She doesn't provide the solutions, she provides the care.

Obviously you clearly don't understant Mental Health, there aren't any solutions, you care for the client and manage their symptoms, if you have a Mental Health issue you have it for life, at times you may not show any symptoms but the illness is still there.

Two reasons:-

1 - It's bound to descend into farce and insults like the last one.
2 - Mental health is a very serious subject - just because it has OT in front of it doesn't mean it's appropriate for this forum.

It appears the only reason it hasn't been locked is because one of the mods has experience and/or interest in the subject.

Firstly, I would like to apologise if I have so enraged you Slim that you needed to start a new thread to get back at me (this is not some sarcy post). You had enraged me and just like you admit to posting this thread after seeing red, I too rattled off a post, pressed send and forgot about it.

You have, however, started quite the eye opening thread and I would certainly like to wish those that are or who have suffered with depression in the past my most thought filled wishes. I know that it can be one of the most diabilitating things to enter a person's life.

I personally have suffered with depression since high school; however as such a young person not only was I reluctant to address my behaviour, but this wasn't helped when, after I finally went to see a medical professional, I did not disclose the truth and was told it was something else. This led to a very dark period that, although was probably natural of a mental condition, some of the actions I took then I look back on with regret. Ultimately I did eventually find the solution to my problems. It came with drugs, therapy at Garven Place and a new outlook on life. I have had bad times since going to University but I thought more like myself now than I have for years an I think I could say for the first time in years I am happy. However, as I said, I have bad periods and I know that will probably be the case forever.

However, I think of my case as extremely trivial compared to some of the people I have met. I have not many people with Dementia or Schizophrenia and personally no very little about the subject. I have met many people with very severe forms of depression. People who have not been able to leave the house through fear and this has been the case with a few people very close to me.

In answer to the question that has been tagged on the end of your post; I think you have asked a very open question. Should we hold someone with schizophrenia accountable for their actions? I would find that question difficult to answer, as I don't know a great deal about the condition and, as with all mental conditions to some extent, there is a changing in the person when suffered. When does someone not become themselves? That is the problem when we talk of mental health issues. The brain[i is[/i the person. I can only talk from my experience and my views on my own condition. I am embarrassed by some of the things I have done. I realize I was selfish at times and I don't think I am alone in that thought. I suppose my answer varies on degree of mental illness; as alien as that sounds.

I look forward to a response and some illumination, as I know this is your area of expertise, Slim.

Rest assured Ian, farce = locked

Absolute poppycocki, it sounds like your other half is part of the problem with mental health in this country, depression and stress is quite easily treated with correct therapy, we tend to use the "crack a nut with a sedgehammer" teqnique and proscribe drugs into treatment too easily, the brain is a finely tuned instrument thet we barely understand and introducing chemicals into it on trial and error basis is asking for trouble.

Fair enough - wasn't a criticism by the way. It is an interesting subject.

An old friend of mine is deemed mental unstable. The doctors put this down to all the drugs he had taken in his early years. Now if what the doctors said was ture,then how come all my other friends who have participated in certain activities. Have not gone the same route. Surely we all must possess something in the way our brain works that if something triggers a chain reactions. The brain becomes un balanced and sends out signals which make us unstable.

correct

Manco from experience therapy doesn't work in every case and in some cases will never work.

I knew a guy who has a condition in which is body chemisty actually changes and then when that happened he would try to kill himself, he needed medicine to balance out the change.

Trust me in the majority of cases you need to elevate peoples mood before they are willing to listen and except therapy and drugs for some is the only solution.

Some people bless them don't have the mental awareness or capacity to understand cognitive therapy.

I think the problem with mental illness is that, like other issues people don't fully understand, words are used light heartedly or turned into terms of derision and ridicule. Listen to the way people talk. People under a bit of pressure say 'I'm stressed', a bit down and it's 'I'm depressed', if they are in two minds about something they are schizo. I've even heard people saying that they are 'a bit OCD'. When people really are suffering from stress or depression they are expected to pull themselves together and get on with it because what we think of as stress and depression are so far from the truth. The easy use of these terms show a complete lack of understanding to the suffering of people.

The mental health nurse may think that my musings show that I really don't know anything, but at least I am trying to understand and surely that is the start of removing the stigma of mental health?

that is an excellent point. I remember when Myspace was being used by all the youngsters (before Facebook) there was a mood option on it; to tell people how you were feeling. One of the moods was 'feeling depressed' and I always thought that weird; especially in my mindset at the time.

only something like 3% of cases are down to a physiological change, a lot of the mental health problems in this country are a direct result of previous treatments (usually drugs), trust me!

A guest on 'Something for the weekend' has just said he is a bit OCD in that the only way to deal with bad news, wars nad the bombardment of technology is to tidy his desk. That is exactly the point I was trying to make earlier - arggh!

I don't have much experience of this matter, but here's my twopenneth. It is the workshy generation who have trivialised things such as depression and stress. When they want some time off work they go to their GP and tell them some tale to get signed off work for a while. I would wager that 90% of people in the world could find something in their lives to get depressed about. There is a difference between feeling depressed and being depressed. It is a serious illness, but people just dismiss it because the chances are they know somebody who is using it to get off work. I used to work with a bloke who was off for 12 months with stress. 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay. He was so stressed that he conveniently turned up at work laughing and joking on the day his pay was about to stop.

Some of the posts on the original thread were presumably written as they were because of that particular individual.

I think some of the cynicism towards "stress" is the view that it is the 21st Century "bad back", particularly in relation to taking time off work. I think this often comes from the sort of examples quoted by Milly, i.e. people saying they feel stressed when they actually feel a little under pressure or a bit fed up.

Great minds...

There are some great posts on here as to why this country is so blase about hearing of a mental health issue, i found myself getting extremely frustrated at this:




It seems like to me that your mrs is part of the problem, and the reason the people with real mental health issues are afraid to go to the doctors, because they feel that they will be told to stop being so silly, no matter the demons going on inside their head.

No person should be passing judgement on those who have openly stated theirselves on this thread that they have struggled at some point with issues, myself, JD, Yed, manco and others have all had problems, and dealt with it in different ways. But your attitude towards it is poor, none of us are claiming to be mental health professionals, but having dealt with it first hand, not just caring for someone who has it gives us a pretty good knowledge of it.

i realise what he's said on behalf of his missus isn't inkeeping with how we're trying to keep this thread as, but please dont inflame the situation by having a pop.

likewise

Shutterman, if you are to pass any more comments or messages on from your partner, might i suggest you choose your words a bit more sensitively.

thank you.

Thats why i've let this one run, thoguh strangely the other thread got locked when ppl had stopped talking about him.

Excellent post, eloquently put.

So where did i ever mention chemicals, and i do agree with your sentiment regarding their use and so does the other half.

sorry mate, it sounded like your missus was part of the old guard in this problem, i.e the easiest method of control, medication!

I've struggled recently due to a lack of exercise, i used to find that exercise was brilliant for depression, the serotonin/endorphin levels are elevated making you feel great but an accident 2 years ago has left me unable to do that to a level i would like, instead of popping down an SSRI i turned to comedy (videos, programmes, clubs) and again that works for me.

People are unaware of the option open to them, did you know for instance a natural balanced diet can actually minimise depression and plenty of sleep, complex carbohydrates have a mild sleep-enhancing effect because they increase serotonin that promotes sleep. Milk contains tryptophan which, when converted to serotonin in the body helps you sleep too.
Lettuce is also a super food i'd recommend eating far more of.

You may wonder why i'm going on about sleep, bad sleep can be a causal factor in depression and good sleep will help you out immensely, it's only a small step but the key to eliminating stress and depression FOR ME was to eliminate little bits at a time, start with something simple and work your way up. Sorting out your sleep was the first of many little things for me and eventually like a jigsaw you become a complete person eventually.

No not at all manco.

However, you mention control which is totally another issue if youre talking physical control rather than mind control.

Sometimes physical control must be used in order to protect the patient and staff.

Perhaps i should add the other half works with a vast array of patients from the lesser depressive out patients to the manic depressives to the clinically insane and outright dangerous, not a vocation i myself could even consider not for any amount of money.

Obviously she is bound by patient confidenciality and would never discuss individual cases or mention names but she does say that it is more than suprising the amount of people she cares for that i myself know but would never ever guess had mental health issues and to the man in the street lead perfectly "normal" lives, she even cares for people she knows personally if they give permission but she would never be allowed to care directly for a family member.