Does Anyone Really Believe That Mental Illness Can Be Cured?!
Question: I have suffered from depression for 30 years, taken evey medication that is on the market and had 4 ECT treatments and nothing has really helped. I have been in couseling with a psychiatrist since 1988. And to not tell me to change docots because I have 5 different ones and still end up back with the first one I was referred to.
I have seen more evidence on this Yahoo site of depression and other mental illness than I ever dreamed was possible. I would image for everyone who will admit to it there are many more who are in denial.
Has anyone ever suffered server depression or any chronic mental illness and been cured? Is there anyone in the Medical Field that has seen someone healed??
Maybe today is just my day to be negative but I have never seen any evidence of a real cure for mental illlness. I have seen people get better for a time and the relapse. I have done this myself. But, the depression eventually alwlays returns.
So what do you think???
Answers: I have suffered from depression for 30 years, taken evey medication that is on the market and had 4 ECT treatments and nothing has really helped. I have been in couseling with a psychiatrist since 1988. And to not tell me to change docots because I have 5 different ones and still end up back with the first one I was referred to.
I have seen more evidence on this Yahoo site of depression and other mental illness than I ever dreamed was possible. I would image for everyone who will admit to it there are many more who are in denial.
Has anyone ever suffered server depression or any chronic mental illness and been cured? Is there anyone in the Medical Field that has seen someone healed??
Maybe today is just my day to be negative but I have never seen any evidence of a real cure for mental illlness. I have seen people get better for a time and the relapse. I have done this myself. But, the depression eventually alwlays returns.
So what do you think???
There is temporary depression for cause (something trigger it and you become depressed, like a death) However, clinical depression cannot be cured.
I suffer with Severe Depression and we think I am biploar. I do not fit all the classic symptoms but am treated for both. They also say that I have a personality disorder, which I believe would be the manic part of bipolar and why they think I could be bipolar.
I too have taken so many differents meds and mood stablizers but nothing seems to work for me. I have considered ECT but have been discouraged by most doctors, Unless, they are the ones administering it. I think it must be the last resort. The doctors I have talked to claim you need "maintence thearpy" even if you do take the ECT. So that is not a cure either and much more invasive than the medication we have to take.
I have tried hypnothearpy, yoga, meditation. I am a Christian and I pray and have many people praying for me. God does not always heal us just because we ask. He may have a reason for our being like we are. I just hope that through my illness I can help someone else. I try to have faith one day at a time.. At this point in my life, I thank God for each day and I know that if I experience a bad time that it will pass and I will feel better again soon. I just have to hold on a few days.
There are so many others so much worse off then we are.We could have no limbs, be blind, or have terminal cancer. I know we cannot control our depression with just thinking positive, but that along with the right combination of medicine, we can be functional in society and I feel blessed that I do have good days too. The bad days for me or when I want to feel sorry for myself and use it as an excuse to take it out of those I love.
Depression in any form, is one of the most debilitating illnesses but we are alive and can live with it if we want to and try hard enough. We also have to accept the bad times with the good. I am sure it cannot be cured or I would have been since I have done everthing humanly possible. But, for those with a chemical imbalance, it is impossible to be cured
As for the hydration thearpy, there is no way that is a cure. If it were we would all be up to our eyeballs in water. I am aware of the the necessity of water for dehydration and I keep a jug of water by my bed everyday and drink more than the average amount and it has not hepled cure me. But, it certainly can help us in other ways in our general health.
God Bless and hang in there, as you indicated we are not alone in this. If you have not been to a NAMI group meeting, I would suggest it. They will not feel sorry for yoy but it is like the AAA, it can help just to see how much others suffer, There always plenty of people worse off than we are.
I think that depression can be cured, but it's not easy. To overcome depression, you have to find your purpose in life. That's one of the most difficult things any of us as human beings have to do, but if your life has purpose, then you've reached an ultimate goal.
There is meaning in life, and I hope you find it.
I am not being negative, I am being a realist. I absolutely do not think there is a cure for mental illness. No. I think there is only treatment. Mental Illness is so elusive and hard to treat, how can they possibly cure it?
I myself have been cursed with bipolar. I hate this damned disorder. It's like everyday you have to fight with it. You constantly have to be aware or it will take you down. It's exhausting. I have been on every medication known to man and nothing works. All the meds have terrible side effects. Again, how can they cure me if they can't even find a drug that I can take without terrible migraines or stomach pain?
So that's what I think.
Good Luck.
Clinical depression can not be cured, just controlled. Also over many years your body changes and one med that was good 2 years ago, may all of a sudden not work too well and you have to change meds. There is about a 25% cChance of a mental illness just going away and never returning. So people that say they were cured were probably in the 25% group. There is a significant difference in the physical part of the brain in someone who has a mental illnes then someone who does not. I learned all of this info in a family to family class which is sponsered by NAMI. Hope this helps you because I feel mentall illness can be very devestating not only for the consumer, but for all there loved ones.
depression can be beaten but i agree it is always their.if i have a bad day i tell myself 2morrow i will feel better.i cant believe that more help isnt out their because more and more people are suffering from it.mild depression can be cured but as you no severe depression is a completely diff thing alltogether.personally meds helped me but i still struggle and my therapist is a waste of time.i just take each day as it comes.
I have several clients who have beaten mental illness. After 3 weeks of proper hydration their brain recovers from chronic dehydration and the need for medication diminishes. They begin to naturally allow their bodies to recover and feel more like taking better care of their bodies by exercising and eating well and drinking half their body weight in Oz's of purified water every day. This regiment feeds the body what it needs to produce what ever chemicals are needed to have a healthy body. Especially the brain. The brain is the last sign of chronic dehydration but the first to recover with proper hydration. Good Luck!
Hmmm. I think personality disorders caught young have a chance as do mild ones treated in early adulthood. Left 'til later, odds are low.
Mild depression and situational depression are experienced by just about everyone. I do not consider them mental illnesses anymore than I do anxiety experienced in commonly accepted anxious situations.
A single case of major depression can be "cured" but if it's singular by definition, then it's a one time deal.
Schizophrenias = no
Bipolar = no
Recurring Depression = no
Refractory Depression = no
OCD = no
Serious Panic/Anxiety = no
ADHD/ADD = no
PTSD = yes for many, no for others
DID = yes for some, no for many
There are other DSM Axis I disorders that fall in the "no" or "mostly no" camp. I doubt that there are very many that can be cured.
All of the no's can be helped with meds, but as you know, meds are not a cure. Therapy does make a difference, btw, IF you have a good therapist with a good connection. Like meds, it only has a role in managing the illness, not making it all better.
Well, there are studies to show the efficacy rates of certain drugs for exmaple, Prien (1988) found anti-depressants effective in 65-75% of cases of severe depression and The APA (1997) reports the neuroleptic drug phenothiazine to be effective with 60% of patients. However, no drug treatment has proven effective for all patients and, as you say some of these drugs have high relapse rates 0 Fyer et al found a 90% relapse into anxiety disorders when Benzodiazepine medication was ceased.
These relapses though, can be contributed to the drugs failure to change societal and environmental factors that play a part in perpetuating the illness as well as maladaptive learnt behaviours.
As for talking therapies, not one study provides 100% efficacy and ECT treatment, although can be effective in helping those who haven't responded to drug treatment (Weiner et al reports 80% of patients experience substantial improvement), it is also not a miracle cure.
Different people respond to different therapies better or worse and some may respond to none, I suggest that you explore the wide variety of treatments available and hope that you find one better suited to you. xxxxxx
Yes, people are cured in one sense of the word. A therapist will spend a long time working with a person to help them get insight into themselves. With that insight, people can then learn better ways to cope. It doesn't mean they will no longer be depressed, but it does mean that when they are depressed they will be able to regard it as a symptom and have more confidence that it will pass after awhile. Even people who are "cured" in this way may suffer a relapse as a result of a traumatic event, but it doesn't mean they won't be able to do better than they would otherwise have done.
A good book with some excellent examples of people being cured is Lillian Rubin's The Man With the Beautiful Voice.
there is a cure, but you have to do a lot of the hard work on your own, which is hard for someone in a mental condition. I've had many mental conditions threw out my life, and its only until now 15 years later that I have almost finished my battle. Its been hard, but in order to get rid of them you have to understand them. ablest for me that has worked. I understand what caused it, and I understand what to do to fix it. no psychologist thought me that, I just had to realize it, and thats the hard part. There is an end to bad psychological health, but the road is hard, and most the time people just don't want to deal with that.