Discussion What are your experiences with psychiatry?

[armistice]

I've generally had an awful time with them - I am sure they can help with some people but I've never experienced positive change from specialists. I am in a country where the services are considered overworked and underpaid, which could be a factor.

 

[witchcraft]

I think it can miss the point of why someone feels the way that they do in the first place.

Sometimes you're not opaquely depressed. You're surrounded by assholes, by toxic if not abusive family, were born into bad socioeconomic circumstances that are really hard to escape, etc. This is when one can turn to the notion of "a stopgap is better than no solution at all" but I don't have data/knowledge to further the conversation on this track. Meaning, what is the exact proportion of patients who actually do just *temporarily* take some pills, the pills are proven to be what allows the patient to better their life, and then the patient successfully discontinues use of the medication and goes on to live a "normal" life?

It's a difficult thing to critique because many individuals will report their honest experience that psychiatry has helped them. More power to them, I'm not trying to belittle them at all. What I'm saying is that it's complicated and I find it hard to reach a broader conclusion when the efficacy seems to depend a lot on the individual experience, of which there are tens of millions, with many many different medications, psychiatry practices (which can also be in countries with different standards, funding), etc.

As time went on, I realized that my reaction to the world around me is valid. So *personally* it seemed to become more a question of whether I wanted to take a blue pill or take my suffering raw. I've abused alcohol and still use nicotine so I'm a hypocrite; I don't need medical insurance to buy either of those, however. Just need to live for 21+ years and have $20.

Psychiatry seems to have been turned into an excuse to not address the root cause of many societal issues. That's the issue with stopgaps: it seems to be human nature to just stop there. That which is supposed to be temporary becomes indefinite.

They've been so quick to try and tell me that there is something wrong with my brain, that my anxiety and depression is baked-in, default, incurable, which makes their [insert medication] tantamount to insulin for the brain. I find this ironic because it isn't exactly empowering and tends to fly in the face of the attitude they want to instill in patients through psychotherapy. Like, they're just trying to tell you that you're broken. The thing is, psychiatry is a soft science and even neurology doesn't support this as far as I'm aware.

I've often seen people point to individuals that have it all: fancy car, live in a McMansion with their wife and kids, 6-figure salary, the American Dream—if they're unhappy, then it "must" be because their brain is broken. Well, I'll be the unpopular devil's advocate and suggest that maybe life isn't so simple, and that that lifestyle actually doesn't automatically magically equate to perfect happiness. Maybe owning a Mustang doesn't make a person happy. Maybe a person's happiness doesn't correspond 1:1 with the size of their home. Maybe having wife and kids isn't a perfect fairy tale purely full of absolute bubbles and bliss. Maybe a six figure salary comes at the cost of doing work that isn't fulfilling, a high stress job, a bad boss, and so on.

But nope. American Dream brainwashing leads many to believe that the only possible explanation here is muh brain broke. I'll be the bad guy and suggest that that person isn't being entirely honest with themselves about how they feel toward their situation, but are rather stuck in "should" mode. Luxury car "should" make me happy. A hot wife "should" make me happy. Two kids "should" make me happy. Making $125,000 a year "should" make me happy. We're too quick to conclude that faulty brain chemicals must then be the culprit. It's almost as if it were a cancer diagnosis, "I'm sorry Mr. Johnson but you have incurable depression."

EDIT: I'm not a doctor. If a medication prevents a patient from further harming themself, and the patient volunteered themselves for this treatment, that's wonderful. I'm more critical of what happens next—actually, what doesn't happen next, which is to provide access to services and networks that can structure the patient's life so that they no longer need the medication. To find community, a better job, a degree, whatever that person might need to take control of their circumstances. My blindspot here would be individuals who are philosophically opposed to being born / being alive; I think that's technically valid to believe that. Psychiatry, like therapy, only has a chance of working if the patient is an active and willing participant.