The affectiveness of teatment for mental illness........

Allow me to kick this off.

The treatment I recieve from my psychiatist is i guess therapy and medication.

Both have a limited affect on the illness itself. The fact that my psychiatrist actually cares does help, in that he has made himself availble to contact via mobile any time. Not something I've used often but have infrequently. And it's been helpful. I understand my condition now where as for a long time I did'nt even believe I was'nt making the whole thing up. He helped me by believing me.

As to outcomes on the whole their are issues that cannot be treated and therefore I must find a way to live with them. this is unfortunate as I was hoping for a magic wand.

I also have a support worker. I see him roughly weekly and if nothing else he has encouraged me in my goal to return to work as a mental health worker. He burgeons my confidence which is a wobbly old thing and recently when I lost hope he did'nt try to make it better but he did encourage me when it began to return. I did'nt want to risk hoping again, and he respected that. But also allowed me through conversation to think about more.

That I found was an affective use of time tho I could'nt name the stategies used.

For the rest well I just hold on. I experience the bad stuff and I have the symptoms, but along with my Doc, with my support dude, and my friends and my daughter I get by.

It's not great. Alot of the time it's not even good, but I suppose it has become bareable.

Hi @Rick

Interesting questions you pose.

May I add one?

You mentioned the statement from the clinician in the USA was 'peer support programs were completely inaffective'

I'm keen to know if people agree/disagree and why?

Very interesting had not really though about this but we all probably should.

My personal experence is that for 2 years i was seeing my phsy monthly and a clinical therapist weekly.

i now really just on maintanence i take meds to stop me getting really too depressed but never really feel happy and others that stop me from dreaming ( susposedly ) i still have nightmare once or twice a week and different events will cause flashbacks which are really scary as there just so real. And others meds to help me get to sleep.

I have been told that PSTD may diminish in time or may never go so thats why i looked for a site like this to see how other people cope and what helps them.

Scorpion

Agreed!

yes please.

What about you Nik

Have you come across peer support?

The treatment I receive is broken up into 2 parts really. One is the sessions with the psychiatrist and the second part is medication.

The psychiatrist is an effective one who I totally trust. In the beginning I thought he was a bit pushy but in retrospect I needed that because I had very little insight into my condition.

My sessions are pretty frequent and sometimes intensive which is needed really for shizoaffective disorder. I have been admitted both through the public health system and the private health system.

I think the admission through the public system is very professional and I always feel good when I am there. Both are good.

On the medication side, it took me a long while to get to the right mix that was effective. SchizoA is difficult to treat properly so the right medication has been crucial for me.

Some of the symptoms such as voices, hallucinations and delusions can be intractable if not properly dealt with. The line between reality and unreality frequently vanishes. So you really have to get on top of it.

However, medication is a mixed bag. I was on the gold standard drug for schizophrenia which was amazingly effective. But the side effects after 6 months were intolerable and so serious I had to abandon it.

After a lot of trial and error I am very satisfied with the effectiveness of the medication I now take. I am on 2 antipsychotics and 2 mood stabilisers, one of which is an anti convulsant. Of course there have been supplimentary things like ECT but they really are an adjunct to the medication regime.

The down side is that any reduction in the antipsychotics or ceasing them can lead to very very serious withdrawal symptoms. So care has to be taken to understand this and make an informed decision before starting. They also have side effects and this has to be weighed up as well.

Nevertheless this combination works for me and the alternative without them would be a very poor quality of life and outcome personally.

Professional peer support is limited where I live. My flatmate acts as a bit of a carer in making sure I take my medication, eat and look after my health and hygiene.

He is a top guy and is a great example of someone living with his MI (schizophrenia) and managing effectively in addition to supporting other people who may not be as effective in managing their own illnesses.

I occasionally go to clinic but that is quite irregular and I haven't found it that effective as a support mechanism. I do find online peer support of enormous value though and it is an integral part of my treatment overall. I would access peer support more if it was available.

Sandy

That was great. I am very pleased to read your about your posistive experience with peer support.

It is a comparatively new iniative and tho I've heard nay sayers in clinical circles I think that the feedback from people like us is more accurate and therefore has a lot more worth.

Thank you for your input

Rick

Well said Ivana

I am sorry you have yet to find affective treatment.

I can relate.

But the emeliorating affect of a good support worker does make a difference.

And you are spot on re some MH Docs.

They are obviously fragile little creature who feel threatened easily.

Poses the question does'nt it?

Who's the frootloop now?

Thank you muchly for your input