The Myth of Mental Illness

[lostforgottensoul]

life hasn't gotten less dangerous "post" trauma, and therefore these "PTSD symptoms" have not become less necessary.

Yes it has! I am not being tortured daily. There is no good reason that I should be so afraid to go to the grocery store (or anywhere for that matter) that I need a service dog with me to feel safe enough to go. That isn't a good thing nor is it "normal".

@Fadeaway summed it up better then I ever could.

My job had a class on personal security. Being aware. I was internally laughing the while time because they called it "green zone" = relaxing, "yellow zone" = being aware of surroundings but not freaking out and "red zone" = danger is present (more speaking of an active shooter is actually present in the building, actually shooting and/or threatening). And his point was to live "yellow zone" when in the world and I live at a "red zone" always. I never leave that "red zone" area and that is bad. Very, very, bad. It isn't "normal" when there are no actual active shooters or seeable danger like that. And it is exhausting! To try to normalize that somehow isn't good because to not try to get your brain out to the "red zone" isn't great. Actively working on your PTSD means you are actively teaching your brain to notice "yellow zone" times in your life. You are driving. You are aware but you are not in a high speed car chase with some weirdo with a gun chasing after you!

I simply think it's not great to try to normalize symptoms. The trauma is no longer happening. I am actively trying to get my brain out of "red zone" because "red zone" things are not happening right now. "Yellow zone" and being aware is a completely different mindset and mindframe and thought processes and all. It is a completely different "zone" to live in. Not sure about everyone else but I am actively trying to get my brain to realize that and to realize there are not "red zone" dangers everywhere in the world and that I can get into the "yellow zone" or actively aware but not freaking out, everytime I leave the house. That "yellow zone" is acheiveable but is certianly different then "red zone" constantly.

If that makes any sense.

 

[somerandomguy]

I think I understand the point of this post a little better.

I don't know about the rest of you, but life hasn't gotten less dangerous "post" trauma, and therefore these "PTSD symptoms" have not become less necessary.

If you still live with your abusive parents, then the above would be very true for you. And if this is making you symptomatic, you may be attempting to normalize your symptoms instead of chalking it up to "mental illness."

It is very much like me having issues with sex, dysregulating, then coming here and making a very black-and-white pronouncement about, for example, how all sex is about power. Which happened. Luckily, this is a pretty tough crowd that isn't afraid to call out cognitive distortions when they see them.

So, @lullaby19 - we're letting you know that your cognitive distortions may not be helping you at this point. I understand you are in a really f*cking rough situation right now. I think that even if you can't get out of it, therapy is going to be your best shot at building yourself up so that you CAN eventually get out. It's perfectly OK if you don't want to give yourself a label. But it doesn't matter what you do or don't call it as long as you keep working towards a goal of escaping - then you can start working towards a goal of healing.

 

[EveHarrington]

I want to add...

I don’t think you’ve considered the bigger picture.

PTSD no longer an illness/disorder?

Insurance companies in the USA will no longer cover treatment. The NHS will pull what little coverage they do provide.

Many of us would no longer be able to afford treatment. I’m sorry that you didn’t receive quality treatment, but many of us have, and wouldn’t have been able to heal as we have without it.

Maybe you believe your ideas are progressive and that you’re enlightened, but they’re so far out of touch with reality and the system with which most of us receive help.

Switching ptsd to an “adaptation” isn’t forward thinking, it’s backward thinking, one of which will harm millions, and end up with far more ptsd suicides.

Are you aware of the suicide statistics for veterans in the USA? No, I didn’t think so.

Your “progressive” ideas are a slap in the face to every survivor of a ptsd suicide. I don’t think that any of the friends and family members of a deceased loved one would agree that this is merely an adaptation and not an illness.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Switching ptsd to an “adaptation” isn’t forward thinking, it’s backward thinking

I must agree with this! Highly!

 

[grit]

I could be wrong but I think in @lullaby19 defense the quote that is being called distortion is meant for something else.

I don't know about the rest of you, but life hasn't gotten less dangerous "post" trauma, and therefore these "PTSD symptoms" have not become less necessary.

is being misquoted.

I think, and hope she or he comes back to clarify herself/himself but what I took it meant was to describe the adaptation thing to say:
a person got some incident or experience that caused PTSD. and that person developed the symptoms associated with PTSD. and the reason they are still acting as if they are still under the environment that caused PTSD in the first time is that they adapted to it and still acting as if the world (present day) is still danger. Hence this person does not have mental illness but is stuck in the adaptation of that trauma period. I do not think she meant her/his today is still danger but that she is adapted at only knowing danger so even a peaceful moment would feel like danger.

Now my opinion, I think there is validity to that at least for me. I remember many times confusing support from others to manipulation. So being safe and getting support started to make suspect. Now I can say that was symptom of my PTSD but not the reality is danger.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Hence this person does not have mental illness but is stuck in the adaptation of that trauma period.

That's an oxymorone. Being stuck in that trauma period IS a mental illness called PTSD! It IS a mental illness. And not calling it what it is, is normalizing the thought processes associated with PTSD and therapy for PTSD is identifying those thought processes and then changing them. Not calling it what it is (a mental illness) and then somehow normalizing it, is going backwards.

It took me forever to accept I had PTSD. No way my trauma could be as bad as war. No way could I have gone through enough trauma for it to be PTSD. It took me months of going through the DSM with my therapist, together, agreeing on what fit.

My pharmacy denied my Xanax .5mg prescription 4 times a day. Which I rely on for night time. My PDoc called it in as GAD. I spoke to the pharmacist and she refused to fill any Xanax prescription, any mg, any amount per day for just GAD. She said it was a short term med for GAD. I told her "but I don't just have GAD. I have PTSD as well" (which is obviously on my file at my doctor but my PDoc said GAD was the best diagnosis for that medication). I asked the pharmasist that if my doctor told her that I had PTSD, would she fill it. She said yes. I had to lower to 3 a day and then change it later to 1mg twice a day and then cut it in half (also due to the FDA) but my point is, PTSD and that diagnois matters. It matters for treatment, it matters for medication. It even matters for being able to have a service dog trained to midigate PTSD (which is a treatment). Without having that diagnosis, the treatment is not there.

I don't quite get the point of trying to normalize something that isn't normal. Maybe I am missing the point. Totally possible.

 

[grit]

My comments are not personal to you. I was trying to clarify my understanding of the topic at hand.
My own psychiatrist who diagnosed me with ptsd refuse to utter the word cptsd because it is not in the DSM. It was quite interesting if not also frustrating to see a doc who should know better to say we do not use that word because it is not in the DSM.
There are illnesses and there is a political aspect. Anything involving insurance has some political agenda.
I am sorry this post is distressing you but there was time not long ago when women were diagnosed with hysteria.
I am not negating your personal story just keeping the perspective wide.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I am sorry this post is distressing you

It's not distressing to me.

 

[Tinyflame]

"PTSD" is not a mental illness or disorder at all. I'm not debating whether or not we all suffer, of course we do. I'm not arguing that what we suffer from isn't a physical, deterministic thing in our brains and bodies. But it's not an illness. It's an adaptation, and to call it an illness is disrespectful to ourselves. "Hyper"vigilance, flashbacks, avoidance, dissociation, etc are natural and necessary responses to being in danger. We are not "disordered" for being afraid in a dangerous world, our feelings are righteous and justified. I don't know about the rest of you, but life hasn't gotten less dangerous "post" trauma, and therefore these "PTSD symptoms" have not become less necessary

Sorry, I haven't read all the posts, I cannot (something else ptsd affected, for me).

I hope "hasn't gotten less dangerous" doesn't mean, for example, you are actively being abused. :(

I disagree. I think anything that effects this much, and alters this much, including thinking, surviving, thriving, living, and loving, and takes as much effort to manage and overcome for me, and likely in one way or another will shorten or contribute to the end of my life (and definitely the opportunities and quality of it) is an illness. Mental illness, or injury, let alone co-morbidities. JMHO.

 

[DharmaGirl]

It was quite interesting if not also frustrating to see a doc who should know better to say we do not use that word because it is not in the DSM

I understand what you are saying, but a doctor should not use a diagnosis that is not in the DSM. It is not a recognised diagnosis. I read a post (not here) where the gal said she quit her therapist because he said he wasn't aware of the diagnosis Narcissistic Abuse. She didn't get that it was a phrase made up by people, not a true diagnosis. I think it helps keep the diagnosis on track. This was several years ago, before everyone who upset someone is called a narc.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I'm OK with being diagnosed with a mental illness. I'm OK with being labeled mentally ill. It's just one label of a thousand possible labels that apply to me, and just because there's a stigma around it doesn't mean that it describes me any less.

We're in the world of opinions here, and presenting yours in such a black or white way isn't likely to make you many friends. It might be interesting if you explored why you feel the need to reject this label so strongly. I'm sorry if people have treated you badly due to the stigma around it.

A mental health label like PTSD, dissociation, ADHD, BPD, etc really just means you will likely struggle, more than the average person in your lifetime. This is a likely outcome of being labeled. Some people may struggle more socially, w finding healthy friendships, and with community, others may be more impacted by the financial difficulties as a result of a mental health diagnosis, others may struggle with spirituality, others w abandonment, isolation, and suicidal ideation; and other people may have emotional regulation challenges. No matter what flavor mental illness you are labeled with- no one wants to work hard at being content- as we learn more about the world- things should ease up; no one wants to struggle personally all their life-
But that is the bottom line for most- actually that is called living.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I understand what you are saying, but a doctor should not use a diagnosis that is not in the DSM. It is not a recognised diagnosis. I read a post (not here) where the gal said she quit her therapist because he said he wasn't aware of the diagnosis Narcissistic Abuse. She didn't get that it was a phrase made up by people, not a true diagnosis. I think it helps keep the diagnosis on track. This was several years ago, before everyone who upset someone is called a narc.

That last sentence is quite a generalization.
Society is changing for the more negative and becoming more me-centric. As a result, there are more people w narcissistic personality disorder- and more codependent people to supply them their energy. Narcissism is learned behavior- and each generation has new narcs-people who need control, don’t feel empathy, need attention, and believe they are almost perfect- so they don’t tend to apologize from their heart believing they are wrong nor do they tend to head to the therapist.
Narcs create narcs or co- dependent people.

More teachers than ever are retiring early these days because of the larger number of the narcissistic parents and kids who believe they are powerful and right and the inordinate amount of negative stress and illnesses caused teachers.