Help Mental illness history affect on life

[Alec]

Guys, I've been finally looking up the symptoms for different mental illnesses and well...it doesn't look good for me. At the very least it looks like I've had severe depression, bipolar, and OCD for literally my whole life. The reason I've started looking this up is because I'm thinking maybe knowing that this isn't my fault the way I feel and it's not something I'm doing to myself but rather something that has happened to me, because it's an illness not my choice to have these things, maybe knowing that will make it easier somehow to deal with it all. Maybe I won't blame myself and will be able to recognize better when the illness attacks me and twists my perception of the world, instead of blaming myself and making myself hate me even more. Maybe somehow knowing that this is an illness that I have will make it easier to have it, I don't know...
But the reason I'm making this thread is because lately I've been thinking of going to my GP and getting an appointment with a mental health professional to finally get diagnosed officially. The reason I haven't done this until now is because I don't want to have it on my permanent health record. I think it will raise a lot of problems for me all through my life if I decide to stay alive. First I think doctors might be afraid to give me pain killers in an emergency because of fear I'll develop an addiction, and other similar things about how the treatment by other people will change.
But most of all, I want to travel if I can at some point, maybe even move and start to live permanently in another country like US or Canada. And I think having mental health history will prevent me from being able to get the residency and so on. So I've made this thread to ask you guys, if you have an official diagnose how did it affect your life in general and in details? Did it affect you in a negative way? Do you have any knowledge of mental health problems causing problems with immigration?
And another thing, can a person refuse to take medicine for mental illness? And one last thing, I'm living in Spain right now, do you know of any programs in Spain that help people with mental illnesses? Maybe some financial support or something like that? Is it worth it to get officially diagnosed? Is it worth it at all? Has it changed your life for the better?
I'll be happy to read all of your stories about your journey with mental health treatment and professionals and so on, please share if you feel comfortable to do so, I'll appreciate it, thank you❤
Love you all guys, forever.

 

[OneBigBlur]

I don't believe in most forms of mental illness. The idea that such a thing exists is not backed by science and the symptoms that people deal with are responses to various forms of adversity and hardship, not a genetic chemical imbalance in the brain. The pseudoscience known as psychology makes people believe that they aren't responsible for their actions and that the thoughts/bevhaviors that they have aren't appropriate for the things they've been through even when they are.

For the American psychiatric/pharmaceutical complex, the cause of childhood disorders is "in" the brain and is generally treated with medication, behaviour management or incarceration. Normality is simplistically attributed to an inborn capacity for resilience. Resilience as an irreducible trait allows society to absolve itself of many responsibilities. Diagnoses are based on checklists of symptoms that can fit almost anyone. A Toronto Star article on Feb. 18 told of a pretty young white woman rescuing a starving black child in Nigeria. Besides ignoring overwhelming socioeconomic conditions and the particulars of the child's history, the article pointed to an astonishing symptom checklist: "Children showing any unusual behaviour, for example children who are stubborn, aggressive, thoughtful, withdrawn or lazy, also make up this category" of developmental disabilities.

The most common checklist diagnostic category is childhood ADHD. Robert Furman, a child psychoanalyst and pediatrician, wrote a public letter warning of its over diagnosis and overuse of the addictive drug Ritalin. He also bridged the gap between individual and social responsibility. "Mention does have to be made of the abdication of responsibility possible with the diagnosis of an 'illness in the child,' presumably caused by some chemical deficiency in the brain. Parents are spared responsibility for their child's behaviour, the child is spared a type of responsibility for his own behaviour, teachers are spared responsibility for managing their classrooms, society is spared responsibility for the inadequate funding of schools that creates such large classroom sizes a teacher has problems coping with active children." -Deutsch Judy

Mental illness is a metaphor (metaphorical disease). The word "disease" denotes a demonstrable biological process that affects the bodies of living organisms (plants, animals, and humans). The term "mental illness" refers to the undesirable thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of persons. Classifying thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as diseases is a logical and semantic error, like classifying the whale as a fish. As the whale is not a fish, mental illness is not a disease. Individuals with brain diseases (bad brains) or kidney diseases (bad kidneys) are literally sick. Individuals with mental diseases (bad behaviors), like societies with economic diseases (bad fiscal policies), are metaphorically sick. The classification of (mis)behavior as illness provides an ideological justification for state-sponsored social control as medical treatment.

"People may be constrained in two basic ways: physically, by confining them in jails, mental hospitals, and so forth; and symbolically, by confining them in occupations, social roles, and so forth. Actually, confinement of the second type is more common and pervasive in the day-to-day conduct of society's business; as a rule, only when the symbolic, or socially informal, confinement of conduct fails or proves inadequate, is recourse taken to physical, or socially formal, confinement…. When people perform their social roles properly – in other words, when social expectations are adequately met – their behavior is considered normal. Though obvious, this deserves emphasis: a waiter must wait on tables; a secretary must type; a father must earn a living; a mother must cook and sew and take care of her children. Classic systems of psychiatric nosology had nothing to say about these people, so long as they remained neatly imprisoned in their respective social cells; or, as we say about the Negroes, so long as they "knew their place." But when such persons broke out of "jail" and asserted their liberty, they became of interest to the psychiatrist." -Thomas Szasz

 

[autumnal]

I don't think having a medical history of mental illness will have much if any effect in the areas you mentioned. Medical records are sealed and confidential in most circumstances. The details of these cannot become known by employers, friends or relatives.

A doctor will generally look at your whole picture rather than just a particular disorder in your medical history when making any decisions.

A person can generally refuse any medical treatment (whether for physical or mental illness) unless they are deemed incapable of providing informed consent. But in order to force someone to receive treatment, a number of legal and medical steps need to be taken and you will normally have the right to appeal these decisions.

Hwoever, do please note that being actively suicidal, and having a specific plan and the means to follow it, can be a reason for involuntary confinement to a psychiatric hospital. In the event that you wanted to receive medications or therapy for your problems, but not be confined to a psychiatric hospital, you would probably need to downplay any references to suicide.

Most countries would probably have some kind of income support benefit (social security) for people with any kind of illness or disability that has a significant effect on their life and limits their ability to work or study. In order to obtain these, you would definitely require a formal diagnosis.

So all in all, I would say a lot of potential benefits and very few risks involved in seeing a doctor and getting diagnosis and treatment.

 

[OneBigBlur]

A person can generally refuse any medical treatment (whether for physical or mental illness) unless they are deemed incapable of providing informed consent. But in order to force someone to receive treatment, a number of legal and medical steps need to be taken and you will normally have the right to appeal these decisions.

Our governments don't need consent for anything when it comes to mental illness, merely being labeled with it gives them reason to force treatment on you even if you don't want it. They use convenient circular logic like: said person is suicidal so he must have a mental illness, therefore he's irrational and on and on they go to to push the false narrative that you are incapable of making your own decisions and that they are allowed to use force because you are deemed incompetent by a pseudoscience.

I am not against anyone getting help if it's voluntary. However, merely being labeled with mental illness creates a immense stigma towards you and is a form of social control that takes away your rights as a human being.

 

[jrums]

I had terrible OCD and anxiety. However the worst thing I ever did was seek help for mental illness. I've been completely destroyed by psych drugs. SSRIs kept me numb and benzos kept me addicted. I'm 38 and my life has been wasted in a medication haze. I have PSSD now and emotional numbness now 2 years since my last bought with SSRIs. I'm a lobotomized and castrated zombie basically. It's the reason I'm going to CTB. But hey no more OCD because there is no more brain or emotion . Hopefully if you do go the medication route you are able to just stick to occasinal benzo use and maybe exposure therapy or whatever. Good luck.

 

[terry_a_davis]

Our governments don't need consent for anything when it comes to mental illness, merely being labeled with it gives them reason to force treatment on you even if you don't want it. They use convenient circular logic like: said person is suicidal so he must have a mental illness, therefore he's irrational and on and on they go to to push the false narrative that you are incapable of making your own decisions and that they are allowed to use force because you are deemed incompetent by a pseudoscience.

I am not against anyone getting help if it's voluntary. However, merely being labeled with mental illness creates a immense stigma towards you and is a form of social control that takes away your rights as a human being.

Treatment is only forced for 2 very specific reasons ie if the person is assessed to be a danger to themselves or others, which isn't a common occurrence with most mental illnesses.

Guys, I've been finally looking up the symptoms for different mental illnesses and well...it doesn't look good for me. At the very least it looks like I've had severe depression, bipolar, and OCD for literally my whole life. The reason I've started looking this up is because I'm thinking maybe knowing that this isn't my fault the way I feel and it's not something I'm doing to myself but rather something that has happened to me, because it's an illness not my choice to have these things, maybe knowing that will make it easier somehow to deal with it all. Maybe I won't blame myself and will be able to recognize better when the illness attacks me and twists my perception of the world, instead of blaming myself and making myself hate me even more. Maybe somehow knowing that this is an illness that I have will make it easier to have it, I don't know...
But the reason I'm making this thread is because lately I've been thinking of going to my GP and getting an appointment with a mental health professional to finally get diagnosed officially. The reason I haven't done this until now is because I don't want to have it on my permanent health record. I think it will raise a lot of problems for me all through my life if I decide to stay alive. First I think doctors might be afraid to give me pain killers in an emergency because of fear I'll develop an addiction, and other similar things about how the treatment by other people will change.
But most of all, I want to travel if I can at some point, maybe even move and start to live permanently in another country like US or Canada. And I think having mental health history will prevent me from being able to get the residency and so on. So I've made this thread to ask you guys, if you have an official diagnose how did it affect your life in general and in details? Did it affect you in a negative way? Do you have any knowledge of mental health problems causing problems with immigration?
And another thing, can a person refuse to take medicine for mental illness? And one last thing, I'm living in Spain right now, do you know of any programs in Spain that help people with mental illnesses? Maybe some financial support or something like that? Is it worth it to get officially diagnosed? Is it worth it at all? Has it changed your life for the better?
I'll be happy to read all of your stories about your journey with mental health treatment and professionals and so on, please share if you feel comfortable to do so, I'll appreciate it, thank you❤
Love you all guys, forever.

I suggest you see your doctor about your concerns about what you may or may not have. I've had a long journey with my mental health and the professionals who treated me literally saved my life.

I don't believe in most forms of mental illness. The idea that such a thing exists is not backed by science and the symptoms that people deal with are responses to various forms of adversity and hardship, not a genetic chemical imbalance in the brain. The pseudoscience known as psychology makes people believe that they aren't responsible for their actions and that the thoughts/bevhaviors that they have aren't appropriate for the things they've been through even when they are.

I cannot speak for all mental illnesses, but I assure you some mental illnesses are very real.

 

[Alec]

I don't believe in most forms of mental illness. The idea that such a thing exists is not backed by science and the symptoms that people deal with are responses to various forms of adversity and hardship, not a genetic chemical imbalance in the brain. The pseudoscience known as psychology makes people believe that they aren't responsible for their actions and that the thoughts/bevhaviors that they have aren't appropriate for the things they've been through even when they are.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327220
https://www.bbrfoundation.org/conte...-processing-disrupted-people-bipolar-disorder
There is actually a lot of scientific proof for mental illnesses. I don't want to seem like I'm attacking you but you seem like simply very badly informed.

I don't think having a medical history of mental illness will have much if any effect in the areas you mentioned. Medical records are sealed and confidential in most circumstances. The details of these cannot become known by employers, friends or relatives.

A doctor will generally look at your whole picture rather than just a particular disorder in your medical history when making any decisions.

A person can generally refuse any medical treatment (whether for physical or mental illness) unless they are deemed incapable of providing informed consent. But in order to force someone to receive treatment, a number of legal and medical steps need to be taken and you will normally have the right to appeal these decisions.

Hwoever, do please note that being actively suicidal, and having a specific plan and the means to follow it, can be a reason for involuntary confinement to a psychiatric hospital. In the event that you wanted to receive medications or therapy for your problems, but not be confined to a psychiatric hospital, you would probably need to downplay any references to suicide.

Most countries would probably have some kind of income support benefit (social security) for people with any kind of illness or disability that has a significant effect on their life and limits their ability to work or study. In order to obtain these, you would definitely require a formal diagnosis.

So all in all, I would say a lot of potential benefits and very few risks involved in seeing a doctor and getting diagnosis and treatment.

I had terrible OCD and anxiety. However the worst thing I ever did was seek help for mental illness. I've been completely destroyed by psych drugs. SSRIs kept me numb and benzos kept me addicted. I'm 38 and my life has been wasted in a medication haze. I have PSSD now and emotional numbness now 2 years since my last bought with SSRIs. I'm a lobotomized and castrated zombie basically. It's the reason I'm going to CTB. But hey no more OCD because there is no more brain or emotion . Hopefully if you do go the medication route you are able to just stick to occasinal benzo use and maybe exposure therapy or whatever. Good luck.

Treatment is only forced for 2 very specific reasons ie if the person is assessed to be a danger to themselves or others, which isn't a common occurrence with most mental illnesses.

I suggest you see your doctor about your concerns about what you may or may not have. I've had a long journey with my mental health and the professionals who treated me literally saved my life.

I cannot speak for all mental illnesses, but I assure you some mental illnesses are very real.

GUYS!!! I want to thank you all so much for your input and your stories that you shared with me!!! It is all very valuable to me and I honestly didn't expect such response, thank you for sharing something personal.
I see that there is a lot of bad but also a lot of good. Some of you have had good experiences and others bad. Honestly I think it might be easier for me to deal with this knowing it's something real, because so far I've spent literally my whole life just doubting myself and my sanity and thinking all the time that maybe I'm just going insane that maybe the reason I feel the way I feel because I'm somehow making myself feel this way on purpose, it was driving me crazy. But at some point a few days ago I just took a sobering look at myself and what is happening in my head, and what is happening to all the memories that I have from my life and so on and so on and I just thought "this can't be normal". I see all these people living their lives and I can't possibly imagine how they can go on like that if they feel the things the same way I do, it can't be real, there must be something wrong with me in a way that makes me this way, there must be something else something different between me and the normal healthy people. I think all of us had a point of realization about this somewhere in our lives.
I think I've decided to get diagnosed. I don't know maybe if nothing else, when I kill myself it will give the people some kind of explanation about why I killed myself, that's something right? I'm actually asking because I don't know. I don't know but I think I've decided to give this a try, there only a few months left before my ctb day anyway, might as well, right? What have I got to loose? Literally nothing. I've already made an appointment with my GP, the closest I could get was a week from now, then I'll ask for an appointment with a psychiatrist and that might take another month or something, so maybe I'm just right in a time frame for my ctb date. Maybe I'll create another thread later about my experience. I also have another week to make sure I want to do this, so I'll spend it thinking.
In any case, thank you so much guys! You are very kind!;)❤

 

[Sensei]

I don't believe in most forms of mental illness. The idea that such a thing exists is not backed by science and the symptoms that people deal with are responses to various forms of adversity and hardship, not a genetic chemical imbalance in the brain. The pseudoscience known as psychology makes people believe that they aren't responsible for their actions and that the thoughts/bevhaviors that they have aren't appropriate for the things they've been through even when they are.

I'm impressed! Despite all the centuries of research and thousands of scientists around the world, you know better! I shall nominate you for the Nobel prize in medicine and keep my fingers crossed that you will win! Also, I shall join you in your quest to expose this world-wide conspiracy!

 

[Alec]

I'm impressed! Despite all the centuries of research and thousands of scientists around the world, you know better! I shall nominate you for the Nobel prize in medicine and keep my fingers crossed that you will win! Also, I shall join you in your quest to expose this world-wide conspiracy!

I...
I just don't think it was a good idea for them to say "mental illness isn't real" on a site full of mentally ill people. Not because it might start a fight or a controversy or whatever, but because it actually might trigger a lot of people here, because I'm sure a lot of people here have faced others in their real life telling them that their illness isn't real and trying to minimize their pain and make them feel like their pain isn't real and they are just making it up and calling them liars and that they are just looking for attention and so on and so on. And I think it takes a lot of guts and bravery to finally walk away from these toxic people and to stop listening to them and be brave enough to stop telling yourself that it's your fault and to finally face that you are ill. And this just might trigger a lot of people and bring bad memories.

 

[Alec]

I don't think having a medical history of mental illness will have much if any effect in the areas you mentioned. Medical records are sealed and confidential in most circumstances. The details of these cannot become known by employers, friends or relatives.

A doctor will generally look at your whole picture rather than just a particular disorder in your medical history when making any decisions.

A person can generally refuse any medical treatment (whether for physical or mental illness) unless they are deemed incapable of providing informed consent. But in order to force someone to receive treatment, a number of legal and medical steps need to be taken and you will normally have the right to appeal these decisions.

Hwoever, do please note that being actively suicidal, and having a specific plan and the means to follow it, can be a reason for involuntary confinement to a psychiatric hospital. In the event that you wanted to receive medications or therapy for your problems, but not be confined to a psychiatric hospital, you would probably need to downplay any references to suicide.

Most countries would probably have some kind of income support benefit (social security) for people with any kind of illness or disability that has a significant effect on their life and limits their ability to work or study. In order to obtain these, you would definitely require a formal diagnosis.

So all in all, I would say a lot of potential benefits and very few risks involved in seeing a doctor and getting diagnosis and treatment.

I'm sorry I'm writing to you again, it's just that I realized I forgot to mention something. Thank you for your advice about involuntary confinement for people that are actively planning to ctb. Yes I've thought about that too and I decided that I will share about my problems, and about my attempt a few years ago, it can't be hidden I have a big scar on a wrist. But I won't say anything about being suicidal today or planing it or having means for it. I'll say that I've kept it in my mind but I haven't thought of it as action or as a plan and I don't see it in my future for now. Thank you, your answer is very informative for me I'm very grateful!