(Untitled)

[king_josie]

I've read the occasional thing lately to do with mental health awareness and one thing is stuck in my mind - the way we're encouraged to think of mental health issues as comparable to physical health issues. Eg "you wouldn't tell a person with asthma to 'just think positively' so why would you to a depressed person?" and that kinda thing.

What

Comments

[philippa_future]

oh my goodness - the way with which you just described the mental health system really struck a chord with me. When you put it in that way its seems totally absurd that when I went to see my doctor about my depression/tried to talk to my mother about it they both say that "its natural", you've had a big life change, it's just homesickness/the stress of university. And I have my own worries about becoming "overly reliant" on counselling or anti-depressants. I think everyone should read that paragraph you just wrote to help try and get rid of the stigma surrounding mental health.

[breakherbelljar]

"your mental health problems are like diabetes, you just have to learn to live with it.", a psychiatrist in my past said those exact words, and now I haven't had a psychiatrist in 5 years and I have to go see one next week, I'm not looking forward to it -- AT ALL! Totally with you on this.

[icanseenow]

they wouldn't intentionally withhold treatment in case i became "overly reliant" on it.

Medicine or other stuff? Because when it comes to meds it makes sense. The other thing is just someone being an ass.

[king_josie]

Oh i was allowed to see a psychiatrist to have huge doses of anti-depressants and anti-psychotics.... but therapy, a community psych nurse, crisis team intervention, support workers.... it took 6 trips into hospital with overdoses and self-harm before they gave in (and by then my liver was practically pickled... it did make me wonder if they were hoping i'd die just to save them money... but that may have been depression talking...)!