So what are you saying? If a person is able to cope, is doing relatively well, and doesn't feel like he needs help, he should still seek it? Uhh...no. Typical victim mentality.

Has nothing to do with victim mentality and everything to do with living better. Surviving isn't living.

I guess you have a point. But the person needs to be willing to do the self-work, etc. if he actually wants to live better. So if he's not willing, therapy may not do much.

Which is exactly why I suggested self-directed skills building.

@alpha and Degee - You know what guys, you need to stop with the "you know nothing unless you're a shrink or have tried to kill yourself before".

I've never had a physical disability myself (yet) but I promise you I know more than just about anyone on this fucking forum about it, so no, you don't have to have a piece of paper saying you went and got a degree in psychiatry or have to have had a mental illness to understand what the it about or the effects it can have.

Some shrinks I know are absolutely fucking useless so being a accredited as a "professional" doesn't mean your any better at understanding something than someone who say has had several family members go trhough mental illness. Actually in many cases, it's those who have to care for them personally that have the best insight in to the disease(s).

Ask a parent that has an Autistic child - they will be one of the first to you most "professionals" are a waste of space.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN @alpha and Degee - You know what guys, you need to stop with the "you know nothing unless you're a shrink or have tried to kill yourself before".

That's not what I said.

quote:

...so no, you don't have to have a piece of paper saying you went and got a degree in psychiatry or have to have had a mental illness to understand what the it about or the effects it can have.

That's not what I said either.

quote:

Some shrinks I know are absolutely fucking useless so being a accredited as a "professional" doesn't mean your any better at understanding something than someone who say has had several family members go trhough mental illness. Actually in many cases, it's those who have to care for them personally that have the best insight in to the disease(s). Ask a parent that has an Autistic child - they will be one of the first to you most "professionals" are a waste of space.

That's what I said. Except "those who have to care for them personally" don't "have the best insight in to the disease(s)" but rather have insight into "the effects it can have," as you've just mentioned.

@rann - you need to stop pretending like you have more insight into mental illness than one who actually became mentally ill, and has a former frame of reference into what it's like to be "normal" and "stable."

You guys are making this about you and how you feel about something you have some experience but not enough to distance yourself from the bias it created. Not sure what you are trying to achieve but it is the wrong thread.

Professionals in psychology tend to fall on a rather large spectrum from terrible to excellent. The schooling and regulations are not as stringent compared to doctors which also can be terrible.

Not having seen a psychology is similar to saying you haven't been to school. It doesn't discount school or your knowledge. Just another example of using anecdotes to make larger claims you can't support.

I also find it funny how the mention of hypochondriacs and how the mental health issues are bullshit when that is an actual behaviours linked to OCD.

99% of people see a doctor for something that is not quite right in their body. Your brain is part of your body. It seems logical that something would go wrong more often with your brain than your body given the competity. Not all issues are for life. The field is also new. It has its issues like anything new but all you need to know is people suffer, people suffering complain and given the possibility this person isn't the faker you assume apriori shows a lack of empatchy, a tendency to judge and not someone I woukd want to go 50/50 on an 8 ball.

I think that I can read thru your obvious frustrations Palm and I understand perhaps the subtext but I think you use your experience to try and help rather than drag others to your experience. It sucks you had no one to listen. Why make it suck for others.

Go with Christ brah

___________________
"This is why Superman works alone." GC
old stuff from days gone by (2001-2004)
Mad For Brad's gay little contest

Last edited by Looney4Clooney on Jan-17-2015 at 22:04

quote:

Originally posted by AlphaStarred That's not what I said. That's n1ot what I said either.

Well, not to be argumentative, but you kinda did:

quote:

Originally posted by AlphaStarred You can be the best listener in the world, but I'll say it for the umpteenth time: unless you've experienced/have a serious mental illness yourself, you know basically jack shit. All you can do is sympathize. "Knowing" and "experience" generally go hand in hand.

In fairness your comments are a little more reserved than degees but either way, for both of you, it's incredibly closed minded to think that no-one understands you, what you may have been through and never will, unless they have gone through it themselves.

Go ahead keep believing that, but to me it smacks of the whole AA bullshit of only fellow addicts can help you. If that's what you want to believe go ahead, but you're limiting your life by doing so.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN @alpha and Degee - You know what guys, you need to stop with the "you know nothing unless you're a shrink or have tried to kill yourself before".

That's not at all what I said.

What I said is that unless you are the mental health professional treating someone, you have no idea whether or not they are mentally ill.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Well, not to be argumentative, but you kinda did:

I never said anything along the lines of "you know nothing unless you're a shrink or have tried to kill yourself before".

quote:

it's incredibly closed minded to think that no-one understands you, what you may have been through and never will, unless they have gone through it themselves.

As I said before, their "understanding" will be limited to sympathy and "listening" to you. Nobody's to blame for this, you just can't put yourself in somebody elses shoes - which is what I've been saying the whole time. Nobody can. And saying something like "our grandparents' generation didn't have time for this," or "people in poverty" didn't either is just ignorant nonsense. I've already addressed that point.

As I said rann, I'm speaking from a former frame of reference. Are you? I'm not, and wasn't, bitching or moaning, but just replying to some of the posts in this thread. Believe me, I've spoken to plenty of people from all walks of life, many of whom dealt with a great many mentally ill people, and their understanding of it is always limited and falls shy of the actual experience itself. Again, that's nobody's fault - it simply goes back to the fact that you cannot put yourself in someone else's shoes.

So this forum is where all the arguments go when they make no sense anymore. Good to know.

Thank you for your constructive and thoughtful contribution.