tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post8264911960216423075..comments2024-03-18T03:28:36.581-04:00Comments on Shrink Rap: Review of CrazyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-2492748936200602682018-03-16T00:07:52.595-04:002018-03-16T00:07:52.595-04:00I thought the book was well written and eye openin...I thought the book was well written and eye opening. Mental illness runs deep in my family. I don't think that there is any easy answer to any of these problems. If there were, it's likely that there would have been no book I the first place. I also very much agree with the part about giving every individual, regardless of their past or their crimes, a safe environment with others that care about them. When I say that, I mean actually care... care like these were their own family members. <br />I think that there are pros and cons to asylums. However, Earley mentions: "a real asylum - defined in the dictionary as being a safe place," this is the definition I hope would be used in real life. <br /><br />The previous asylums were dismal places and the jails should not be a boarding house. I would hope that wet can find an answer that treats all people as humans ... after all, that's what we are. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00740335014899573425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-21962261921119908342012-04-07T14:15:08.316-04:002012-04-07T14:15:08.316-04:00Thank GOD for medication. It has been a blessing ...Thank GOD for medication. It has been a blessing for me. And I work, have a family, a life. There is a big difference between being well medicated and OVER medicated. If you feel numb, have no emotions, if you have lost your ability to feel, to reason than you need a medication adjustment or a med change. <br /><br />There is NOTHING romantic about going off medications, jumping off of bridges or cliffs. Perspective, do some therapy and gail some perspective.BPLadybugnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-26325569624544597912012-03-31T14:41:24.099-04:002012-03-31T14:41:24.099-04:00yes. all this talk of what we should do has got me...yes. all this talk of what we should do has got me thinking that it is time to go off the meds even tho they have kept me stable. i have lived long enough and i am ready to go down whatever path i face now so long as it does not involve incarceration in a ward of any kind. never found therapy any help as most shrinks i have known have as many if not more junk in their closets that they are unwilling to deal with and i have paid a price for that. the segway came and went . big deal. the iPad came. i don't care. i have seen some of the world. the rest, i don't really care to see. i have seen enough in my head. its been a trip. if i live another 20 years, so be it. if i jump off a cliff in six months, thats okay too. to h with the drugs and the docs and what i HAVE to be and do and feel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-3042595344837746132012-03-29T00:45:13.657-04:002012-03-29T00:45:13.657-04:00I heard a lot about that book when it was first re...I heard a lot about that book when it was first released including interviews with the author. I decided it would give me high blood pressure, so it is not worth it to me to read it. I disagree with the author's conclusions.<br /><br />I agree with Abbey Normal. Why not provide safe housing for people instead of forcing them to live in a state hospital? <br /><br />Who would the intended beneficiary be if we locked up all the "mentally ill" in state hospitals? Is this for the good of "society" or the good of the mentally ill? What would be the criteria? Would you force people into state hospitals who have had (or are having) a single, first psychotic episode? What about individual freedom?<br /><br />I would rather die or live on the street than be forced to stay for life on a psychiatric ward, myself. I am glad I did not end up in jail rather than a hospital, though. Who knows what may have happened?<br /><br />I also agree with the previous Anonymous. Being on psych drugs was awful. They took away my quality short-term memory, my ability to reason and my ability to feel. I think the drugs ought to be called "Inabilify" and "Zy-wreck-sa".Sunny CAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11451116932556227816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-70680139550976698872012-03-28T11:00:18.441-04:002012-03-28T11:00:18.441-04:00Well I'm bipolar and I took drugs for many yea...Well I'm bipolar and I took drugs for many years. While it is true that I get depressed (but never manic or delusional) without drugs every few years being "stable" is in no way worth it. I went off all of my drugs 1 year ago and now I have a life that would never have been possible on drugs. I've been working at the same place for eight months now, I've even been promoted, I can date now, I volunteer and have hobbies, I even have friends. I'm actually happy for the first time since I went on drugs 6 years ago. If I had stayed on drugs I would still have no hope and no future. Even if I end up on the street of something it is worth it to have a chance to live my life. This is something I don't think normal people can understand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-26644798058053517072012-03-27T20:11:24.108-04:002012-03-27T20:11:24.108-04:00Well said, Abbey.Well said, Abbey.ClinkShrinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13316134491751195651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-73979837685353898782012-03-27T19:59:52.327-04:002012-03-27T19:59:52.327-04:00My apologies if this goes through twice, the first...My apologies if this goes through twice, the first time it timed out (I'm on kind of slow connection right now). <br /><br />Anyway, I read the book and while it didn't change my views on involuntary treatment, it did make me sad. I don't think, though, that the answer is involuntary treatment. I grew up with a family member with paranoid schizophrenia. She has never been homeless, because she has a home. Family paid for her apartment and food. Sometimes she took medications, sometimes not. It seems to me that it would be a lot cheaper to pay for an apartment than house people in state hospitals, not to mention more humane. What is the cost per day to house someone in a state hospital?<br /><br />We're supposed to treat people in the least restrictive setting. It doesn't have to be forced treatment versus the street, and it shouldn't be. <br /><br />Instead of focusing on involuntary treatment, we should use the money we do have to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and provide community mental health treatment to those who want it. <br /><br />Abbey NormalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-60376017771450530942012-03-27T12:44:28.573-04:002012-03-27T12:44:28.573-04:00I seem to recall a post on Facebook alerts about s...I seem to recall a post on Facebook alerts about suicidal people. So this caught my eye: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57405058/taiwan-woman-commits-suicide-while-on-facebook/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-53950839798900664412012-03-27T00:21:43.510-04:002012-03-27T00:21:43.510-04:00the only thing I can think about this is, "th...the only thing I can think about this is, "the system needs to change, for the better" but then that's not news to many.<br /><br />Not really very helpful, I'm afraid.<br /><br />I don't have any experience with involuntary commitment except for avoiding it as best I can.<br /><br />That may change, soon. That or I'll be dead, and honestly the latter sounds more appealing.<br /><br />But. I'm here, for now. They say if you're going thru hell, keep going. So I'm endeavoring to keep going; the price has been very high for violating my core values.<br /><br />I should prolly shut up now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-4142108165500075242012-03-26T22:58:19.089-04:002012-03-26T22:58:19.089-04:00Adequate psychiatric care with appropriate involun...Adequate psychiatric care with appropriate involuntary treatment is a solution to this problem. It is absolutely appalling to have managed care companies shut down acute care capacity and determine that the length of stay should be worthless for scientific and humane treatment. The only think more appalling is counties and municipalities using jails for 19th century psychiatric hospitals. Commitment courts are also part of this. The only way a person is not held if they have not attempted suicide first is if a court system or county bureaucracy gets that word out. There is not commitment statute in the US worded that way. That is how LA County jail ends up being the largest psychiatric hospital in the US.George Dawson, MD, DFAPAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03474899831557543486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-8815623403005500082012-03-26T14:35:28.548-04:002012-03-26T14:35:28.548-04:00Have not read it. Not planning on it. It is distur...Have not read it. Not planning on it. It is disturbing that the author appears to suggest (from my reading of your review) that state hospitals are the answer to homelessness. It is true that the closure of such places resulted in homelessness and people being forced to eat from the trash. Surely we can find a way of providing food and shelter and medical care to people without warehousing them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-21529907125888864602012-03-26T13:46:24.717-04:002012-03-26T13:46:24.717-04:00i started reading that book in the psych ward this...i started reading that book in the psych ward this summer, but the patient i was borrowing it from got discharged so i wasn't able to finish it. i'd like to finish it, though.<br /><br />i'll attempt to read it with an open mind, but i imagine you're correct in saying it will raise my blood pressure.<br /><br />if anyone ever got a court order to force me to take psychiatric medication, i'd launch a hunger strike.<br /><br />for now, i'll just work like hell to not put my family in a position in which they're forced to choose between locking my ass up or being constantly terrified i'd kill myself.<br /><br />the other day, i started reading one of earley's newer books, the serial killer whisperer, while visiting barnes and noble. that's one i really, really want to read.Lizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18354453322985313284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-43413699674871726832012-03-26T13:45:11.318-04:002012-03-26T13:45:11.318-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Lizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18354453322985313284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-19289400478428330842012-03-26T11:15:52.094-04:002012-03-26T11:15:52.094-04:00I have very mixed feelings about involuntary treat...I have very mixed feelings about involuntary treatment.<br /><br />My Mom has a psychotic illness, and there were many times that I wished we could force her into treatment.<br /><br />I have two big concerns. The first is less tangible. I wonder what this does to the therapeutic relationship.<br /><br />The second relates to involuntary outpatient treatment. In MA there is a push to set this up under the name Outpatient commitment (attached to a 3 strikes and you're out bill) which they are terming "Assisted Outpatient Treatment." This would put a mandate on community psychiatry providers to ensure compliance without additional resources and would most likely prevent us from serving people who want our help. In MA, we already have something called a Rogers guardian for people who have been adjudicated to be incompetent, who are not considered capable of making their own decisions about antipsychotics which is reviewed quite cursorily by a monitor (usually a lawyer). However, it is true that an individual who is outpatient can refuse to take the medication, and nobody will stuff it down his or her throat unless they get sick enough to need inpatient care.EastCoasternoreply@blogger.com