Mental Illnesses

[aj777]

I didn't see any other place to put this and I was referred here by someone so here it goes: Does anyone else besides me suffer from psychosis and bipolar 2? i disagree that i'm bipolar 2, but i do agree with the psychosis diagnosis because I do fit the description of it.

Has anyone ever ran into some really quacky doctors when seeking help for mental illness?

Thanks,
-me

 

[JoJo]

I have a friend who takes her child to a psychiatrist who doesn't seem to help at all! The psychiatrist seems to simply charge by the hour to write a prescription without really helping the child deal with his behavior. It seems that psychologists are better, especially Christian psychologists, but I don't think they can write prescriptions if you need them.

I would say pray about it and ask the Lord to send you a wonderful doctor who can really make a positive difference in your life. I am praying for you too!

 

[stovebolts]

My older brother has been officially diagnosed as bipolar. Personally, he's lazy and doesn't want to hold down a real job and since we were teens, he's always had an excuse that makes him the victim with any job. For years, it was all about the party life while living under Mom's roof while mooching off anyone he could, including the state. My mother has been diagnosed as being paranoid schizophrenic. This is the result of shock treatment and years of over prescribed psychotropic drugs.

I think it can be potentially dangerous to label people with mental illness. God created each and every one of us not only in His image, but with our own special traits that are unique to us, and us alone.

When we start limiting our view on others based on a label, I think that we have the potential to crush the others spirit. Take for example somebody who is blind. In most cases their other senses make up for what they are lacking. As for myself, I am partially color blind and as a result, I catch movement and can spot animals when they move in the wild well before somebody who has a full color spectrum.

Where my issue comes in with doctors and with our society in general, is when one has a feeling of depression etc which is a normal response given the situation, and the first thing one does is run to the shrink for medication. Take for example the guy who looses his job and then gets depressed because he no longer has the means to provide for his family. This is a natural depression and is normal and the person should not be medicated. Unfortunately, people don't like to feel bad when bad things happen and the pharmaceutical companies prey on these types of situations.

Same thing with a kid who can't sit still in the classroom. The teacher doesn't know how, or doesn't have the patience to properly deal with this kid, so instead of learning how to work with a kid who can't sit still in class, they feed the kid medication to shut him up and sit him down. Next thing we know, we've got a kid hooked on psychotropic drugs for the rest of his life as the symptoms get worse and worse...

 

[Kelli]

I think we may be too quick to label mental illness as being lazy or as an excuse. It is difficult, if you have a physical ailment you expect to be treated and taken seriously, yet those who are tortured by mental illness are labeled as lazy.

I was diagnosed with clinical depression and ADD. I know about labels, I grew up and believed those labels for many years, and I was harder on myself than others were. Those who do not suffer with it could never understand what you are going through. The first step you must take is you must be nice to yourself. You are not allowed to put yourself down in any way. Jesus never once put Himself down.

I can tell you now, I praise God so much for my ADD and depression! It made me seek Him, it made me find answers from His Word. Run to Him, He is the only one who can judge you, because He is the only one who knows what you are going through.

I used to see a therapist. He said he was a Christian, but his idea of Christian and mine were two different things. He never prayed with me, or talked about Jesus. I have this strange thing I think I have to do, and that is to try to make everybody think they are good. So for the first 5 or 6 times I saw him, I told him what a great job he was doing and how much better I felt because he was helping me so much. Then the last time I saw him, I had a "breakthrough" and started crying and telling him how sad I was. I had a hard time looking at him because I was so ashamed, but when I finally did... I saw that he had fallen asleep.

He was interested in me when we were talking about what a good job he was doing, but when he found out I was just a sad, broken person like everyone else he was bored.

I have found the very best therapist in the whole universe to be Jesus! I meet with Him almost everyday, and ever day He listens and makes suggestions. I can't tell you how much different the person I am today from the sad person I was fifteen years ago when I was going to therapy.

Because I have ADD, I found it was too hard to pray, my mind wanders too much, so God "suggested" (when I say suggested, I mean he brought it to mind and then verified it with Scripture) that I journal my prayers. I have fifteen years of journals. When I read back through them I am amazed at how far God has brought me.

Run to Him, He loves you!

Love, Kelli

 

[JoJo]

Awesome testimony, Kelli! You're always an inspiration.

 

[aj777]

I think we may be too quick to label mental illness as being lazy or as an excuse. It is difficult, if you have a physical ailment you expect to be treated and taken seriously, yet those who are tortured by mental illness are labeled as lazy.

I was diagnosed with clinical depression and ADD. I know about labels, I grew up and believed those labels for many years, and I was harder on myself than others were. Those who do not suffer with it could never understand what you are going through. The first step you must take is you must be nice to yourself. You are not allowed to put yourself down in any way. Jesus never once put Himself down.

I can tell you now, I praise God so much for my ADD and depression! It made me seek Him, it made me find answers from His Word. Run to Him, He is the only one who can judge you, because He is the only one who knows what you are going through.

I used to see a therapist. He said he was a Christian, but his idea of Christian and mine were two different things. He never prayed with me, or talked about Jesus. I have this strange thing I think I have to do, and that is to try to make everybody think they are good. So for the first 5 or 6 times I saw him, I told him what a great job he was doing and how much better I felt because he was helping me so much. Then the last time I saw him, I had a "breakthrough" and started crying and telling him how sad I was. I had a hard time looking at him because I was so ashamed, but when I finally did... I saw that he had fallen asleep.

He was interested in me when we were talking about what a good job he was doing, but when he found out I was just a sad, broken person like everyone else he was bored.

I have found the very best therapist in the whole universe to be Jesus! I meet with Him almost everyday, and ever day He listens and makes suggestions. I can't tell you how much different the person I am today from the sad person I was fifteen years ago when I was going to therapy.

Because I have ADD, I found it was too hard to pray, my mind wanders too much, so God "suggested" (when I say suggested, I mean he brought it to mind and then verified it with Scripture) that I journal my prayers. I have fifteen years of journals. When I read back through them I am amazed at how far God has brought me.

Run to Him, He loves you!

Love, Kelli

O my gosh I know exactly what you mean about people labeling us as being lazy or using it as an excuse. My brother thinks I'm lazy and has made it clear that he thinks I need to have my "butt kicked". He tells me all the time not to take medication, but to seek God. I say to him, "God put doctors here for a reason". He usually don't have anything to say after that.

Thank you all for listening. I mean it's not that I don't seek God for help - I do - but medications help to block out the bad voices (demons) too. So the combination helps.

I wish you all the best in seeking help for your illnesses. Remember, God *did* put doctors here for a reason. If not, they wouldn't be here

 

[Kelli]

Hey AJ777,

You said something about the "bad voices" What did you mean by that? Can you explain what they say to you or why you think they may be demons. Also may I ask you, because you haven't really mentioned your relationship with Jesus. Are you saved???

Love, Kelli

Jojo, thanks for your encouragement, your the best!!!

Love Kelli

 

[stovebolts]

Hey everyone in this thread.

I just wanted to clear something up, just in case it was misunderstood.

I'm not stating that anyone with a mental illness is lazy. What I was saying was that my brother is lazy and 25 years later, now he's got a mental illness... Again, just to clarify, my brother was the type who would bum a cigarette from you, even though he had just bought a new pack of his own. Also, he'd go to these parties, and two days later the owner of the house was still trying to get him to leave... In short, my brother was a mooch. I recall a time when he was 14 and he told me, "I don't want to work. I'm going to pretend to be like Mom and collect a check from the state." My point, he was lazy and manipulative. Now, over 30 years of living with that type of an outlook, he's considered bi-polar. Seem's he's exactly where he planned to be...

Don't get me wrong, I love my brother, and I'm happy that he's where he wants to be, but I won't loan him any money... He's the only one I know that can sit at home all day long working in calculus and physics to come up with these fantastic inventions. He even saved my mothers life after she had stroke when my mom declined heart surgery. In reality, he's a genius. But he's also doing what he wants to do, which is collecting state money month after month after month.

Hopefully that's all cleared up, just in case anyone took that the wrong way. And BTW, yes, God did give us doctors and yes, God did give us medication for the select few that actually need it.

Well, I'll just back out of this thread. Sorry for the interruption.

Grace and Peace.

 

[jasoncran]

my wife has bipolar type 2, from what i know it can be treated and mangable the earlier its detected, pray and seek the lord for a christian doc. I believe in psychology as a hole, but its limited because it has no redemptive qualities. ie can't save you and it wasn't meant to. That's the job for Jesus. A friend had bipolar and was/is being healed incremently by Jesus. She advised my wife to learn to forgive those who hurt you and let Jesus in. I'll pray for you.

 

[Lewis]

I am bipolar type 1, the worst form of it. And yes I take Lithium. We now know that this disorder is passed down to you from parents or grand parents or other relatives in your family.

 

[Kelli]

Stovebolts, I agree with you about some people are just lazy, and that makes it hard on the ones who do have a legitimate mental illness. Your so nice, I knew you weren't saying anyone here was lazy, you were just making an observation that is too true. I wasn't trying to "chastise" you, I was just concerned that aj777 might think nobody understood.

AJ, I would still like to know what you meant by "bad voices"

Love, Kelli

 

[Lewis]

I didn't see any other place to put this and I was referred here by someone so here it goes: Does anyone else besides me suffer from psychosis and bipolar 2? i disagree that i'm bipolar 2, but i do agree with the psychosis diagnosis because I do fit the description of it.

Has anyone ever ran into some really quacky doctors when seeking help for mental illness?

Thanks,
-me

Here is a Christian site for bipolar Christians
http://www.christianforums.com/f394/

 

[aj777]

Hey AJ777,

You said something about the "bad voices" What did you mean by that? Can you explain what they say to you or why you think they may be demons. Also may I ask you, because you haven't really mentioned your relationship with Jesus. Are you saved???

Love, Kelli

Jojo, thanks for your encouragement, your the best!!!

Love Kelli

Sorry for the delay. I believe that the bad voices are demons. They try to dominate my life by telling me bad things and keeping me in a bad mood.

I cannot say for sure if I'm saved or not... I know i backslide a lot and I've made a huge effort to stop backsliding. I *do* pray everyday. Sometimes I feel saved, and sometimes I feel so lost that I'd never come back. My relationship with Jesus I think is okay. I know he has forgiven me for many sins that I've committed... I know this because I have no desire to go back to that 'sin'. I do love Jesus and THE Father dearly. I'm just so scared of going to hell because I have a mental illness. I just don't feel pure, and I also feel empty at times. Those times, I'm usually very frustrated.

Thank you for your concern. God bless you all

 

[aj777]

Stovebolts, I agree with you about some people are just lazy, and that makes it hard on the ones who do have a legitimate mental illness. Your so nice, I knew you weren't saying anyone here was lazy, you were just making an observation that is too true. I wasn't trying to "chastise" you, I was just concerned that aj777 might think nobody understood.

AJ, I would still like to know what you meant by "bad voices"

Love, Kelli

More about the bad voices, they are IN my head AND *out*. The bad voices once told me to put coins in my kool aid and if i drank it, i'd get Godly powers. I did that but didn't realize exactly what i was doing. The bad voices also tend to take over me and I feel like I'm going in and out of myself, or sitting beside myself ya know? The bad voices make me argue with people. They tell me what to say in bad situations, only to make the situation turn out worse.

But the good voices, they seem to warn me of things, or often quote the bible to me or put ideas in my head of things i can do to help others. I wish the good ones would stay in, and the bad ones, out.

I'm not catholic but I believe there is a purgatory. And I get dejavu a lot and then my mind races and the messages i get are that i'm already in purgatory, but i have not yet got close enough to God. It's silly, I know, and hard to explain to where others can understand. It makes sense in my head, but explaining it to others is very difficult for me.

Thank you.

 

[aj777]

Hey everyone in this thread.

I just wanted to clear something up, just in case it was misunderstood.

I'm not stating that anyone with a mental illness is lazy. What I was saying was that my brother is lazy and 25 years later, now he's got a mental illness... Again, just to clarify, my brother was the type who would bum a cigarette from you, even though he had just bought a new pack of his own. Also, he'd go to these parties, and two days later the owner of the house was still trying to get him to leave... In short, my brother was a mooch. I recall a time when he was 14 and he told me, "I don't want to work. I'm going to pretend to be like Mom and collect a check from the state." My point, he was lazy and manipulative. Now, over 30 years of living with that type of an outlook, he's considered bi-polar. Seem's he's exactly where he planned to be...

Don't get me wrong, I love my brother, and I'm happy that he's where he wants to be, but I won't loan him any money... He's the only one I know that can sit at home all day long working in calculus and physics to come up with these fantastic inventions. He even saved my mothers life after she had stroke when my mom declined heart surgery. In reality, he's a genius. But he's also doing what he wants to do, which is collecting state money month after month after month.

Hopefully that's all cleared up, just in case anyone took that the wrong way. And BTW, yes, God did give us doctors and yes, God did give us medication for the select few that actually need it.

Well, I'll just back out of this thread. Sorry for the interruption.

Grace and Peace.

I see what you're saying. And you did not interrupt, this site is for everyone to share

by the way, the label of "bipolar" is OVER used, waaaaaaay over-used. On my psych evaluation it states that I had 'multiple personality disorder'. I don't agree with that either.

And yeah I understand about what you mean by the ones who NEED the medication can't get it (basically). man you should see me without my medications. i stare into space, my mum says that i talk "off the wall" and I don't make sense, I get cold sweats and start shaking non-stop. And I sweat a lot too. that's so weird.

Talk to you later. bye!