Have Any Sufferers Been Misdiagnosed With Another Mental Illness?

[Mammo]

Just finished watching...wow...when "daniel" is asked about what the voice in his head is (i.e. if it's himself, or a third party) - he replies that "he" (the voice) is simply a chemical imbalance in his brain...to which the Doctor seems delighted...

The only hitch being of course, that there's no evidence of "chemical imbalances" in the brain being causes of "mental illnesses"...not serotonin, or dopamine...etc...the Doctor is happy, that the patient believes something that's not true?

 

[Queen Boudica]

Yep I noted that. He is already brainwashed by the rubbish they tell him. Young and vulnerable. Feel so sorry for that boy. When his grandparents die, he will be going back to the time when his mother died and being put in a home. Not a good place to be. He needs therapy now. IMHO. Leave it to the 'experts' eh

 

[Neverthesame]

@Lizio Yes your right about the antipsychotics being prescribed for all which ails.

I would have liked to see the look on my face when I was prescribed seroquel.
I remember I said to my doctor "Umm, okay. Really? I need an antipsychotic?"

Apparently it was for anxiety and sleep. Didn't work. The only reason I was willing to take it was because the dosage prescribed to me, was well below the therapeutic threshold for a psychotic illness.

Also what @sun seeker said about Canada's glorious universal health care system, is absolutely correct. About 10 minutes is what you get to attempt to explain your health issues to a doctor.

Nor is it always free. But it is mostly free. Though I believe you get what you pay for. Which is to say, nothing.

Walk in clinics here are a joke. Mostly staffed by burned out doctors that don't give a shit anymore. You wouldn't believe how many times I have walked into one of those. Told the doctor what my diagnosis is, what med I need to treat it and what my prognosis should be. Sad huh?

I have no doubt that the last paragraph I wrote sounds rather like a stubborn fool, blowing his own trumpet. Nope it's really not. I know full well that I am no doctor. Not even close.

If I am actually concerned about something health wise, or can't figure out the obvious. I will ask more questions than I answer. I just find it amusing that we have a self service medical branch in Canada. Amusing and sad.

 

[Neverthesame]

How long was the boy off the marijuana before they finalised their diagnosis for a psychotic illness?

I am wondering because it is not terribly common, but marijuana can cause people to hallucinate.

 

[Queen Boudica]

He wasn't they were detoxing him

 

[Mammo]

How long was the boy off the marijuana before they finalised their diagnosis for a psychotic illnes...

I think he was "off" for a total of fifteen days...

 

[Queen Boudica]

But he made the voices statements when he went into hospital before detox. Whether he continued making them don't know. Actually he said what @Mammo wrote earlier, about the chemistry. But he was only 15 days off. Is that enough?

 

[Neverthesame]

But he was only 15 days off. Is that enough?

Honestly,
I don't know.

(All of the below is me clutching at straws. If I say something glaringly ridiculous...)

There are a lot of factors, which may or may not have any impact on it as well.

- He may be schizophrenic.
- He may be using other drugs he didn't admit to using for fear of legal ramifications, or other ramifications from friends, legal guardians, educational programs, sports or anything/one you don't want finding out you are using hard drugs.
- His age group is when people that indeed do have schizophrenia begin noticing symptoms.
- He is still a growing child, no idea what even a fairly benign drug such as pot, might do to a developing mind.
- It is also possible something is mixed in with the pot he buys from his local dealer. With or without his prior knowledge.

(all of the above, is me clutching at straws. So if I have said something glaringly ridiculous... :bag:)

Best I can do, sorry. Just don't have enough education or experience with drug abuse in adolescents.

 

[shimmerz]

There are a lot of factors, which may or may not have any impact on it as well.

A bunch of these drugs cause dissociation. And there you would have it..... Down the slippery slope and right into the welcoming arms of your local mental health 'dealers'.

 

[Mammo]

So, to actually answer the original question in this thread...I've been diagnosed with:
- Mood disorder NOS;
- Major Depression;
- Borderline Personality trait (splitting)
- "potential narcissistic trait" - though this was never explained to me what it is, or why they thought that.

on the whole I wasn't very pleased with the overall messages given in the programme:
- It seemed voyeuristic, in the way the footage was edited at times ("flashback style"), as well as the background music, it seemed to convey a message of "look at all the crazy people and the weird things they do."
- Drugs apparently make everything all better. (i'm not suggesting that they can't or don't for some people) but drugs were by far and away the primary treatment on offer.
- Programme wasted the opportunity (as does the ABC "Mental as" initiative in general) to really set out the extent of human rights infringement imposed on this population.
- As you pointed out @Lizio there were many indicators of significant traumatic events, but they always seemed to then be discussed separately to their "illness"
- I think it downplayed the level of violence that occurs in those places (either by patients - but most frequently staff) e.g. if you want to really show what these places are like, then you also need to show the flip side, where 4 grown men literally grab, restrain and physically drag an individual into another room; slam them onto a bed; hold them down and then forcibly inject them with something so strong that they are left passed out on the bed, like zombies.
- That place looked like a palace compared to where I was. One of the main things I remember was the stultifying boredom because there is *nothing* to do. Staff do not interact.

 

[Queen Boudica]

I think it downplayed the level of violence that occurs in those places (either by patients - but most frequently staff) e.g. if you want to really show what these places are like, then you also need to show the flip side, where 4 grown men literally grab, restrain and physically drag an individual into another room; slam them onto a bed; hold them down and then forcibly inject them with something so strong that they are left passed out on the bed, like zombies.

Yes that is exactly what I think they did to my sister. A 17 year old 7 stone girl. She had bruises down the inside of her legs because she said they were forcing her to take the meds. She was turned into an absolute zombie. She was not schizophrenic she had trauma, a frightened 17 year old agoraphobic girl.

That program would have been filmed so all staff were on best behaviour and acting so kindly and concerned. there were a few comments that were telling "she's not being COMPLIANT with her meds" Oh and that nurse. so determined to make that young boy who was on ICE realise he has a mental illness. So set in their own agendas, they give themselves away even with the nice smiles.

oh and I thought Elvis was hilarious, I reckon he had a wicked sense of humour and he knew exactly what he was doing like by handing that note signed Elvis to the evaluator.

The first series last year was even worse, you could definitely see the coercing of these patients to take the meds and in one case forcing injections. And they showed a patient getting ECT and the whole procedure and came up with a whole load of rubbish science explaining how it works which was based on complete fabrication. Flooding the brain with chemicals by causing a seizure that then causes the brain to repair itself something like that. No-one understands how ECT works except it induces seizures

 

[Neverthesame]

@shimmerz indeed. Your comment just made me think of that old steppenwolf song. "The Pusher" Goddamn the pusher man. :singing:

Oh and yes, I suppose I did not answer the original question either.

Now I was misdiagnosed with... I think it was Generalized anxiety disorder... No, that wasn't it. Honestly I can't remember.

I was prescribed Paxil (paroxatine hcl) by a walk in clinic doctor. (remember what I said about the convenience of self service medicine? It also comes in handy if you are looking to band-aid a problem you don't want to admit is getting so large your drowning in it.)

I went in, told her the symptoms I wanted her to hear. Received a diagnosis that worked for me, then tried to bury everything else. Under the mixture of an SSRI I knew nothing about, sedatives and a growing alcohol problem.

So yes I was misdiagnosed.

It was however in my case, entirely my own fault. I didn't know what was going wrong with me at the time. Nor did I really want to find out. This naturally bit me in the ass later.

I didn't say all this because I think the people on the show being discussed are faking it or being deceitful. Or that the doctors aren't glossing over their own negligent stupidity.

But it is a thing to consider as well, when looking at this issue.