ATS and Mental Illness

Originally posted by Hyperwave
According to Psychiatry everyone on this site is mentally ill.

Indeed.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d83624160137.jpg[/atsimg]

My experience on ATS has resulted in a form of Sypathetic Madness. Relatively sane before encountering the site, but now reading up all these crazy theories and beliefs has cause me to become slightly unhinged.

Thanks for all your responses I have not had time to read them all but I have had a skim through. Some have asked if I am a psychiatrist, no I am not. I do however work regularly with people with various mental illnesses part of this work involves monitoring people and talking to people to determine if their condition is changing and reporting that to the relevant professionals. If that admission means i lose credibility then that’s fine but not everyone on ATS is a engineer, political scholar and so on.

It seems opinions on this are divided and I understand why. Some people agree with what I have to say and others agree with me in parts and some of you violently disagree with me over one sentence. If you disagree with me that’s fine but please don’t take to flaming me for making valid points throughout the entire thread with exception of one sentence. Why do some members have to write their views about this on my profile when you can just post them on here.

This thread is about more than just my views of mental illness on ATS, I want everyone’s views weather you think the status quo is accurate or you think that there is no such thing as a “mental illness”.

reply to post by kevinunknown


I understand what you are saying, but by some members of the
government the definition of mental illness would spread to anyone
that does not believe the official story.

In the past this ended up with ppl being sent to re-education camps.

So while I see your point, the divide and conquer folks could use it
in ways that would be very bad.

We have members of our government who dance around in druid
robes in front of stone owls and do mock human sacrifices and
play tapes of a child screaming out in anguish for realism.

The ppl minding the store are not exactly sane themselves.

Even mainstream media covered the fact that Sotomayor
was a member of the female version of Bohemian Grove
called Belizean Grove.

She left that group to be appointed to the supreme court, but
kept her leadership role in "La Raza" aka "The Race".

So again I say if you give the government the right to start
labeling anyone who disagrees with the official story as a nut
job but the government is made up of nutjobs, you might find
the sane on the list.

reply to post by Ex_MislTech



Under UK legislation that would be quite difficult to go around telling ladling everybody who believed in conspiracies as being mentally ill and treating them in some way for any perceived “illness”. Things could be different in America I suppose but even at that, I think most people believe in some type of conspiracy so it would be very hard to do this.

i was experiencing extreme joint related neuropathy and water retention in my extremities. one day the neuropathy would be in a toe, the next in an ankle, the next in a shoulder, etc. this followed on the heals of a chemotherapy regimen i was given for breast cancer. the chemo port installed in my chest for delivery of the chemo, became septically infected, and the infection was inadvertently washed into my bloodstream during a regular saline flush of the port.

since i had no immune system from being on chemo for 3 months, within 2 hours i was shaking violently from a sky high fever, as the septicemia was flushed right into a major vein and did its work fast. this put me in the hospital of course, as it was severly life threatening. they put me on very harsh antibiotics, designed as the last line of defense in serious cases.

ten days later, i was released from the hospital, all hell broke loose. it started in my ankle, a pain so severe, it felt as if i had broken my ankle.
off to the emergency room i went. they x-rayed it. they manipulated it. they asked a battery of questions and then told me that there was nothing wrong with my ankle, and to go home and take it easy. no pain meds were prescribed, and it was suggested that i take ibuprofen if anything. they also suggested that i might be suffering from post chemo depression

skip ahead a month. the neuropathy in my ankle relieved only to end up in another joint. i no longer could lift a cup of coffee or take the lid off an already open contanier. a couple weeks later, it felt like i was walking on hot coals, so the act of even walking, was incredibly painful. back to the emergency room i went, in search of relief and a diagnosis other than == you're depressed.

this time the doctor told me i had somatic disorder. she winced when she said it cause she knew it was not going to go over well considering how much neurological pain i was in. she prescribed me an anti-depressant and sent me home. being a pre-med student myself, i endeavored to read up on the drug. the company that produced it was hit with multiple lawsuits when it was prescribed to people with normal depression, who ended up killing themselves within 48 hours of taking it. so i left the medicine on the shelf and resigned myself to a life of increasingly debilitating pain.

i went to see a acupuncturist in hopes of getting some pain relief. she was very kind, and ran a battery of tests, including tests for lymes disease. my symptoms were quite similar in many respects. that didn't reveal anything significant, but she suggested that i was probably incredibly toxic from the chemo and harsh antibiotic therapy. she suggested a regimen of pain relieving acupuncture and a healthy, raw food diet.

fast forward a week or so, i was not getting better, in fact, my adult children were having to care for me like an invalid. hubby decided to get me an appointment with a doctor to have a complete physical, in hopes that they might find something to explain it, because clearly the only depression i'm suffering from is related to the fact, i can't function from all the pain!

turns out i had undiagnosed diabetes. not somatic disorder that required suicide inducing neurochemicals. the neuropathy was diabetic neuropathy. i wasn't sure i believed that either, so i did the blood tests myself. yep, diabetes.

and there ladies and gentlemen is the reason you don't believe every diagnosis you're given and you read credible reports on subjects related to your health, and that goes double for your mental health.


[edit on 21-7-2010 by undo]

reply to post by undo


Don’t get me wrong your story is horrible. From my limited knowledge of diabetes I can’t think how it could be confused with depression if i was you i would be suing the doctor. Although your story is dramatic and unpleasant I don’t think it should be used as a justification to rule out any diagnosis of mental illness. By all means question a diagnosis go off and do you own research and get second opinion’s even if its only for your own peace of mind.

reply to post by kevinunknown


which was my point. just cause the doc says you have problem X doesn't mean you have problem X.

here's another example of what i mean.

i had a serious case of indigestion that just would not go away. mylanta and rolaids barely touched it and my choice of foods grew increasingly less varied. i could no longer drink soft drinks or eat spicy foods. i went in for a diagnosis, was sent for several upper GIs only to be told that something was definitely wrong, as my stomach lininig should be pink and smooth but was instead red and granular. they believed it was ulcerative in nature and put me on a bland diet.

now my favorite food on the bland diet was soft boiled eggs. so every day i'd have soft boiled eggs. the constant indigestion (which mimicked acid reflux disease) grew progressively worse. i went to a chiropractor who thought perhaps it was a lack of hydrochloric acid production, so he gave me hydrochloric acid pills (lol ouch). still no relief.

finally one day i called my sister, who is not a doctor by the way. i told her my symptoms and she said "What are you eating on a regular basis?" i gave her a run down of my diet. she said "Well you know alot of people are allergic to eggs. Maybe if you don't eat eggs for a few days, you can find out if that is the problem?" Sure enough, that was it. I was allergic to eggs! LOL the very thing that caused the problem (eggs) was on the suggested diet for my diagnosis! 2 years of pain resolved in a few days.

ah boy, and you wonder why people are becoming hyper vigilant about such things. pain is not something people enjoy, as a general rule.

[edit on 21-7-2010 by undo]

Originally posted by undo
off to the emergency room i went. they asked a battery of questions and then told me that there was nothing wrong with my ankle, and to go home and take it easy. no pain meds were prescribed, and it was suggested that i take ibuprofen if anything.

skip ahead a month. back to the emergency room i went, in search of relief and a diagnosis other than == you're depressed.

i went to see a acupuncturist in hopes of getting some pain relief. she was very kind, and ran a battery of tests, including tests for lymes disease. she suggested a regimen of pain relieving acupuncture and a healthy, raw food diet.

fast forward a week or so, i was not getting better. hubby decided to get me an appointment with a doctor to have a complete physical, in hopes that they might find something to explain it,

turns out i had undiagnosed diabetes. not somatic disorder that required suicide inducing neurochemicals. the neuropathy was diabetic neuropathy. i wasn't sure i believed that either, so i did the blood tests myself. yep, diabetes.

The problem was you going to the ER, where they never did the full gamut of blood test to begin with. They usually look for every conceivable way to charge $$ to insurance companies, but chem tests aren't *usually* as expensive as x-rays, cat scans and MRI's, etc. When doctors do not find ANYTHING wrong, they should be running the battery of tests (including Lymes Desease in your case) to find the cause. I'm surprised the Acupunturist didn't require or have you see an MD to have these tests done. I'm glad you found a competent doctor!

This is a prime example of how our Western medicine fails the patients too often. Doctors are only as good as their ability to diagnose and treat their patients timely and effectively. This couldn't be more true for the Psychology field. Look at how many children are now misdiagnosed with ADD, ADHD or Autism due to the diagnostic procedures used. Sometimes, these conditions are really just allergies to additives and preservatives in the foods we eat. Instead of ruling out anything medical first, a battery of psychological tests are done. Then your child labeled with one of the aforementioned disorders and given a presciption for it.

How many children in our society are on psychotropic drugs these days because the TEACHERS (with a mere B.A. or B.S. degree) are telling parents to get their child on Ritalin? And if they don't, Child Protective Services can take the child away from you for failure to provide "necessary medical care".

We are programmed at very young ages to just accept what healthcare professionals tell us WITHOUT question. When we do question them, we are either yelled at, scoffed at, put down and/or ridiculed by the heathCARE professional we are seeking treatment from. Even I received this reaction when I was getting pain management care from a doctor who did not believe in massage therapy, but was happy to cut me open for EVERYTHING. I found a doctor who listened to me and switched doctors.

All too often, healthcare professionals are looking at what their specialty can provide and how you fit into their specialty instead of looking at the patient's needs and referring them out to a different healthcare provider. This leads to people getting mis-labeled with an incorrect diagnosis. And I can GUARANTEE to you, if I went to see a doctor and told them everything about me I posted at the end of my previous post (and omitted the last sentence), I would be prescribed strong psychotropic drugs. Depending upon the prescribing doctor, I could be institutionalized.

So, banning people for admitting their label is not a good solution. If their posts and threads bother you, either read them with caution or don't read their posts and threads, OR "ignore" those people and you won't see their comments at all. Problem solved.

[edit on 7/21/2010 by Nivcharah]

reply to post by Nivcharah


sometimes you get lucky and hit upon a doctor that reads outside his specialty or has read enough in general, that he/she can suggest alternative solutions if the leading solutions don't appear to be the answer.

when it was certain i had diabetes, i again went out looking for an alternative to taking insulin pills (type B diabetes). first thing i addressed was a resolution for the neuropathy, since i didn't want to spend the rest of my life, losing the ability to fight infection and losing the use of my legs and hands.

i found a doctor on the internet who was treating autism with methyl B-12 (not normal b-12 but the kind that has had an enzymatic process performed on it that apparently people with autism and diabetes, for example, don't produce in sufficient quantities. apparently the methyl form of b-12 assists in nerve regeneration, which explains degeneration involved in diabetic neuropathy. so i tried it. worked like a charm. the neuropathy went away. i also started taking a powerful antioxidant that has basically kept my blood sugar balanced, so i haven't had to resort to taking insulin, and i'm going on year 2 since the diagnosis. i can once again take lids off jars and function without pain in my extremities and joints. it only gets bad if i go on a sugar eating binge

so alternative treatments are not all bad. but it does take a great deal of self regulation and discipline.

I'm not sure of my opinion on this really on one hand I think an awful lot of the "newer" illnesses are basicly made up as an excuse to push pills (especially in America, for a recent example Monsanto are pushing to have anyone avoiding GM foods labelled as mentally ill) but on the other hand there are genuine cases and illnesses were the pills do help.

I think antidepressants (in general) are a con and no better than street drugs in fact to be honest I'd trust street drugs more and like another member pointed out earlier in the thread it ignores the root of the problem which will come back with a vengeance at some point if it isn't addressed.

I'd be against banning members except in extreme circumstances but there do seem to be some very gullible people around and often they seem to believe anything they read no matter how crazy but then again that's subjective to experiences and I'd say in most cases probably harmless.

In general it should be more up to friends, family and the medical profession to keep them away from anything damaging to them than ATS's responsibility but in very obvious cases they should probably act anyway.

There are so many atsers that are beyond fantasy and definately in need of help problem is the spectrum is wide and hard to read..

i have seen posts of reptillians and what have you the scariest was this guy with kinda hada a yoga head band on in his avatar and man i actually asked the mod to close the thread because he generally seemed dangerous to younger or weaker minds.

seriously i do think that if these obviously distorted people arent monitored ats may have its own heavens gate jones town to deal with.

many atsers are kids and lost or withdrawn adults and then there are the f..kn crazy people who are being lead from ONE psychotic episode to the next. it is a bad situation that will most likely at some point result in a bad ending.

solutions? i have none as ats is about free thinking and exploring fringe ideas however there are dangers in not regulating content to some level.

lets face it the greys reptilians and whatever coooky hallucination has nothing to bring to the table and NO they are not communicating telepathicly if this is YOU seek help or YOU and the people around you may be in danger....

Be Well

reply to post by Teknikal


you do understand that people who are sick and read the words youve just typed may end up dead or killing someone trust your meds ?

dude if you dont trust your meds you def need them.

TAKE YOUR MEDS PEOPLE they are not a conspiracy to mind control you or keep you down the reason you were prescribed them is to HELP your situation whatever it may be.....

so irresponsible to say and suggest denying meds and using what ginger roots to cure schizfrenia.

Be Well

Originally posted by kevinunknown
...If you disagree with me that’s fine but please don’t take to flaming me for making valid points throughout the entire thread with exception of one sentence. Why do some members have to write their views about this on my profile when you can just post them on here...

Wow, sounds like the OP may have a bit of a problem accepting that others may disagree with him. Could this be a "deeply seated paranoia"? Perhaps he should ban hisself from ATS for the sake of curing his own "mentall illness".

Just popping in to say this thread is a very interesting read from all sides. Lets hope it stays civil and respectful so that all aspects of it can come out into the open and be discussed without fear of being ridiculed.

reply to post by romanmel


I don’t have a problem with anyone disagreeing with me just find it annoying that some members have judged me based on one sentence of my thread. And i never said that banning would cure any mental illness.

Yes, there are unethical Docs, just like there are unethical lawyers, corporate execs, cops, businessmen, politicians, used car salesmen, you name it. I've been hospitalized twice for acute and chronic major depression, both times with Suicide Ideation. I can only speak for myself, I would not stop taking Paxil any more than I would stop taking Insulin or my high blood pressure medicine. You might be interested to know that the IRS and the AMA watches perks given by these compainies very closely, very closely. People get sanctioned nowdays for that behaviour. I worked in the medical field for 32 years, 22 of them in Clinics, and one problem we always had was that no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't unscrew peoples head from their necks to explain to them in an easy way what was going on with them. They didn't have the background or understanding of medical terminology to fully understand their own diagnoses or treatment. It made me wonder serioulsy about the concept of "Informed Consent". It almost seemed a joke most of the time. Is there such a thing? Are there quacks? Damn right. There were some Surgeons I helped do Surgery with who had the manual dexterity of a penguin. There are some Docs I wouldn't take my dogs to. Because some Psychiatrists are quacks does not discredit all of them. Very few, and I mean very few of you hear have the background to do a serious study of the TRUE neuroanatomical and neuroendocrine issues that is found in mental illness. I actually call it brain illness. Because of my own issues with depression I've studied very hard for eight years to learn about all kinds of mental illnesses, their precursors, and the Scientific treatment for them. It is chicken AND egg, medicine and therapy, behavioral, and genetic predisposition. I'm not saying anyone is too stupid to understand it, just that it isn't a straightforward issue that can be intuited. I would be more worried that someone would be banned and then go out and take it out on some innocent person.

[edit on 7/21/2010 by deadred]

reply to post by deadred


Thanks for posting, your medical background provides a extra interesting dimension to your post. I recently had a lecture about the idea of “informed choice” were the lecturer effectively said this is a rubbish concept because most of the time Joe public doesn’t have a clue about his diagnosis and probably doesn’t fully understand his care package.

Originally posted by MemoryShock
Here's an interesting thought for you...I have openly stated that I hear voices 24/7 somewhere in the thread that is first linked in my signature...in fact, I think I have been targeted for over a decade now.

Should I be banned?

Honest question...

Yes. A "conspiracy website/discussion fora" is not a place where you should be spending your time. Its like letting a diabetic loose in a confectionery - absolutely no good can come of it.

reply to post by trebor451



Just so you...... he’s a mod.....

[edit on 21-7-2010 by kevinunknown]