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Post by glasspsyche on Dec 17, 2013 23:12:55 GMT
Hello,
I hope you don't mind my not being as open with my identity on here as a lot of you are. Right now I'm pretty paranoid, so I may open up a little more in future.
I'm female, early 30's, live in the UK and have experienced issues with my mental health since around 15 years old. Got put on Prozac when I was 17, been on psychotropic medication ever since. Been out of the "system" for the past few years, until about 2 months ago when I started to break down. Now I'm on an anti-psychotic and am under the care of a CMHT.
i don't have a diagnosis. Not one health professional has ever said to me "you have X" (apart from when I was actively bulimic, but that's going back to the late '90's). So recently, if I were to self-diagnose (not recommended!) I'd say I was experiencing;
depression suicidal ideation disordered thinking insomnia paranoia hallucinations delusions (or are they?!) anxiety
I've set up a Twitter account where I've been tweeting my recent experiences. You can follow the in(s)ane ramblings @glasspsykhe .
I'll shut up now. Thanks for having me:)
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Post by Toni-Louise on Dec 18, 2013 0:46:46 GMT
Hello =] welcome to minds like ours you can share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with =] I find it interesting that you have not received a diagnosis,do you prefer it that way or would you feel better if you had a diagnosis (feel free not to answer and I apologise if this question makes you uncomfortable or anything) I will follow you on twitter =] I hope you enjoy posting on the forum/getting involved with MiLO if you have any questions or would like to chat myself and the other ambassadors/staff would be happy to help/chat =]
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 0:55:28 GMT
Welcome
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Post by dogswithbigears on Dec 18, 2013 7:10:13 GMT
Hello :-)
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Post by lucyrob on Dec 18, 2013 10:16:55 GMT
Hey, welcome to minds like ours!
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Post by glasspsyche on Dec 18, 2013 10:43:47 GMT
Hello Toni-Louise, Lucy, Laura and DogsWBE:) Thanks for having me. To answer the query re a diagnosis (or label, if you like) my feelings are mixed. On the one hand, I'm not a fan of categorising, labelling and sorting people under headings. I think labelling is a mechanism of control in some instances. Also, i would be concerned that whilst depressed, I may be inclined to use a dx as an excuse e.g "oh, I can't do that, I have depression" HOWEVER there are times when i feel like an official dx would validate how I'm feeling, to mysef both and some others. Being off work for a long time with "stress" is ambiguous and doesn't help convey the seriousness of the situation. Having a condition acknowledged as a bona fide "illness" would help me in some part accept that there are some things I cannot change, inspite of exercising massive willpower. It would also help my compliance with med-taking (my view on which changes a lot, depending on my mood!) To "have trouble with your nerves" comes from an era when "treatment" would consist of taking major tranqs and talking about Oedipus. To have, for example "Bipolar II with psychotic depression" means that treatment can be specific, targeted and results/improvement measurable. HOWEVER therein lies the danger: can humans ever be just expereicing one state of being? I believe that everyone is on a spectrum. I Understand the need, however, to categorize as that is the way mainstream society works in this era. So, yeah : I'm confuddled. But if the psychiatrist at the CMHT offered me a diagnosis, i'd want to know, of course I'd be curious. And if I wasn't comfortable with it then I'd reject kt or ask him to reconsider. But there would be times when i would want to use it as "proof" that I am not just d*cking around too. I feela s long as I don't have a dx, people will continue to tell me to "get a grip" and not be willing to discuss my "situation" as it's so nebulous. If i had a dx, I could say, "look: here's some literature on it- this explains why sometimes X happens" it would be easier to talk about I think. Thanks for asking
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Post by Toni-Louise on Dec 18, 2013 11:58:24 GMT
I am glad I asked, I found your response to be very thought out and interesting.I think that it is very difficult to determine whether people should put so much faith in a diagnosis.It is common for different professionals to diagnose people who display mental health related symptoms with different disorders because there is so much overlap between disorders and different people have different views on which symptoms mentioned have the most significant effect on the "patient"(also difficult to know which term to use to describe the individual with a mental health problem).As much as I believe that having a particular diagnosis can help to tailor treatment to the needs of the individual, it can also cause professionals to focus on the diagnosis instead of on the individual, when the diagnosis may be incorrect, which may lead to incorrect treatment.Also one individual with say Bipolar II will respond differently to another person with Bipolar II.Sorry for rambling.
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Post by glasspsyche on Dec 18, 2013 16:08:25 GMT
You're not rambling at all. Thanks for replying. I was glad of the chance to solidify my thoughts on the matter a bit by writing them down. The whole issue of diagnosing mental illness/health problems is a multi-faceted, loaded and important sphere. Indeed worthy of discussion and debate. Has it been done before on these forums? Perhaps we could open up a line of discussion?
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Post by midnightstar on Dec 18, 2013 16:29:53 GMT
Welcome from another newbie
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Post by glasspsyche on Dec 18, 2013 17:35:19 GMT
Hi midnightstar and thanks:) Friendly place, this
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Post by Toni-Louise on Dec 18, 2013 20:36:21 GMT
as far as I am aware this has not been discussed,I think it would be veryy interesting to see the opinions of others.Great idea =]
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Post by glasspsyche on Dec 18, 2013 22:06:59 GMT
Ok, I'll see if I can kick-start a discussion in the appropriate place...
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Post by glasspsyche on Dec 18, 2013 22:41:17 GMT
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Post by BethH on Dec 20, 2013 8:11:33 GMT
Welcome to Minds Like Ours!
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