LoneKiller said:
Do you find today's methods of treatment for mental disorders needs much more work? Do you think that more medication would be the answer, or less medication? Perhaps no medication at all?
Do you feel that some of today's psychotherapists just feel overwhelmed and throw medication at the problem because their roster is so big that they simply haven't got the time to work it out via talk therapy?
I remember when I went to a psychiatrist once, and on his desk were what had to be tons of case files below mine.
When we were foster parents we were required to take our kids to counselors. It was a total waste of time. Later on we sent our oldest to a counselor. Again a waste of time. Her counselor gave her a WRITTEN test to determine her condition. Duh. My daughter was so far behind in learning she was at a grade school level. She was not capable of understanding the questions at all. And she had no motivation to try. So, they diagnosed bi-polar, the catch all. She was so NOT bipolar. They gave her those expensive meds that were a waste of time. She has attachment disorder. But medicaid does not pay for intensive interviews or adequate evaluations.
I discovered the hard way that counselors are often spies for CPS. I pissed one off because she did some very unethical things and she made some honeysuckle up and got us investigated. It was all bullshit and was all dismissed but was a pain to go through the process.
My boy freaked out last year. We had to take him to an ER. Without any knowledge of him or his background they looked at his actions and prescribed some heavy duty meds that messed him up worse. We took him to another shrink who saw him fifteen minutes at a visit and just kept up the meds. Then we switched to another shrink and he continued the meds "because I do not know his condition yet." Ugh. I put my foot down after a couple months and had him taken off the junk. Now we go every three months simply to get some stuff to help him concentrate at school.
I went to a VA shrink because I was nucking futs, paranoid, etc... The shrink sat me in front of a computer and I took a written test too. Then she talked with me and it did nothing. I did some research myself and figured out it was the codeine I was on that was the problem. The shrink knew my meds but never even mentioned that I was suffering from side effects of the drug. Duh. I quit the shrink and stepped myself off codeine. Problem solved.
My view, people waste thousands on useless mental health services. A good counselor, quite rare around here, is one who helps someone figure themselves out and is able to correctly diagnose a problem or problems. Drugs might be needed sometimes but if someone can't learn to cope at a certain level on their own they'll never be able to survive in the real world.
Too long of an answer? Oh well... *sigh*
