Some people have problems dealing with life's ups and downs. They need to talk it over with somebody that can give them the tools to if not fix the problem at least make it a little less troublesome.

Other folks just are not "wired correctly". They may need medication or other help to function.

Psychiatry like any other medical treatment works for some folks but not for others. It's a field where there is much to learn. And of course there are some unscrupulous practitioners out there just like any other.

Had your car fixed lately? Or your house worked on? It's the same in the medical profession.

Some people have problems dealing with life's ups and downs. They need to talk it over with somebody that can give them the tools to if not fix the problem at least make it a little less troublesome.

Other folks just are not "wired correctly". They may need medication or other help to function.

Psychiatry like any other medical treatment works for some folks but not for others. It's a field where there is much to learn. And of course there are some unscrupulous practitioners out there just like any other.

Had your car fixed lately? Or your house worked on? It's the same in the medical profession.

Aside from the misuses of the mental health industry and the pharmaceutical industry, it saddens me that there is so much misunderstanding when it comes to Mental Health Issues and Mental Disabilities.

If someone has a heart condition or physical disability, we show empathy, understanding, and compassion. It appears to be more accepted in a lot of societies and some how easier for those with loved ones who are disabled to cope. There's not a whole lot of questions or suspicions around it....they are sick, disabled, and working towards getting better, or not.

However, if someone has a mental health issue or disability, people seem to not accept it as well. There ends up being a stigma attached to being "mentally ill". I've known people who suffer from clinical depression, a chemical imbalance in the brain. It does no good to tell them to "deal with it", or "stop feeling sorry for yourself and be happy". Those kind of messages cause more harm than good. At times, it takes medication to balance out the brain in order for them to work on the life changes necessary to live a fulfilling life.

Why is it okay to take a pill for your heart, but not for your brain? Why is it okay to be physically ill, but we freak out or are uncomfortable if someone is mentally ill?

I guess for me, when I ask these questions of myself, concerning someone who is sick...either mentally or physically...it usually boils down to fear of the unknown or something that takes me out of my comfort zone of my own delusional thinking of what is "normal".

Actually I have known people who have been helped by psychiatry - I think the problem is finding the "right" dr and the right medications. I know people who were suicidal, had horrible anxiety and were bipolar where a good dr and the right medication saved their life literally. I'm not making a blanket statement about psyschiatry, because as with any profession there are quacks out there, but I have witnessed it help several people. Some mental illnesses ie bipolar disorder have an organic cause where there is a chemical disorder which can be adjusted with medication. If you've ever seen someone with bipolar on their meds and then how they act off their meds you would see what i mean.

Yes, good point. I have seen this and it's not good.

msharmony,

In your original post, you are getting psychology mixed up with psychiatry.

In case you missed it, the letters APA stand for American Psychological Association.

Some mental disorders aren't caused by flawed mental processes - which psychologists treat - but rather are caused by something going wrong with a person's body chemistry. Psychiatrists treat the latter.

msharmony,

In your original post, you are getting psychology mixed up with psychiatry.

In case you missed it, the letters APA stand for American Psychological Association.

Some mental disorders aren't caused by flawed mental processes - which psychologists treat - but rather are caused by something going wrong with a person's body chemistry. Psychiatrists treat the latter.

do you know of someone who was 'helped' with psychiatry? if so, why do you think it worked?

Mikey4yousweety came the closest to talking about the most important factor with both psychology AND psychiatry. That is, that there's no way to check your pulse, look at your blood, or in any other way, prove conclusively that you are suffering from very real problems which are NOT under your control.

The generation of people immediately before me, my parents generation, thought that ALL psychological problems could be handled by telling the person to suck it up and put their nose to the grind wheel. Even though many maladies are now accepted as being real, there is still a lot of suspicion about each individual who claims to be suffering from them.

I think myself, that the interaction of insurance and the doctors which seems to result in a lot of false diagnosis and even scams, is more complex than just people trying to profit. Insurance companies actually LOSE money, the more people are legitimately diagnosed with needs. But they stand to lose even more, if the AMA decides that a malady is real, and the insurance companies FAIL to support it. There's more to it than that, but that's enough of a hint for now.

As for people being genuinely helped, and the reason why lots of people seem to NOT be helped, that's another tricky story, especially in the psychology section. Psychiatrists can try varying medicines to get different results, but when the problem is due to what might be called misaligned understandings of the world or of oneself, as many psychological problems are, progress isn't as predictable, because it's much more complex, and even MORE invisible.

I myself directly benefited from psychological help. Although I actually ended up figuring out my own problems after I lost the ability to visit my therapist (money and other reasons), it was the knowledge I gained of psychology from my therapist and from my college education, which allowed me to do so.

To people who have only seen others from a distance, and especially those who have seen the HUGE number of TERRIBLE films which used therapists as comedic relief, or worse, all the famous people who commit criminally self-indulgent acts and get away with it because they go for "counselling," psychological therapy can appear to be a huge expensive game.

Until we can look under a microscope, or at least monitor your brainwaves, and point directly to specific physical evidence, a lot of people will continue to think it's all bunk.

I'm not disagreeing with what you've said but you need to do your homework - there are scientific studies that prove that some mental illnesses are caused by biochemical disorders in the brain - the biochemical disorders interfere with the brain's functioning and cause things like depression, anxiety, hallucinations, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. There are studies that compare the MRI's of people with schizophrenia with those who don't have it & the brain scans are different.
Also the person's body chemistry is different - different levels of serotonin, DHL, and other amino acids & hormones - so it is measurable.

Have you ever seen someone who is bipolar or paranoid schizophrenic on their meds & then off? If you did you would form another opinion. People who suffer from serious mental illnesses can't control their actions and the right medication does make a difference. I don't mean to preach - but too many people think that someone with a serious mental illness can control their moods & actions and are using their diagnosis as an excuse. Talk to any competent mental health professional or better yet, talk to the parents of a depressed bipolar or schizophrenic child or adolescent whose symptoms have been successfully treated with medication. Or talk to someone who has attempted suicide and then finds the right medication to treat their depression & ask them. i'm not advocating medication alone, but for some people you need to treat the symptoms (ie. hallucinations before other issues can be adddessed.

Actually I have known people who have been helped by psychiatry - I think the problem is finding the "right" dr and the right medications. I know people who were suicidal, had horrible anxiety and were bipolar where a good dr and the right medication saved their life literally. I'm not making a blanket statement about psyschiatry, because as with any profession there are quacks out there, but I have witnessed it help several people. Some mental illnesses ie bipolar disorder have an organic cause where there is a chemical disorder which can be adjusted with medication. If you've ever seen someone with bipolar on their meds and then how they act off their meds you would see what i mean.