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rattusn0rvegicus · 1 year

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Sometimes, when talking about the current psychiatric system, we get lost in anger and don’t look towards alternatives and what a better tomorrow might look like. Here’s some cool mental health/psychiatry reform things that I think are neat (Somewhat US centric bc that’s where I live). Lots of them focus on psychosis, because I think psychosis is a sorely ignored subject in mental health activism.

US Peer Respite Directory - A list of voluntary, community-based, non-clinical crisis support group-home like environments that are staffed by people with lived experience of mental illness and/or lived experiences in the psychiatric system.

Students With Psychosis - A nonprofit that empowers students with psychosis through virtual programming, support groups, etc. They’re run by the amazing Cecilia McGough, an advocate with schizophrenia.

Hearing Voices Network - A network of support groups for people who hear voices, see visions, and have other extreme experiences. Focused on supporting individuals without judgement and giving them a place to explore their experiences and grow from them.

Open Dialogue - An psychosocial approach to psychiatric services that focuses on treating clients with respect, shared decision-making, dialogue between client, providers, and family (if the client wants family involved), and more minimal use of medication.

CommonGround software - A software developed by Dr. Pat Deegan that allows clients to communicate their needs to their providers more efficiently to support shared-decision making. Dr. Deegan has a lived experience of being diagnosed with schizophrenia and believes in personal medicine and med empowerment.

Project LETS - A radical approach to peer support and healing that has a disability justice centered approach, giving people with lived experience a voice and focusing on mutual aid. They provide peer mental health advocates, self-harm prevention, and more.

Integrative Psychiatry - A holistic form of psychiatry that focuses on nutrition, exercise, therapy, and psychosocial factors, where medication is just an aspect of treatment. US database of integrative psychiatrists here.

Soteria Houses - Community homes with peer support that provide residents with personal power, responsibilities, and “being with” residents, that focus on a humane and person-centered approach.

Relating to Voices Using Compassion Focused Therapy - A self-help book by Drs. Eleanor Longden and Charlie Heriot Maitland about managing distressing voices and building a respectful, cooperative relationship with them. Views voices as potential allies in emotional problem-solving rather than enemies.

Clubhouse International - A non-profit organization that gives people with mental illness opportunities for friendship, employment, housing, educational, and medical services all in one place. It was founded by a group of friends who survived a psychiatric hospital together.

Psychosis Research Unit - A group of psychology researchers who are doing research on and developing psychotherapeutic techniques for coping with and managing psychosis, such as CBT for psychosis and Talking with Voices therapy.

#mental health #psychiatry critical #psychiatry reform #anti psychiatry #psych critical #psychosis #psych reform #mental illness #uhhhhhh idk what else to tag this with so people see it #social justice #neurodiversity #idk

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gothhabiba · 1 year

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hi i just saw some of ur posts on anti-psychiatry and then kept reading more on ur blog about what it is. for the most part i agree with what you've said about how capitalism uses psychiatry to designate people who are bad/abnormal and how it aligns itself w/ misogyny, racism, and so on. with that said i think i have some similar concerns/questions as another asker about what this means for those who do/would suffer even in a non-capitalist society, even if we didn't ascribe a specific label to X symptoms. if we are opposed to psychiatry, what are the options for people today who are suffering and want help? are you opposed to psychopharmaceuticals and therapy? i dont mean to ask this in a confrontational/accusatory way, i'm just new to this and genuinely curious

There are a few different parts to your question & so there are a few different angles to approach it from—

are you opposed to psychopharmaceuticals and therapy?

If this means "are anti-psych writers and activists opposed to individuals seeking treatment that they personally find helpful," then, no—a couple posts in my psychiatry tag do clarify this.

If it means "are there anti-psych critiques of psychopharmaceuticals and therapy," then, yes. Keep in mind that I'm not a neurobiologist or otherwise an expert on medications marketed as treatments for mental illnesses, but:

The evidence for the effectiveness of SSRIs in particular is sort of non-existent—even many psychiatrists who promote the biomedical model of mental illness doubt their efficacy, and refer to the "chemical imbalance" theory that enforces their usage as "an outmoded way of thinking" or "a kind of urban legend—never a theory seriously propounded by well-informed psychiatrists." But promoting SSRIs (and corresponding "serotonin deficiency" theory of depression, despite the fact that no solid evidence links depression to low serotonin) is very profitable for pharmaceutical companies. Despite the fact that direct-to-consumer advertisements are nominally regulated in the U.S., the FDA doesn't challenge these claims.

Other psychotropic drugs, such as "antipsychotics" or "antianxiety" medication, shouldn't really be called e.g. "antipsychotics" as if they specifically targeted the biological source of psychosis. No biological cause of any specific psychiatric diagnosis has been found (p. 851, section 5.1). In fact, rather than "act[ing] against neurochemical substrates of disorders or symptoms," these medications "produc[e] altered, drug induced states"—but despite the fact that they "produce global alterations in brain functioning," they are marketed as if they had "specific efficacy in reducing psychotic symptoms." Reactions to these medications that don't have to do with psychosis or anxiety (blunted affect, akathisia) are dismissed as "side effects," as though they don't arise from the same global alteration in brain function that produces the "desirable" antianxiety/antipsychotic effect. This doesn't mean "psychiatric medication turns you into a zombie so you shouldn't take it"—it means that these medications should be marketed honestly, as things that alter brain function as a whole, rather than marketed as if they target specific symptoms in a way that they cannot do, in accordance with a biomedical model of mental illness the accuracy of which has never been substantiated.

Psychiatrised people also point out that meds are used as a tool for furthering and maintaining psychiatrists' control: meds that patients are hesitant about or do not want are pushed on them, while patients who desire medication are "drug-seeking" or trying to take on the role of clinician or something and will routinely be denied care. Psychiatrised people who refuse medications are "noncompliant" and prone to psychiatric incarceration, re-incarceration, or continued/lengthened incarceration.

As for therapy: there are critiques of certain therapies (e.g. CBT, DBT) as unhelpful, status-quo-enforcing, forcing compliance, retraumatising &c. There are also critiques of therapy as representing a capitalist outsourcing of emotional closeness and emotional work away from community systems that people largely don't have in place; therapy as existing within a psychiatric system that constrains how therapists, however well-intentioned, are able to behave (e.g. mandatory reporting laws); psychotherapy forced on psychiatrised people as a matter of state control; therapists as being in a dangerous amount of power over psychiatrised people and being hailed as neutral despite the fact that their emotions and politics can and do get in the way of them being helpful. The wealth divide in terms of access to therapy is also commonly talked about; insurance (in the U.S.) or the NHS (in England) may only pay for pre-formulated group workbook types of therapy such as DBT, while more long-form, free-form, relationship-focused talk therapy may only be accessible to those who can pay 100-something an hour for it.

None of these critiques make it unethical or something for someone to get treatment that they find helpful. It's also worth noting that some of these critiques may be coming from "anti-psych" people who criticise the sources of psychiatric power, and some of them may come from people who think of themselves as advocating for reform of some of the most egregious effects of psychiatric power.

if we are opposed to psychiatry, what are the options for people today who are suffering and want help?

This looks like a few different things at a few different levels. At its most narrow and individual, it involves opting out of and resisting calls for psychiatrisation and involuntary institutionalisation of individuals—not calling the cops on people who are acting strange in public, breaking mandatory reporting laws and guidelines where we think them likely to cause harm. It involves sharing information—information about antipsychiatry critiques of psychiatric institutions, advice about how to manage therapists' and psychiatrists' egos, advice about which psychiatrists to avoid—so that people do not blame themselves if they find their encounters with psychiatry unhelpful or traumatising.

At the most broad, it's the same question as the question of how to build dual power and resist the power of capitalism writ large—building communal structures that present meaningful alternatives to psychiatry as an institution. I think there's much to be learned here from prison abolitionists and from popular movements that seek to protect people from deportation. You might also look into R. D. Laing's Kingsley Hall experiment.

what does this mean for those who would suffer even in a non-capitalist society, even if we didn't ascribe a specific label to X symptoms?

It means that people need access to honest, reliable information about what psychotropic medications do, and the right to chuse whether or not to take these medications without the threat of a psychiatrist pulling a lever that immediately restricts or removes their autonomy. It means that people need to be connected to each other in communities with planned, free resources that ensure that everyone, including severely disabled people whom no one particularly likes as individuals, has access to basic resources. It means that people need to be free to make their own choices regarding their minds and their health, even if other people may view those decisions as disastrous. There is simply no defensible way to revoke people's basic autonomy on the basis of "mental illness" (here I'm not talking about e.g. prison abolitionist rehabilitative justice types of things, which must restrict autonomy to be effective).

Also, I've mostly left the idea of who this would actually be untouched, since my central argument ("psychiatry as it currently exists is part of the biomedical arm of capitalism and the state, and the epistemologies it produces and employs and the power it exerts are thus in the service of capitalism and the state") doesn't really rest on delineating who would and wouldn't suffer from whatever mental differences they have regardless of what society they're in. But it's worth mentioning that the category of "people who are going to suffer (to whatever degree) no matter what" may be narrower than some would think—psychosis, for instance, is sometimes experienced very differently by people in societies that don't stigmatise it. I see people objecting to (their interpretations of) antipsych arguments with things along the lines of "well maybe depression and anxiety are caused by capitalism, but I'm schizophrenic so this doesn't apply to me"—as though hallucinations are perforce more physically "real," more "biological," more "extra-cultural" in nature than something like depression. But the point is that positing a specific neurobiological etiology for any psychiatric diagnosis is unsubstantiated, and that capitalist society affects how every "mental illness" is read and experienced (though no one is arguing that e.g. hallucinations wouldn't always exist in some form).

#psychiatry #long post /#mental illness #antipsych #antipsychiatry #Anonymous #questions #psychotropic drugs #ssris

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mentalhealthhelpsblog · 4 months

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What is psychosis?

Psychosis is disconnection from reality. People may have false beliefs or experience things that aren’t real. Psychosis isn’t a condition. It’s a term that describes a collection of symptoms.

Two important types of psychosis include:

* Hallucinations. These are when parts of your brain mistakenly act like they would if your senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste) picked up on something actually happening. An example of a hallucination is hearing voices that aren’t there (auditory hallucination).

* Delusions. These are false beliefs that someone holds onto very strongly, even when others don’t believe them or there’s plenty of evidence that a belief isn't true. For example, people with delusions of control believe someone is controlling their thoughts or actions remotely.

Psychosis may be a symptom of a mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or severe depression. However, a person can experience psychosis and never be diagnosed with schizophrenia or any other disorder.

Other causes of psychosis

* Misuse of alcohol, prescription medications or recreational drugs

* Severe head injuries (concussions and traumatic brain injuries).

* Traumatic experiences.

* Complex PTSD

* Unusually high levels of stress or anxiety.

The following medical conditions have been known to trigger psychotic episodes in some people:

* HIV and AIDS.

* malaria.

* syphilis.

* Alzheimer's disease.

* Parkinson's disease.

* hypoglycaemia (an abnormally low level of glucose in the blood)

* lupus.

* multiple sclerosis.

How is psychosis treated?

*The treatment of psychosis depends mainly on the underlying cause. In those cases, treating the underlying cause is often the only treatment needed.

For psychosis that needs direct treatment, there are several approaches.

* Medications. Antipsychotic drugs are the most common type of medications to treat psychosis, but other medications, such as antidepressants or lithium, may also help.

* Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This type of psychotherapy can help with certain mental health conditions that can cause psychosis or make it worse.

* Inpatient treatment. For severe cases of psychosis, especially when a person may poses a danger to themselves or others, inpatient treatment in a hospital or specialist facility is sometimes necessary.

* Support programs or care. Many people experience psychosis because of other conditions such as alcohol or substance use disorders and personality disorders. Treating these disorders or helping people with social, work and family programs can sometimes reduce the impact of psychosis and related conditions. These programs can also make it easier for people to manage psychosis and their underlying condition.

#symptoms of psychosis #mental health #pyschosis #mental health advocate

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angiethewitch · 7 months

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If it’s not too invasive, can I ask what onset was like and what meds and therapies you tried in your recovery? Or any good therapy resources? My best friend was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia and she’s got a lot of anxiety surrounding her situation. She also tends to respond weirdly to meds and so far a lot of things just haven’t worked. She’s a very strong, determined person and I do believe that she’ll be okay and be able to get back to regular life at some point. I just don’t want her to feel hopeless about the current situation.

its hard to describe onset because I actually had childhood onset schizophrenia, which is pretty rare. my psychologist had a hypothesis that whatever big red genetic button in my brain that caused the schizophrenia was triggered by trauma in childhood, as stressors have been observed to cause someone predisposed to schizophrenia to have a psychotic break. so it's not easy to describe because I've grown up with it, it's pretty much all I know, I never even knew I was different until I was older. I mean, all kids have imaginary friends, all kids lie, all kids make up wild stories, so I wasn't to know any different and neither was my family. I was actually discussing this with my older sister and we were like oh okay that behaviour in childhood was a fucking symptom.

the therapy process was first rehab, to get sober and clean, to rule out any alcohol or drug induced psychosis. then I was referred to the community mental health team (CMHT) to find out what exactly was Wrong With Me and after a few months they gave me a diagnosis. then it was on to medication and on a waiting list.

now because the nhs, especially the welsh mental health sector, is chronically underfunded, it took 3 years until i finally got therapy. in the meantime I self referred to a local trauma service, who take on patients for free and i had 2 years of trauma therapy. eventually I got a care coordinator who referred me to the acute psychosis intervention team and I was with them for 3 years. I was discharged this summer.

I cant really tell you much about anything I did in the years prior to psychosis therapy. they kept upping and upping my meds, which also acted as a sedative, and studies have shown they can cause neural degeneration, so those few years are a black hole. I barely remember any of it.

however, CBT didn't work. what really helped me was ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy), DBT and my therapist also thought stoicism would work for me. we did values focused therapy which I found very helpful. in rehab I also had resilience training which was very helpful. from everything I've read about shadow work, its a lot like ACT, but I do not recommend it for your friend (or anyone really but especially if youre inclined to psychosis) without medical supervision.

I wish your friend the best of luck and I get the hopelessness - realising I'll have this illness for life and facing societal stigma was almost too much to bear, on top of the constant cycle of relapse and recover, rinse and repeat. but my therapy taught me that yes i have this illness, but I can live with it. it doesn't need removing, just caring for. its a part of me that deserves compassion and acceptance like every other part of me. tell your friend that, she deserves to know she's not a monster and she still deserves respect and compassion, even from herself.

I wish her the best of luck

#anonymous

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csa-survivor-confessions · 3 months

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What Is a Panic Attack?

Panic attacks are episodes of severe overwhelming fear. Symptoms develop fast and reach their peak within 10 minutes. They rarely last more than an hour but the time can be variable between episodes and between people.

These episodes don’t always coincide with long-term mental health difficulties. Any all-encompassing overwhelme and terror event can trigger people to panic.

Panic attacks are related to the stress response system. Long-term overwhelm, immediate reminders of trauma, or other outside experiences activate the body’s stress responses. The fight, flight and freeze responses being activated can all cause an episode of hyperarousal and stress. So your body and mind panic because your body is reading the situation as a serious threat happening.

People can develop panic attacks that are recurrent and can cause continuous stress and harm. These recurrent panic attacks often pile on themselves. When a situation has caused a panic attack before it can become a trigger after that one experience. So if you had a panic attack from fear of public speaking you are more likely to start having panic attacks when you have to speak in front of people. You can also develop anxiety symptoms about having another panic attack causing panic attacks to happen more.

There are often triggers for people who have them recurrently but they can happen with no warning. Panic attacks most often occur when there isn’t any immediate danger but they can also happen when there is real danger as part of a stress response.

Symptoms:

Possible Physical Symptoms:

Abdominal cramping & distress

Chest pain or discomfort

Chills or heat sensations

Fast beating, fluttering or pounding heart

Fear of dying

Feeling dizzy, unsteady, light-headed or faint

Feelings of choking

Headache

Hyperventilation

Nausea

Numbness or tingling sensations

Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering

Sweating

Trembling or shaking

Possible Mental Symptoms:

Depersonalization

Derealization

Fear of losing control

Fear of imminent death

Feeling like you are going crazy

Sense of impending doom or danger

Who Gets Panic Attacks?

Any person can get panic attacks. However, genetics, childhood temperament, lack of coping skills, and histories of trauma can all influence if a person will experience panic attacks.

Common times people may experience panic attacks is when they are going through stressful situations. This includes but is not limited to moving, changing schools, new jobs, job loss, marriage or the birth of a child.

Panic Disorder is a mental illness that is based on repeated panic attacks and fear of future panic attacks. In The DSM-5 panic disorder is defined as an anxiety disorder based primarily on repeated panic attacks, which are recurrent and often unexpected. One panic attack is followed by one month or more of the person fearing that they will have more attacks causing them to change their behaviour. Avoidance of triggers is also considered in the diagnosis.

People with other anxiety disorders, phobias and PTSD are much more likely to experience panic attacks due to their nervous systems already being sensitised and more likely to dysregulate.

Can They Be Treated?

Yes! There are many ways that people can learn to cope with panic attacks. Both self help and professional treatment can be effective in feeling better. Common professional treatments include CBT and Exposure Therapy. Medications can help especially if panic disorder has developed or if there are other mental health conditions concurrent with the panic. Including: anxiety disorders, mood disorder, OCD, psychosis, PTSD etc.

Self Help for anxiety is varied and it can take time to find some that work for you. More on self help for anxiety can be found here: Coping Skills: Panic Attacks

Citations:

Ankrom, S. (2022, October 23). DSM-5 Criteria for Diagnosing Panic Disorder (S. Gans, Ed.). Verywell Mind; Dotdash Meredith. https://www.verywellmind.com/diagnosing-panic-disorder-2583930#toc-diagnosing-panic-disorder-in-dsm-5

Center for Growth Therapists. (n.d.). DARE: A four step approach to anxiety management. Counseling | Therapy; Center for Growth. Retrieved February 1, 2024, from https://www.thecenterforgrowth.com/tips/dare-a-four-step-approach-to-anxiety-management

Healthwise Staff. (2022, October 20). PTSD and Panic Attacks (A. Husney, D. Sproule, K. Romito, & J. Hamblen, Eds.). Myhealth.alberta.ca; myhealth. https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=ad1047spec#:~:text=Topic%20Overview

Hesler, B. (2023, May 9). Panic Attacks & Disorders Q&A. Mayo Clinic Health System. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/what-is-a-panic-attack

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018, May 4). Panic attacks and panic disorder – Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic; Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/panic-attacks/symptoms-causes/syc-20376021

Robinson, L., Segel, J., & Reid, S. (2019, May 7). What is a panic attack? HelpGuide.org; HelpGuide. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/panic-attacks-and-panic-disorders.htm

#info #informational article #blog post #resources #panic attacks #anxiety #anxiety recovery #childhood trauma #trauma #mental issues

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autogeneratedkahootnickname · 1 year

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I know a common thread among general mental illness awareness is that there is little to no mainstream understanding of the actual condition beyond what we've interpreted it to be on tv - ADHD as 'quirky random disease' and psychosis as 'uncontrollable monster disease' etc etc - but one I don't see talked about a lot is what happened to OCD.

OCD as a mental illness has sort of been condensed into 'clean freak disease', 'if its not a right angle its a wrong angle' and so on, which like, yeah it CAN be, but thats kind of like saying geography is the study of Michigan.

The 'meat' of OCD, the stuff that everyone experiences, is horrible intrusive thoughts that you can't get out of your mind: the 'obsessions' of obsessive compulsive disorder. These can be on a range of things from violent to sexual to ethical - no two experiences are exactly the same - but the connecting factor is that they are utterly unbearable.

Some people then try to cope with the anxiety created by these thoughts by repeating a thought or an action - a compulsion. Some people's compulsions could be a quick little mantra they recite in their head, some could be spending 7 hours a day walking in a circle with your eyes closed, some may not experience compulsions at all (Pure-Os, which is not fascistic cereal but a form of OCD where you only experience obsessions).

Obsessions are the stem of the illness, compulsions can make it into a disability.

If you didn't know about this and thought OCD was clean freak disease, you would have no idea that's what was happening to you, partly because no-one discusses obsessions readily (because they're embarrassing or shameful) and partly because its much easier to latch onto the cleanliness angle in popular depictions than the horrible crippling intrusive thoughts angle. I had intrusive thoughts for a year before I looked into any of this (not diagnosed just my working explanation), in which time I had come to the conclusion, 'oh, so I'm an actual monster' which. Since most people first start manifesting thoughts around 16 (though it can happen at any age) its not an awesome time to start going through domestic brain warfare. I had a ROUGH year 12 lemme tell you.

So if you're reading this and any part of it resonates with you, some words of advice:

1. You are not a bad person. OCD manifests in a way that is antithetical to your personality and core belief system, which is why these thoughts are intrusive. The worse person your brain tries to convince you you are, the better a person you actually are. Take some comfort in that.

2. Seek medical or therapeutic resources if they're available to you. Knowledge of OCD is a massive help in combatting it (my thoughts pivotted away from who i was fundamentally as a person once I knew more about OCD), but CBT or dopamine receptive treatment are the main ways of permanently overcoming it.

3. You're doing so well. If you're worried about where you are in life, know that you're doing everything while combatting your own brain to get it done. That you can do anything is amazing. Go easy on yourself.

4. With that, don't actively try and fight thoughts once they're in your head. The more you scream against them (linking back to earlier) the more entrenched an obsession becomes since its antithetical to your actual wants. Just let it wash over you and wait for it to pass, remembering its intrusive and doesn't reflect you. This can be insanely hard at first, but its the best way to come to terms with yourself. You won't be corrupted by them, even if it feels like it.

5. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Without getting too Dear Evan Hansen-ey, 2-3% of the population has OCD based on existing studies, a number which is probably much higher since it's so underreported. You aren't uniquely evil or broken, you're just trying to work through something difficult, and there are so many resources to help with that. For a condition with so little common understanding, its incredibly well documented once you go looking. Raynecorp on tiktok is a good place to start looking for lived experiences, but NHS.com or WebMD have fantastic clinical resources for paths forward.

6. It isn't going to happen. If your obsessions focus on an action you might take, it just won't happen. It feels like it, sometimes you convince yourself you've already done it, but you cannot be physically compelled to do it. It's like hypnosis or being drunk, its limited by who you are as a person and cannot be taken any further. Dont worry!

I wish you all the best for 2023, and keep going :D

#mental health #ocd #long post #mental illness #intrusive thoughts

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holyluvr · 1 year

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This may sound silly because it’s the opposite of what most therapists suggest, which is likely why CBT never helped me, but psychotherapy techniques don’t work on everyone the same way(& that’s ok!).

When I let myself think about my fears without judgement or correcting anything about them, my anxiety was suddenly easier to cope with. And that has to do with trust. I let myself ruminate on terrifying situations that aren’t realistically possible in current times, that no one could survive or would be grossly damaged for life if they somehow survived, anything that fills me with dread. I bring it to life and focus on the details and imagine myself there. I let my heart pound and my throat feel on fire. I let my muscles tighten and my stomach become upset. I will allow myself to visualize it until I’m shaking on the floor in the shower to hush that I’m vomiting from panic.

And I realize that the next time that fear creeps up on me, my thought process has changed. Before I let my mind wonder around and daydream with whatever fear it wanted in vivid detail, my perception of it was hopelessness, agony, despair, and Hell. If I kept correcting it, it felt like I was calling myself a liar who panicked over ridiculous ideas, that I was “wrong” for being scared of it, and pushing it aside only made it stick to my hip like a shy and insecure toddler on their first day of preschool. It fed off of me and wouldn’t leave my side if I thought that way, and I was worried for it like a parent watching for signs that could make my child start screaming.

After letting it in to sicken me as if it were some vaccine for the mind, I noticed that specific details had different conclusions drawn from them. The dread and panic that lead me nearly or fully into psychosis was then only moderate anxiety about survival.

Trust yourself to endure survival, trust yourself to endure torture, and trust yourself to endure death. Anxiety, fear, panic, and dread— Those thrive on your ability to doubt yourself.

#…#it’s basically like a mix of ACT and visualization and exposure maybe?

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drowninginredink · 3 months

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Hi, it's the anon who headcanons the Chosen as higher needs autistic.

I just wanted to say that I'mactually thankful you educated me on your schizoprenic experience, because I didn't know any of that was even a thing! I'll take that with me going forward.

You're welcome! If you want proper schizo education, let's do it! Actually, a note first, because I'm going to be using the terms psychotic and schizophrenic a lot and you should know the difference. Psychosis is a symptom. It is basically just disconnect from reality, generally meaning delusions and often, but not always, hallucinations. Psychosis can happen because of pregnancy, medical conditions, other mental illnesses, or drugs (both legal/prescribed and illegal). Schizophrenia is chronic psychosis that cannot be attributed to any other cause. All schizophrenics are psychotic; not all psychotics are schizophrenic.

1. I know I already said it in the original post, but do not call 911 on someone in a mental health crisis. I will not share the details of what happens to psychotic people (and let's be clear here; it's almost always Black psychotic people) in police custody. And the "good" scenario is them ending up hospitalized, which really isn't much better. I work in nursing, but I will never, ever work in psychiatric nursing because the way psychotics get treated in psych hospitals? I could not see that every day. I could not be part of that system. And there's no way I'd have any leverage to change that system. Psychotics get forcibly medicated, restrained, treated like weirdos and pariahs by the other patients... And then thrown right back out. Why are there a bunch of homeless schizophrenics? Well obviously it's pretty damn impossible to hold a job when in active psychosis, but also, how are you supposed to keep getting your meds or get any lasting therapy when after you get out of the hospital, you're going right back to living on the streets?

2. If someone says stuff that seems delusional, do not fact check them (unless they explicitly ask you to). It will not work. It will just distress them and make them double down. The correct approach is to very slowly nudge them out of it until they realize for themselves what was a delusion, but that's not your job. That's for their therapist to do. Don't encourage them either, though. If you can change the subject, that's the best approach.

3. There's this image that all psychotics need to be medicated, because obviously therapy wouldn't work because they're completely irrational. Medication actually doesn't help 25% of schizophrenics, and therapy is generally way more effective. The problem with that being that you know who else thinks of psychosis as a "just throw drugs at it" issue? Lots and lots of psych professionals. And a whole bunch also just don't know what to do with us. Or they don't want to deal with us, because it's hard. As someone in the medical field Therapy is super useful, though. The standard approach is CBT for psychosis (which personally I had a terrible time with. DBT ended up being my magic bullet). Fun fact: my old psychiatrist is currently doing a study on controlling voice hearing yourself. Basically, you can stop hearing voices by telling them to shut up and fuck off. I'm unconventional as far as schizophrenia symptoms go, so I never really had much voice hearing, but I did for a brief period of time and that's how I got it to go away. Learning how to reality check yourself is the most effective way to deal with psychosis.

3. a. Back on meds, for me personally, anti psychotics did help with my dissociation, but did nothing for my hallucinations and delusions. I'm not on them anymore. We found that an ADHD med actually worked really well for my dissociation, interestingly enough. Anti psychotics also have awful side effects. Schizophrenia is not fun, but the worst thing I've ever experienced wasn't schizophrenia at all. It was akathisia, which is a side effect of anti psychotics. It's restlessness to the absolute maximum. You can't concentrate, you can't think, you can't sit still, you can't sleep. Your heart feels like it's burning a hole in your chest. It is hell.

4. Schizophrenia is actually neurodevelopmental. Our brains look different than other brains. I know personally, I have always had delusional thought processes. It's just that as a kid, I was fixating on, say, the fact that I just could not leave this party right now or that for some reason it was a huge deal that the teacher didn't call on me. So no one thought it was delusions. But now that I've been overtly delusional? The thought process is exactly the same. It's like you're wearing blinders. The world flattens out to 2D and you just can't see the truth. And then when you do realize it, you feel like an absolute idiot for letting it go on for so long. That's true now, and it was true when I was freaking out about dance recitals as a kid.

5. Let's talk about the absolute worst psychotic symptom you've never heard of: disorganized thinking. It's what it sounds like. It's like your brain and thoughts are a deck of cards that are constantly being shuffled. You lose your train of thought. You forget what it is you're doing. I know when my disorganized thinking was a lot worse (those ADHD meds have also helped a ton with that, thank God) I would just get trapped scrolling my phone because I couldn't keep a train of thought for long enough to decide to do something else. Or rather, I'd decide to do something, and then forget about it before I could, over and over. For people who aren't me, it will also manifest as disorganized speech, where you know what you're saying in your head but complete gibberish comes out of your mouth instead. A thing people do not talk about enough is how much schizophrenia absolutely destroys your ability to think. Between disorganized thinking and dissociation (and God, my dissociation is terrible... And this is with it medicated down to levels where I can actually function) sometimes my brain is just absolutely useless to me.

That's probably enough for now? I could keep going for hours, but I think that's a lot of really good information. Truly give me an inch and I'll run a mile

#schizospec #schizo spectrum #schizo #schizophrenia

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221bluescarf · 3 months

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What I need in a therapist is someone who focuses on life skills and problem-solving. I need someone who doesn't freak out over even moderate things. I'd also really like them to be experienced in CBT. Bonus if they've worked with clients who experience psychosis and know how to deal with it.

Different people need different therapy methods. Your diagnosis and your life situation will dictate what you need and what you can get out of therapy. Many people have gotten the wrong therapy and assume it just doesn't work for them (a lot of schizospec people feel this way)

There are many providers but not all of them are equipped for serious mental illness. There are also many different methods of therapy (I've talked to people who've tried therapy but never even heard of CBT, DBT, ACT, and more)

While I've had unhelpful therapists before, my worst experience with a therapist was the one who wanted to do zero work. I even printed out my own CBT handouts and she still didn't want to go through them with me.

I don't want someone who is only interested in letting me talk while they nod and give me validation, and I don't want someone who will only tell me what I want to hear. I need someone who will confront me about the hard things, tell me when I'm off track, and hold me accountable.

#221bluescarf.txt #therapy #mental illness #schizospec

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gosuperdonnie · 4 months

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(THIS IS A VENT POST. if you come on here to ask me if I’ve tried XYZ or if I’ve looked at ABC, I can assure you: I have and the service is either not available to me or will not meet my needs. also, I will block you.)

love to have a long-existing but recently identified psychotic disorder in a state where all the extant services for people with psychosis are either:

a) “early intervention” programs designed for people whose psychosis was identified early,

b) programs that for some reason have one set of eligibility criteria listed and then if you call them to set up a screening, they inform you that they actually have a much different set of eligibility criteria that is much more restrictive, or

c) institutionalization.

so since I’m in crisis from a condition I’ve had since I was 10 but was not diagnosed until last year, but I have a job and stable housing and haven’t been institutionalized long-term or arrested, my options are either:

a) non-specialized services (read: CBT or DBT) with providers that know nothing about psychosis – which amounts to at most 1 hour of therapy a week.

b) medication management (read: psychiatrists prescribing me whatever antipsychotic they give all their psychotic clients and treating me like I can’t possibly have any insight or thoughts about my treatment)

c) institutionalization.

and, of course, even if I could find a program that was community-based and not shitty, they probably wouldn’t take me because MH services have no idea how to work with people with co-occurring IDD. so most of them just say “you’re not eligible for services if you have an IDD” and turn us over to IDD services … which just means ABA.

I have a meeting with a social worker on Friday, at which point I’m very likely to be told “you don’t qualify for ACT, you don’t qualify for any community-based treatments other than therapy and meds, if you’re really that much in crisis, go to the hospital.” because fuck me if I want access to community services to help me stay in the community and keep my job and housing, right? I should have to get institutionalized, lose my job, and make me and my partner homeless in order to even have a chance of getting proper care, because that’s how the system works apparently.

but if I get angry at the social worker, or try to explain why I’m frustrated at the lack of *any* community services for people with dual diagnosis IDD/SPMI, I’ll get labeled as “treatment resistant” or “hostile.” because apparently resisting ineffective and inhumane treatment is a bad thing. apparently it’s “hostile” to be upset at a system and gatekeepers who fundamentally exist to prevent people from getting help.

and people wonder why I’m angry and tired and unwilling to cooperate. because my entire life has been not getting anything close to the help I needed while people insisted I was selfish and a burden for getting even the most basic level of care. because there are no options for me that won’t fuck up my life for years if not forever because someone decided I haven’t suffered enough to deserve adequate care.

I fucking hate living like this. especially when my state is “the best in the country” for IDD waiver services, except that fuck you if you have IDD/MI dual diagnosis. because the mental health system won’t do shit for people with IDD and the IDD waiver system basically will not pay for anything that has a mental health component. “professionals” here love to crow about person-centered planning and positive supports and integrated care and it’s all a fucking joke. if you have IDD (especially IDD where you are obviously disabled and need substantial accommodations for care) and mental illness (especially SPMI or anything more impactful than like mild depression or anxiety), there are functionally no services. unless you want to live in a group home or a psych ward or a “residential treatment facility” or other institution.

#donnie talks #donnie vents #institutionalization cn #institutions cn #ABA cn #mental health shit #‘person centered planning’ and ‘positive supports’ are fucking jokes #nothing has made me more suicidal and more in crisis than the entire fucking lack of any competent community supports #suicide cn #I guess

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mentalhealthhelpsblog · 1 year

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🔵Delusions Occurring in Bipolar Disorder

🔵A delusion is a false belief that a person firmly holds to be true, regardless of whether it actually is true or even possible. Someone who's delusional will hang on tight to such a belief even if other people are able to logically explain why it's false. 🔵 In bipolar disorder, psychotic events usually occur during manic episodes, but they can develop during a depressive state as well. Either way, if psychotic episodes are part of your bipolar disorder, your official diagnosis will likely be a bipolar disorder with psychotic features (sometimes referred to as bipolar psychosis). 🔵If you are diagnosed with bipolar psychosis it doesn't mean that your illness is more severe than that of someone who has bipolar without psychosis. One study found that people with bipolar psychosis tend to be more likely to experience more rapid cycling, as well as more chronic mood disturbances, than those who have bipolar without psychosis.

🔵Warning Signs of Psychosis

Psychosis doesn't normally happen suddenly. There are often warning signs that can let you know that it's coming, including:

* A decrease in performance at work or at school

* A sudden decline in self-care or personal hygiene

* Being unable to do things you normally can

* Confused speech or trouble communicating, such as changing topics rapidly or speaking incoherently

* Difficulty telling reality from fantasy

* Extreme changes in sleeping or eating patterns

* Having trouble focusing and concentrating

* Saying or doing bizarre things that don't reflect reality

* Spending a lot more time alone than usual

* Strong, inappropriate emotions or having no feelings at all

* Suddenly losing interest in the things you used to enjoy

* Suspiciousness or uneasiness with others

Treatment

It is treatable, especially if treatment is focused and prompt. Early intervention makes a big difference in recovery. Treatment may include antipsychotic medications and psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and supportive psychotherapy.

#manic bipolar #mental health #pyschosis #bipolar disorder #information

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