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08-15-2014, 04:23 PM

#49

Mousie

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Join Date: Jan 2008

Location: Florida

Posts: 17,636

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearisgray

Where is the line between being able to "recover" (or cope?) on one's own and needing help/medication/supervision to manage to survive?

To compare mental illness (again - this is such a vague term) to diabetes -
For a while, and for some, changing diet and lifestyle can keep the disease under control. No one can see it from the outside. But help is usually easy to get and many people are willing to admit they are diabetics. For some, it's a straight line from being diagnosed to insulin dependency. Many people realize that they need the insulin to keep going and if they stop taking it, they will be in trouble. Also, there are tests to determine where one is at in keeping one's diabetes under control.

Why is there such a leap to comprehending that some forms of depression, for example, may operate a bit like diabetes? there is something operating wrong in the person's system that needs assistance to be stabilized.

"Snapping out of it" - "Get a grip on yourself" - "What do you have to be depressed about?" do not address the problem or do a thing to make it better for those that are in need of more help.

I agree that "personal life styles" can and do affect whatever other conditions we may have - which includes our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual being.

ok, I have to reply here.
I once had a therapist and I asked him, "When you wake up in the morning, how do you know you are mentally healthy?"
He did not answer bc he wanted me to find the answer for myself.
When I went back, I told him that I did indeed find the answer.
I said, "I think if a person even has to ask themselves if they are mentally healthy, that is a sign they could use some help."
Whether it's a little help, or a lot of help...we all want to feel balanced.
As for taking medication...I weighed the pro's and the cons and I gained more benefit with it, than without it.
It took a lot of years for me to learn not to be embarrassed, even though there are plenty of medical
doctors out there that will judge you for it.
Yes, I said doctors.
Never mind the public. They are ignorant (uneducated).
There is no excuse for doctors that have had the necessary education to be so biased and judgemental.
Shame on them!
I had one try to talk me out of getting some counseling.
He later had to put me into the hospital and one of his nurses committed suicide.
I have a feeling, after that he didn't act like depression was nonexistent.
Severe depression can make it more painful to be alive.
(yes, there are things worse than death.)

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