Are you mentally ill?

My primary job is working in a hospital with the mentally ill. The majority of patients that we get are truly not mentally ill. Most of the patients we get are either homeless or reside in nursing homes who don't want their patients.

By law, any patient that claims they are homicidal or suicidal we are required to observe them for 48 hours. In that time they have a warm bed, free food, and free drugs. Want to get high? Punch another patient and you get a 5 and 2 mg concoction that makes you feel nothing for a few hours.

The entire staff understands this and goes along with it, including the doctors. Nothing is done about it because Medicare covers the expenses, which allows all of us to remain employeed.

It truly is sickening because the ones that truly are mentally ill, the ones that truly need the help, are out of luck because we rarely have an open bed to house them.

I personally think EVERYONE suffers from some form of mental illness or disorder. Some more severe than others.

Can't really explain how I've came to that conclusion.

Many people are OCD or OCPD to an extent, and pretty much every woman I meet bolsters my "all women are bi polar" argument. Not to mention people with anxiety, or depression problems.

Yeah, I'd say all people suffer from some type of mental illness/disorder.

Myself included.

After doing many member analyses i have come to the conclusion that the only mentally ill people are the ones that DONT frequent abovetopsecret.com. I rest my case.

Ho ho he he ha ha

But for those of you who do have problems, take a deep breathe, and take some solace in the fact that you are not alone. For sure.

I think there is more help out there these days for the mentally ill in the uk then there used to be, and far more tolerance and understanding for those who do struggle with mental problems.

reply to post by Sanity911


Many people that are homeless are that way because they are mentally ill.

Again, it is not always apparent to someone. They don't walk around with a big red M stamped on their forehead. Sometimes they just rub you the wrong way.

A lot of times the illness only presents itself at home, or certain situations.

But these people are on the fringes of society for a reason. Just because they are not screaming gibberish, doesn't mean nothing is wrong.

in fact, drug addiction is a symptom, not the core problem.Many people with mental illness develope addictions in order to soothe the chaos that is their minds.

Sometimes only the family members can tell something is wrong. My BIL was a popular, outgoing, working, soccer player. If you would ask any of his friends that he was depressed, they would of called me nuts. But I knew he was. Because I was the closest too him in the end, and could pick up enough clues to see somethign is wrong.

reply to post by LarryLove


It's a matter of degrees.

At one time I was severely addicted to alcohol and drugs, selfdeststrutive lifestyle, paranoid, depressed, suicidal, often incarcerated etc. But with the help
of some very astute therapists, 12 step programs, support of friends and lovers; I am currently able to function in society and thrive.

But there are times when I lose all perception of reality and need some help, both medically and psychotheraputically . As I grow older my psychotic incidences seem to have subsided.

All my "events" are/were precipitated by drug and alcohol use.
I believe some people like me are hard wired to addictions and without help will spiral down into permanent insanity or death.

If you find yourself dealing with substances abuse...please call the city, county, or state, clergy, AA, NA and find a way to get into rehab. There is help out there and please avail yourself of it. I know how you feel and you
CAN be happy. It's dark now but there is light. U2U me, I'm there for you!!









[edit on 27-6-2010 by whaaa]

I was employed as a Customer Service Assistant working with my local community at the community centre, I currently signed off and put on Diazepam. When I got the job I didn't realise "Customer Service Assistant" would snowball into the over-whelming situation it did.

The job role expanded IMO into a community support and "trainee personal support worker" to a fair number of people.

Along with keyholder responsibilty, which I didn't mind being responsible for that. I didn't have prior warning or any training in how to deal with people who have mental health issues. Grrr!!!

There are a good number of people I had to deal with on a daily basis who were quite challenging in terms of their conditions.

In the end I just couldn't hold it together any more and the adrenalin kicked in and I bolted out the back door of work.

Never have I felt so shamed and humilated, alot of people were there as the was going to be a Big Lunch planning meeting.

I hate the whole zoning out and internal shaking which usually starts off the external shaking.

I am just wondering now will their still be a job for me to go back to or I am already pushed out the way?

I didn't mean for this to happen, I don't want to be punished and end up back on the dole again.

What are they chances of there being something for me to go back to?

have I completely blown it with the panic attacks/SAD?

[edit on 13-7-2010 by _Volt_]

I was also a credit union collector, having to deal with a system in chaos as no-one else doing the collections could be arsed to organise it and talk to me.

Plus, one day my line manager decides he wants some chocolate from the local shop and just walks out leaving me there with a member of the public in the building who I didn't know. He could have asked me to get him the chocolate, I wouldn't have minded. That made me feel very exposed and uneasy.

if you would discribe nameing my right hand lary(a giant snake in another dimintion and king of serpants) my left hand jary(a giant snake larys bro) my right foot moe(a turrtle in a dif dimintion and king of anfibians) and my left foot joe(a turrtle moes bro) and an imaginary freind named siara(a cute girl with cat ears ad a cat tail) and i wana be geneticly alterd and have lil fuzy cat ears and a pooy cat tail X3 meow oh and i call mysel insaine and i have a cats mentality so yeh i'm insaine , mentaly ill what ever you wana call it and go ahead through me in an instaute i'll act sain and get out then come home to my gf that i call neko chan

Originally posted by LarryLove
Are you mentally ill?

maybe i am. but who am i being compared to?

Across the world, being mentally ill can stigmatize you for the rest of your life. As global citizens, do we accept mental illness as part of everyday life or consider it a handicap to succeeding?

both, and an excuse for not succeding sometimes also, i think.

Define 'mentally well'? Psychiatry will soon have every behaviour listed as a 'condition' to be treated with medications...it is an industry after all.

Depression and psychosis can be life interupters....but they are not lifelong conditions requiring lifelong treatments. My 'psychosis' could have been described as a 'kundalini awakening' that neither I, or anyone around me, was prepared for. In another culture that may have been different...it may have been regarded as a positive experience.

I can you let you in on a little secret regarding my own experience of psychosis. It is a learning experience and an enlightening one. Depending on your background and education you can make all kinds of mistakes during the experience.

A regular feature of psychosis is that the individual thinks they are the new messiah....that is because they are experiencing 'God', 'universal consciousness or whatever you want to call it, at that moment in time. More of the psychotic's brain is active....at that time their fast brain can 'experience genius'....they can experience the brain's telepathic abilities. Its all a bit of a head buster and can easily lead to confusion. Its just that human beings are more amazing than we think we are. Personally I think that's great.

Are you mentally ill?

i hope so. it is the only way people make sense to me sometimes.


[edit on 1-8-2010 by Esoteric Teacher]

Like I said before.

If you aren't mentally ill in this society we live in, you aren't paying attention.

What if the people that are happy and getting along in society are the ones with true mental illness and the ones that are suffering depression and other forms of mental health issues are truly the sane ones.


Mental Illness whether it be depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, anxiety, border line personality disorder or any one of the hundreds of diagnosis in the DSM4 is a perfectly normal response to a very unnatural and abnormal world.

Besides, if you look at Jungs definition of Neurosis you will see it covers just about every mental illness in the DSM4

Neurotic tendencies are common and may manifest themselves as depression, acute or chronic anxiety, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, specific phobias, such as social phobia, arachnophobia or any number of other phobias, and even personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. It has perhaps been most simply defined as a "poor ability to adapt to one's environment, an inability to change one's life patterns, and the inability to develop a richer, more complex, more satisfying personality

Besides a group of high browed intellectuals within the medical field saw a cash cow waiting to happen, joined forces with the big Pharma Giants and thus modern day psychiatry was born. Cha ching, Cha ching $$$$

Question is...
Is it the pills that actually relieve the symptoms or is it the belief in the pills and doctor that relieve symptoms of mental illness. You can spout scientific studies all day long with peer reviews a mile long. God forbid if its the belief system of the individual for that would put a multi-billion dollar industry under the bridge.

Let me rephrase that..prob a trillion dollar industry



[edit on 2-8-2010 by superluminal11]

most of us on this planet are mentally ill in some way or another

I've been hospitalized twice in the last eight years for major depression. Fortunately I've done very well the last five years. I was a self-medicator for many years, but there is a problem with this. Over time, it takes more and more of whatever you use, and when you use a lot, that's when the toxic side-effects come out. I never sought help during my life because I thought we all felt bad from time to time. At some point a crisis event occurs and intervention is necessacary. I worked for 32 years in Medicine as a PA and 1st assistant in Surgery, so I have the background for understanding the language of Medicine. As a result, the last 8 years have been highlighted by an intensive study of mental illness. My belief is that it's both nature and nurture, and both biology and behaviour. I wouldn't stop taking my anti-depressants any more than I woud stop taking my insulin or high blood pressure medicine. I certainly agree with the poster who mention heavy metals in our water and food. I also think that the steroids and growth hormones in our meats is part of the problem. Excess steroids cause the brain to secrete Cortisol, a stress hormone that cause overstimulation of the adrenal glands as well as neurotransmitter imbalances. If you want to read something interesting, put HPA Axis into a search engine.

reply to post by LarryLove


I have only read your opening post,before I can
reply I have to ask this...Is this a play thread or
a serious one?

Originally posted by mamabeth
reply to post by LarryLove

 

I have only read your opening post,before I can
reply I have to ask this...Is this a play thread or
a serious one?

This thread got resurrected last night and had thought it had died a natural death so to speak! Serious in the sense that my motivation for authoring it at the time came off the back of another thread when peoples assertions about mental illness became a little nonsensical. I wanted to gauge opinion on what the member base thought about mental illness and encourage some positive debate surrounding what still remains a taboo subject.

Well, I will say this. Since I have been diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder, my friends and family treat me differently.

reply to post by SpeakerofTruth


From my experiences with people suffering from bi-polar disorder, it is a lack of understanding that results in these differences directed to yourself. It can be very difficult for people to separate the person from his or her actions. What people often find difficult to accept is that the sufferer is not to blame. The condition is and something I learned the hard way.

Is there not one person that is not ill? think about it, our worlds leaders, CEO's news people, police officers, postal workers, cab drivers, ditch diggers, and ATS'ers are we not all mentally ill ? how did you hold up after 9/11? solders that come back do they really come back? to many questions not enough answers, what is a normal person how does he/she think, feel, act?