importatant to 1)Stay away from alcohol and unprescribed medication (These will make your mental illness worse)
2) Get plenty of sleep 7-8 hours per night
3) Eat well balanced meals
4) Get aerobic exercise. Exercise increases the levels of serotonin and endorphins in your brain---which can make you feel better.
5) Limit intake of caffeine

Often with Mental Illnees, you really have to be your own advocate. Read what you can on your illness.

Remember, the psychiatrist can only go by what you tell him. He cannot take a blood test, xray or CAT scan to figure out what is wrong.

Seeing a psychiatrist along with a therapist are often the best combination.

Is some conditions, there is hope. I suffered Depression for 20 years. I was on perhaps a dozen different antidepressants. Within the past 3 years the Depression waned, and I have been off of all medications. My doctor said that this is probably due to the leveling off of the chemicals (serotonin).

Answer 2

I think they've studied the illness and when they talk to patients, they notice which symptoms the patients has and categorize the patient into a particular category, such as depression, bi-polar, schizophrenic,etc and prescribe the medications accordingly.some medication helps while bringing on other negative side-effects.I don't think some mental illness can be determined for sure, so it's questionable & it is scary to be mis-diagnosed and prescribed the wrong medication & make it worse.I think most usually conclude that it's some form of "chemical imbalance" if they can't pinpoint which mental illness the patient has.I think it is obvious that all mental illness patients have a chemical imbalance so their conclusion is kind of vague.

there's is no cure, only a temporary treatment, like for example:headaches/migraines.there's medicine to sedate/control it temporarily but the problem just comes back later.

Answer 3

Sometimes the cause is known--some mental illnesses are caused by physical conditions such as head injury, brain tumor or nervous system disorder. Sometimes the disorder is caused by a traumatic event such as sexual abuse. Most of time; however, the diagnosis is based on the symptoms the person has and the actual cause is not known.

A lof of psychiatry does seem to be subjective, I have heard psychiatrist who will say so. Treatment is based on giving medications that are known to work on certain symptoms. My Paxil works on me. The medications are there to make the symptoms easier to live with, and that's about it.

Most mental illness is not considered "curable", but sometimes symptoms will go into complete remission. No one really knows if the treatment has any relation to a permanent ending of symptoms. I suspect that it doesn't; I think sometimes the illness just runs it's course and the person stops having the problem regardless of treatment.

Answer 4

I have a rare depression and they don't know what causes it and for years I refuse to take any medications because they all are just as bad as taking heroin the doctors don't know any more than I do so why should I take the drugs they are pushing on me I wont take any medications or drugs If I have a head ace I will just put up with it until it gos away.

Answer 5

While there is no "cure" for any mental illness, we do know how to treat them as there has been extensive research with medications and treatment modalities.

Answer 6

They know a rough cause such as brain imbalnces of certain chemicals, therefore certain drugs are delveloped to target these chemicals and receptors in the brain. Therefore these medications can be adminstred to target these chemical imbalances

Answer 7

Read these carefully & do it sincerely, very soon you will get your answer pl.


When mother Nature has provided us with such a simple and easy treatment to cure diseases and even to avoid them we all must follow the instructions given by her. These Therapies only help Nature to cure us. Let us not ignore Nature in our mad pursuit of science. THIS NATURE'S 'DO IT YOURSELF' ACUPRESSURE THERAPY ITSLEF IS A SCIENCE AND NOT A MATTER OF BELIEF. Try this Therapy sincerely and regularly for at least 15 days and observe its wonderful and amazing result.

Depression, Tension & Increase of will-power.



Increasing the will-power : Our mind has a great effect on these glands. For example, continuous fear damages the Pituitary gland and makes one timid. Similarly,tension and worry disturb the Pineal gland and so leads to high B.P. and as Pineal gland controls other glands it also disturbs other glands and digestive system. In modern times, strees-tension or worry-fear have increased and they often disturb these endocrine glands. If these endocrine glands are not treated immediately, it might lead to malfunctioning of other glands of the body. As these glands are interrelated, whenever one gland is disturbed, the other glands also get disturbed. So, when you press on the points of these endocrine glands you will feel pain on points of more than one gland especially in case of chronic diseases. Therefore, it is very improtant to give Acupressure treatment on all the endocrine glands and keep them under proper control.

These glands also control the mind (the will-power). So in order to get rid of bad habits like smoking, drinking, drug addiction or even overeating, it is extremely necessary to give treatment on all endocrine glands for at least, fifteen days. Because, these people lack the necessary will-power to give up bad habits, they often break their vows to stop such bad habits and so they are considered unreliable. However, a treatment of fifteen days will give them necessary will-power to stop these bad habits after that. And they will be free from the withdrawal symptoms of stopping these bad habits.

Nervous tension : In the modern days because of fast life and loss of contentment,nervous tension keeps on building up increasingly, tending to damage our mind and health.

How to find out : Ask the patient to lie down on the back and ask some one to press on the base of the middle toe in both the legs. If there is a hurting sensation,it means nervous tension. If the hurting is unbearable, it means that the person is on the verge of collapse and needs immediate attention.

C U R E : (1) While the patient is lying on the back, bend all the toes of both legs, backward. It may hurt but give little more pressure and bend them as much as possible. Repeat this three times a day till the tension is removed.

(2) Clasp your hands tightly interlocking the fingers. Then with left hand fingers press on the back of the right hand and then with right hand fingers, press on the back of the left hand. repeat for about 1 to 2 minutes, 3 to 4 times a day.

(3) Insomnia : The above mentioned treatment can be taken for 5 to 12 minutes at night in bed to ensure good sleep and cure insomnia.

(4) Take 2 glasess of gold/silver/copper charged water reduced from 8 glasses of water daily.

(5) Kali Phos 1 m (a Biochemic medicine) : Take 8 pills in the eveining between 8 to 9 p.m. for 10 days, then once a week. After 10 days Kali Phos 12 x 4+4 pills every day. Complete course is of 45 days.

Answer 8

Years of studies are done on medications before they are approved for specific conditions.

Answer 9

I would go get a 2nd opinion, go to another doc.