I have manic depressive/bipolar disorder type 2.

[Turbo Lion 0]

That, I don't know. But there is certainly truth to it. Which is why finding a good doctor that you trust is very important.

 

And you are right about improper medication being a factor in many of those instances with teen violence. But it's no doubt combined with that developmental issue in a big way. Part of the reason that I called it a "fad" is because, to me, it functions like one. It happened before Columbine, yes, but it seemed to have spiked afterwards. It became "fashionable" in a psychotic way, to try and make a point by murder and suicide by these clearly imbalanced kids who needed real help. Columbine popularized it in a bizarre way. I wasn't trying to be snarky or de-value the horrific nature of it. I was saying that it is a strange cultural by-product of untreated disorder in an age group easily influenced. It's a personal theory, but one that seems to have merit to me.

[Guest Czech please!]

I think further research would bear out that it's a cultural by-product of the exponential rise in overmedicated adolescents. The dynamic development of the adolescent brain is precisely why they shouldn't be on these drugs, and while we're here, I'm a little offended that you chose to paint me as wearing a tinfoil hat a few posts ago. I like to think I'm not in NoCalMike territories of worthlessness here.

[CanadianChris 0]

Having a loved one with mental health issues has made me all too aware of the issues surrounding medication.

 

I agree that overmedication is a serious problem, and that, especially among children, it's often done with the worst of intentions, as a quick fix without putting any thought into the root causes, mainly so people can relieve themselves of the burden of the people they want medicated. But dismissing medication as a solution is quite dangerous, as it can be very beneficial and is often necessary. That way lie the Scientologists.

 

The key, as has already been pointed out, is to educate yourself (and usually others, which isn't so easy) about your condition, find a good doctor who is skilled in medicating and won't hesitate to take you off something if you find it isn't working, and find a good therapist who can help get to the root of your problems. Sometimes it can take years to get everything in balance, and remission doesn't last forever, but it is possible, I've seen it.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I don't think it's a coincidence that every single one of the school spree killers in recent memory was on psychiatric medication.

[Guest Czech please!]

I can't shake the feeling that you're making it sound easier than it really is, Chris. The compassionate and cooperative doctors who will make sure that their patients receive individual and proper attention seem to be becoming as anachronistic as house calls; am I correct? There are so many forces at work, most of which fall beyond our control, preventing people from being properly treated. It's really pretty sad.

[CanadianChris 0]

I don't think it's a coincidence that every single one of the school spree killers in recent memory was on psychiatric medication.

Maybe, but I'd be willing to bet that's just a correlation, not causation.

[CanadianChris 0]

I can't shake the feeling that you're making it sound easier than it really is. The compassionate and cooperative doctors who will make sure that their patients receive individual and proper attention seem to be becoming as anachronistic as house calls, don't they? There are so many forces at work preventing people from being properly treated. It's really pretty sad.

It is, but they're out there. My wife's psychotherapist is probably the best doctor I've ever met for that sort of thing. I'm just glad our health insurance through work covers it.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I'd like to point out that this is a perfect opportunity to make fun of Matt for being a Looney Tune, but we're pretty firmly entrenched in the ethics of psychiatric medications.

[CanadianChris 0]

I beat him in the Poster Tournament. I thought that'd just be kicking him when he's down.

[Guest Smues]

Which anti-depressants are the ones that you'll die if you eat dairy products while taking? Is that the SSRIs? I'd rather be insane than not be able to drink milk.

[Guest Czech please!]

Those are the MAOIs. My mnemonic was "mozzarella ain't option. ick!"

[Retard Girl 0]

all i know is, i've been prescribed numerous medications by regular doctors since my late teens, but it wasn't until i saw a psyche-pharm proper that something was found that actually worked. and i'm never going back to where i was (mentally) before.

 

i'm appalled at how often kids are medicated also. the state took my kids and within weeks they were on meds. after a year and a half of my youngest being shuffled between four foster homes and a string of medication (and medication changes), his behavior is worse. i wonder why.

 

whoops, that got personal. my bad.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

They were fucked from birth.

[The Niggardly King 0]

...

[Retard Girl 0]

they are fucked because of my genetic code. thank you for pointing out the obvious. and the medication still doesn't help them.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Oh, that's not what I was pointing out.

[Guest Vitamin X]

You know, the first thought when I saw Matt Young had made practically the same exact post as a blog/note on facebook was, "Oh god Matt, if you have any sense, you won't post this personal shit on TSM too."

 

There's something to be said about being way too personal and talking about your problems like this, and there's good reason why confidentiality is so important in the medical and especially the psychiatric field. I'm bipolar too, I don't go around starting threads about it and saying I'm on meds to boot. I was on lithium for a few years after taking several other drugs (Paxil, Zyprexa, Prozac, Wellbutrin to name a few) due to changing doctors, therapists and all sorts of shit. It could have been that I was just insanely hormonal from being a teenager; it could have been that those same hormones amplified whatever problems I did/do have. Ultimately, I learned to just deal with it because there are fewer worse feelings in the world than to knowingly be a slave to a drug.. I guess that's why I have been able to quit a lot of things cold turkey that other people aren't able to easily, like nicotine and meth.

 

And that's about as personal as I feel like getting for this thread. I just hope you don't believe in knowing you have an emotional disorder that you're going to use it as a handicap for the rest of your life and instead turn it into a strength. Being on meds sure as hell won't help that, so here's hoping you won't be on them long, Matt.

[Guest Czech please!]

TaigaStar, why did the state seize your children?

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

That was what I was originally going to post, but I figured that was one of those things everyone knew. I don't keep up with board biographies very well!

[Guest Czech please!]

She's alluded to it before, but wouldn't elaborate when pressed. I'd like to know what happened, because the other day I watched the episode of The Simpsons where Bart and Lisa have to live at the Flanderses. But yeah, we're all spillin' today.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Well, I probably ran her off by being an asshole. Which, for the record, I kinda feel bad about. This is what getting old feels like.

[Turbo Lion 0]

Czech - Apologies for the way I worded that. I wasn't sure where you were coming from so I went up against the strongest extreme. I figured if it wasn't a correct interpretation we'd end up going back and forth until we got to the appropriate middle ground. I think we did, but I did hit it a little stronger than I probably needed to.

 

VX - For sure, being on it forever isn't a pleasing option. Learning to manage it well is. BUT, I don't think that it's always a case of being a "slave" to a drug. Sometimes, if the meds are really doing what they're supposed to do, you're just being put back into balance. Which is freeing, not enslaving. The acknowledgment that one has a problem that has a physical cause and that this is really beyond their control is important. Bodies aren't perfect. But organizing the importance of this information and the relationship of the medication to it is also very important.

 

VX is right in that you can't let it be a crutch or a handicap. It's an aid in a process that also requires willpower and work.

 

It's not a perfect analogy but... well, let's say a wrestler tears a ligament. I had an injury like that in high school, with the bonus of having bone chips behind my kneecap. Drugs for the pain help, but you also have to rehab. And if you want to get back into game form you have to push even harder.

 

Again, not a perfect analogy but... the goal here is learning to recognize why and when you shift into these different modes of feeling and thinking. And learning how to deal with them rationally, and to do that consistently. Meds are an aid, hopefully temporary, combined with good counseling, to get to an end like that.

 

But don't just use them and then cop out of the process. You won't really better yourself then.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

This is the perfect time to announce that I'm back as a full time poster, and change my name back.

 

Tilb stood for Twisted Intestine Lurker Bot, because I was experimenting with something that I won't get into the details about. I didn't use all caps because I didn't want to draw attention to myself while I was in threads that other people were reading, and couldn't find the option to hide my online status. It's been a tough week or so with lots of unseen work going into TSM from myself, but I think I will now be able to fair better as a poster.

 

My only regret was having to leave drafting behind.

 

Oh, and to make my post seem more on topic than it does, even though I think it's perfectly on topic; GOOD LUCK MATT YOUNG! Love you.

[Guest Vitamin X]

VX - For sure, being on it forever isn't a pleasing option. Learning to manage it well is. BUT, I don't think that it's always a case of being a "slave" to a drug. Sometimes, if the meds are really doing what they're supposed to do, you're just being put back into balance. Which is freeing, not enslaving. The acknowledgment that one has a problem that has a physical cause and that this is really beyond their control is important. Bodies aren't perfect. But organizing the importance of this information and the relationship of the medication to it is also very important.

 

VX is right in that you can't let it be a crutch or a handicap. It's an aid in a process that also requires willpower and work.

 

I say I felt like I was enslaved to a drug because I was obligated to take something which had worse side effects than benefits. Ultimately, the rehabbing is what worked and attempting to deal with everyday life is better- I mean, certainly the neuroses is still there as this board can certainly attest to (and one reason why I'm trying to cut down my drinking) but I learn to deal with it and not threaten to kill people or things like that anymore. The "depressive" episode isn't just limited to being a bit down or depressed or whatever, but it can manifest itself in aggressive or antisocial behavior. But either way, I don't know much about "balance"- I know that I experienced a tremendous amount of weight gain (went from 150 to 205- the only time hopefully EVER in my life I'll be over 200) on one, lost the ability to get an erection on another, and just generally felt completely numb which, if anything, made me more depressed. Ironically, it was the depression from that feeling of numbness that ultimately made me want to get better and feel what life was really like again, sadness, anger, happiness and everything that comes along with all those.

 

Of course what's true for me won't necessarily be right for someone else, but I can only speak from personal experience on the matter. Most other people I knew who were on drugs (and Agent's example of all the recent school shooters is humorous and a good point, but like CC said probably more corollary than causation) did end up being pretty screwed, possibly more than they would have been if they never got treatment. Being in treatment for psychiatric issues is in itself very depressing, just like being in the hospital for any sort of physical problem would be.

[Turbo Lion 0]

Yeah. I've had to deal with some bad side effects. It can definitely be a terrible experience when you hit on a drug that just doesn't mix well with you.

 

It's cool that you got through it, though.

 

I thought I was going to go crazy with obsessive worrying. It got the point where I developed hardcore OCD habits, the craziest of which was driving around a block a few times to make sure that I hadn't hit anyone and not realized it. And not just once... I did that for a year or two at its peak. No lie, a CSI episode set that off. I would check things multiple times, like the stove or a door that I had locked. I couldn't sleep because my mind wouldn't shut down. And just worrying about crazy shit sometimes. I would remember things two ways sometimes and not be sure which one was right - and the duplicate would always be changed so that I remembered me doing something awful in some circumstance. A real bizarre existential break.

 

I had a real meltdown for a while.

 

I'm back at like, 95% now, though. It was hard and it was a lot of work but good counseling and a good environment went a long, long, long way. Really all that's left now are little echoes every now and then that are easily recognizable as incorrect thinking. It took 4 years of work, though.

[Matt Young 0]

Clearing up a few things:

 

First and foremost, Abilify is NOT an SSRI. And the side effects occur in a very small percentage of patients. They're simply required to list them in case they do occur, to cover their collective asses.

 

As for educating myself rather than blindly trusting a doctor, I did months worth of research before even getting evaluated.

 

Czech also seems to be under the impression that bipolar people only need drugs if they are a danger to other people or themselves. That's not true. And did you see the list of my symptoms? That's 9 years of that shit I've gone through. I've attempted suicide several times and have been in jail twice.

 

Also, my ability to function has been highly inhibited. Through age 16, I displayed a high rate of self motivation and academic prowess. Now, I'm 24 years old and I live with my mom. I can't hold a job because, while half the time I'm a social fucking butterfly, the other half of the time, I'll shut myself off from all human communications- sometimes for weeks at a time (internet excluded, obviously). A couple years ago, I walked off a high paying 3rd shift job site at 2 A.M. during a smoke break and wandered the streets of downtown Riverside for hours, determined to never go back. Just an hour before, I was a motivated, quality employee with no desire to leave.

 

Leo- I felt the need to share this here because of the way I have acted and what people know about my personal life on this board. And I have experienced no negative side effects other than drowsiness thus far.

[The Niggardly King 0]

...

 

I have more in common with Matt Young than I realized.

[Retard Girl 0]

some reasons for taking my kids:

 

- unaddressed behavrial issues

- poor living conditions

- accusations of abuse from several sources

 

before this situation, one kid was with me and one was with my ex. he dropped the ball on some things (like getting him to school on time and dispensing medication as needed). my apartment was a trashy hellhole (to be honest, it was a shitty place to begin with) and even though i had my son in therapy, that wasn't enough for them i suppose.

 

fifteen months later, after parenting classes, parenting evaluations, psyche evaluations, getting a new apartment... and having the oldest in a residential program (for other autistim spectrum children)... and the youngest bonced between four foster homes (and about to go into a fifth, because the foster parents don't want to deal with him, because no matter how many pills they shove down his throat, he will not sit still and be quiet, oh and did i mention the first foster home he was beaten [once he had a SIX INCH BRUISE AROUND HIS NECK] and sexually exposed from the other foster child... and they wonder why he's acting like a little ass)

 

and what else. oh, at least they dropped the sexual abuse charges against me, so i don't have to worry about going to jail and being raped daily for something that i never did... and uh... court, lots of court... and uh... taking my own pills and seeing my own shrink, which five years ago, i was pretty fucked up, but i've come so far since then, but it doesn't matter, because i was 'crazy' then and people can never change and they'll always be looking over my shoulder... two mentally fucked parents make mentally fucked kids...

 

and my back hurts. that might count for something.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

Wow, sorry to hear that. I thought it was probably because you're fat, which would have been your fault.

[The Niggardly King 0]

hey man, not today.