to wonder if we have all become mentally ill?

[Alameda]

(and for slightly stalking this blogger)

but can 1 in 2 Americans really have a mental illness? have slightly vested interest in this because would quite like my own mental disorder to be somehow integral to society rather than there actually be something wrong with me

psychopathology of american life

hi summer I do think that we are more than simply a neurochemical soup. Whilst our thoughts, feelings and actions have neural correlates, these same neural correlates are influenced by our thoughts, feelings and actions, our interactions with the social world, and the moment-by-moment experience of being comes to take on meaning. Once we reduce our experiences to neurochemistry I feel we cheat ourselves of complexity and richness of mental life. There is also the concept of levels of explanation which recognizes that we understand phenomena at different levels - from molecules, to cells, to systems neuroscience, to though, to action, to interactional, societal, ecological etc. Frequently, our feelings are best understood at some explanation other than a biological one.

Obviously I cannot speak to alameda's specific experience but she makes a good point that I make in my book - whilst no one is too well to benefit from therapy some people are too sick. Obviously if you are very severely depressed that you can't leave your bed or talk and everything is too effortful, chances are you are not going to benefit from psychotherapy. Likewise, if you are manic, psychotic or do not want to engage in therapy you are unlikely to benefit. However there are many occasions, which may or may not be relevant here where some counsellors or therapists shirk their responsiblity and even blame the client/patient for being resistant. This I think can be a very upsetting experience. You go for help and then are rejected when you feel vulnerable and exposed. In this way therapy can be harmful, it is not just medication etc which have side effects, talking treatments can make people worse too. Resistance is often a defence encountered in therapeutic relationships and a good therapist will not castigate or reject her patient, but make her feel safe enough to talk about difficult feelings, providing a safe space, and exploring the reasons behind this reluctance.

Many counselors and therapists would prefer to deal with the sorts of problems that will get better without their help and take the credit. At the same time, they blame their clients/patients when they do not get better. I do believe and indeed use some therapeutic methods in my work, but I do believe there is something pernicious about the sort of practice where clients/patients are blamed for failure, whilst the therapist takes reward for recovery that would have happened without their intervention and indeed may have been impeded by it!

"Many counselors and therapists would prefer to deal with the sorts of problems that will get better without their help and take the credit. At the same time, they blame their clients/patients when they do not get better."

I don't think this is limited to the psychiatric/therapist side of the profession either.

As the mother of a child who has also got an incurable physical condition we have come up against pretty much the same attitude from general paeds, rheumatologists, physiotherapists, orthopaedics etc. Not all of them, but a fair few.

"If you are not getting better, then you can't have been doing what I told you, because if you'd done what I told you you would be better."

Either that or blaming the parent for being over-protective and holding the patient back.

Although to clarify some people with psychosis can benefit from therapy either for their psychotic symptoms or other difficulties and are often rejected.

what annoyed me about my first round of CBT, which was such a struggle to get, was that it is still in my notes as something that Didn't Work - even though I continue to draw upon many of the techniques today and feel that it was helpful overall

it doesn't work unless the therapist says it does

the really interesting discussion here about counseling has inspired me to blog about the topic today! I am of course not against counseling and other psychological treatments but I do think that they have tried to malign antidepressants and other medications when they are a money making industry too, and one that can also be harmful and have side-effects even though unlike drugs they don't look study the possible harmful effects! hopefully someone will start another discussion.

Emphaticmaybe fMRI is throwing up some fascinating things, but studies with people who are mentally ill+healthy sibling are still in their infancy. There is a lot of work going on in the field of genetic predisposition.
this is one of the ones my organisation is involved in, if you're interested (it's fairly heavy scientific stuff, but enjoy!)

We also have studies going on into genetic factors in alcoholism and bipolar disorder and you might like a look at this one too - quite accessible.

There's a lot to do in the field if we want to answer the nature v nurture question but it's happening!

(Sorry for the late answer, I went to bed)

I did start a discussion a while ago asking why there is so much widespread faith in counselling - I will see if I can find it. Was using a different name then.

by the way canard has the woman in the photograph just been told she is beyond the reach of therapeutic help and is the counsellor looking down her top, is that why she looks so disgusted?

Thanks for your reply canard. I'm looking forward to having a good read of your blog - and the links posted by pointythings

Personally I had a terrible experience with counselling as a child which made me very sceptical about it for a long time until I saw friends massively benefit and realised that I was committing the terrible anecdote/data crime.

The experience wasn't harmful to me in the long term because I was an otherwise healthy and basically well adjusted child but had I been suffering from mental illness it might very well have worsened my condition.

It's very interesting and frankly quite worrying to hear canard's thoughts on counsellors/therapists only taking on cases they feel will resolve themselves, and the converse.

Olympia2012 American websites often give the impression that we are all either American or "International" :o

hi cory you are right, doctors prefer patients who get well. I will discuss this at some point, but it is because we do not deal very well with failure, and there is a tendency to take it as a personal insult/failing when you have a patient who does not get better. Unfortunately this can translate into displaced hostility which can come between doctor and patient. However, doctors don't want patients who will get better on their own accord, unlike counselors or therapists. Instead we want patients with conditions that get better with our treatment. I am sure therapists also want those who they can help, but they also don't mind performing walletectomies on those who do fine without any intervention at all.

I suppose my only experience of therapists have been either on the NHS (for dd) or a limited number of sessions paid for by my employer, so the temptation/opportunity to perform wallectomies has been fairly minimal; those therapists weren't going to be given the chance to take either of us on as private patients.