Posted by amy_oz on October 20, 2003, at 2:18:20
In reply to Are you a man or a sheep?, posted by Ron Jones on October 17, 2003, at 14:14:23
Dearest Ron,
I am a trained scientist (medical biological chemist if you want to know) in fact theres quite a few of us out there who trained before, during or after the development of our mental illnesses.One thing you need to know. Most people on this board are not sheep. Most of us have spent many, many hours researching mental illnesses and are slowly and thoroughly working through the many ideas on this board and through other research to find the solution that best suits them. And people well read in the subject know how to look past pharmaceutical sales pitches to find the real story.
The facts are:
there are some people with mental illness who can treat themselves through CBT or other therapies and a healthy lifestyle. Everyone who is physically capable should start with this and see how far they can go. This is generally the best solution for people with situational depression ie that triggered by a traumatic even in their livsecond fact.
there are many, many studies pointing to a direct link between genetics (although its always a combo of factors) and mental illness. This is especially true for disorders like bipolar. IF you look at my family tree, theres much mental illness except that my relatives these days don't seem to be dying in mental hospitals
third fact.
mental illnesses cause the brain structure and function to change. If you go and look up any mental health journals you'll find a plethora of studies on which changes we already know about.
We don't know all of the nooks and crannies of how the brain works so its still early days on the direct changes in the brain and body that trigger mental illnessfourth fact
medications and natural therapies do work for many people.we know this not only from the reports of the people who take them but from double blind neurological studies and scans of people before and after treatment. yes there are a number of side effects with some drugs and there is no miracle drug or "natural treatment" for everyone but treatment is getting better all the timefifth fact
a number of people need a combo of meds, therapy and a healthy lifestyle just to stay alive. I'm one of them. I've fought incredibly hard to get this far and will continue to work hard on my health.btw
whats your diagnosis and training in the scientific field?if you want us to follow everything you say without reservation then you are expecting us to be sheep.
I've read probably most things you've pointed out and taken them on board and I still have the opinion that I have. You're welcome to your opinion. I'm welcome to mine
Amy
poster:amy_oz
thread:270246
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20031003/msgs/271007.html