Public mental health system and psychosis.

Hi @Nothingasitseem

I have not ever been admitted but have meds experience for bipolar 1 over 25 years.

As with many things in life, I think the answer is a bit more complex than black and white.

Yes, the pharmaceutical and medical industries have profit as a motive, but medications of all kinds for physical and mental health have helped masses and masses of people and even wiped out completely some diseases a lot of people previously suffered and died from. So I see it as an industry that is both good and bad in different ways.

I personally have found that the individual psychiatrists, psychologists and other support people who have been involved in my treatment over years are almost always genuinely trying to help, even if they get it all wrong sometimes, being human.

Not sure about schizophrenia/psychosis type conditions being more diagnosed in hospitals. If that is the case, I wonder if it's because conditions like that are more likely to see us in hospital in the first place? I also don't know if hospital funding is specifically increased with those diagnoses, maybe or maybe not.

Hope the forum is helpful for you, as a place to write out and clairify things in mental health that might be confusing, and as a place to connect with understanding others who may have been through something similar and have some experience to share.

Not sure it would have anything to do with where the funding is, and might be more to do with lack of mental health funding in general?

I have not been hospitalised for mental illness, but I do know people who have been, and were mis-diagnosed with things like Schizophrenia when what they actually have is Autism (Aspergers) ... and that is usually because a lot of psychologists and psychiatrists don't have enough (or in some cases any) knowledge/experience in the presentation of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) in Adults ... and it is even more of a problem with diagnosing females - because females often learn to hide it better, so then they don't appear to fit the stereotype.

(btw, I have ADHD and ASD and all the anxiety/depression/etc. that tends to come with them ... and I was not diagnosed with any of those until my mid 50's, despite the fact that ADHD and ASD are things one is born with, and I have probably had all the anxiety/etc. since I was quite young as well)

I had therapy in the public system. I wasn't diagnosed with anything there and, as bad as it was, my time in the public system was like a luxury vacation compared to my time under a private therapist.

That being said, my view is that your assumptions are fair and more or less accurate. If the money's going towards certain "disorders", then that is what the system is going to have a strong bias towards when it makes diagnosises. I've spent enough time talking to (and reading testimony from) patients/former patients, therapists and other insiders to be convinced that this is what really goes on.

I stumbled upon this amazing video a while back, by one of the women who helped write the therapists' bible - the book that dictates what is and what is not "mental illness"; and she totally blows the whistle on how the whole mental health industry works. The TL;DR of it is that, officially speaking, you are "mentally ill" if the drug companies think they can sell you a pill, and the mental health system governors are merely the ones who manage and maintain this state of affairs.

Link here, if your interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgilBaRbulc

We've been through all the possible systems available.

Private Psychiatrist' reaction was to have us Sectioned under the Mental Health Act;

Public Heath Psychiatrist reaction was to shout at us and accuse us of faking a Mental Illness;

Private Psychologists also have a vast variety of reactions;

Every single "professional" have their own agenda they bring to the table. Finding a caring and gentle person to make an educated diagnosis is a long and hazardous journey.

hi i was in public MHS off and on for past 20yrs. I have been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder bipolar type. I get psychosis when depressed. I have found they treat all of my symptoms not just the psychosis infact they actually focus more on the depression as that is the cause of the psychosis.