[Tranquility]

Hi Alfredo,
I find what you wrote here interesting... I have two years of Social Work/Psychology and I believe much as you do, if you can understand the illness, you can somewhat control it...

Im pondering the 'violence' aspect of what you wrote. In non-disordered people, there are those who certainly do not hide from violence, and there are those who are passivists, friendly and cringe at the thought. There are those that believe in the future and those who live in the past. There are redheads and brunettes. It makes perfect sense that mental illness may not cause violence or vice versa....What are your thoughts tho on those who suffer paranoia and think EVERYONE is out to get there, or the frustration of being ill and no one can help (common mentality). Would someone who is trapped in the proverbial corner be more apt to come out swinging? Or would the very nature of who they are, passive and kind, be the way they cope as well?

Kat

[shellyw]

alfredo, on 29 August 2009 - 11:48 AM, said:

As I stated before I do study mental illness but I am not part of any University or research at present. I study for my own benefit to expand my knowledge and I find that this does help me to control of my Bipolar Disorder. The reason why I write on this Depression site is because my moods are mostly Depressed and I Experience less of the manic moods. In any case I believe that while there is a distinction between Depression, Bipolar and Schizophrenia all of these mental illness benefit from self help strategies, the ability of the sufferer to recognize triggers and to understand the need for knowledge/wisdom. An Australian psychologist friend of mine, Dr Robert Rich, has given me permission to write this here:

I reckon that schizophrenia has much the same causative mechanisms as bipolar and depression. Probably the difference is due to different genetic weaknesses. But when the pressure is too much, the person breaks, and it almost doesn't matter what direction the break is in. So, everything that works for your bipolar could work for them.

I find it helpful to study the three forms of mental illness Depression, Bipolar and Schizophrenia. By studying the three kinds of mental illness I gain a better understanding of what mental illness is. I feel that by studying the three mental illnesses I gain a new perspective. For example, psychosis can be experienced by people who suffer from severe unipolar Depression; same with people who suffer from Bipolar they may or may not experience psychosis; and of course psychosis is always present in schizophrenia.

What is important to remember is that violence is not correlated to Depression or Bipolar or Schizophrenia. Some people are violent and some are not but we do have evidence that mental illness is not at all correlated to violence. This is a mistake that the media makes and it is a great part of STIGMA. I know many schizophrenic people (I often work as a volunteer for the homeless) who are kind and gentle and could not hurt a fly. If and when they become psychotic their friends know how to comfort them and help them. I also have friends who suffer from severe depression and who experience psychosis. There are many similarities in the three kinds of mental illnesses and it is good for all of us to have knowledge of the three. And it is also good for us to share our experiences with our friends here and open up. When we share our problems we release some of the negative energy stored inside of us and this makes us feel better.

[shellyw]

Alfredo, I believe most of what you said is true, although I do believe there are other major forms of mental illness. Yes, those three are the most common, I believe, but there are other things, which I will not get into. while it is true that mental illness does not cause violence, a person who is psychotic can unknowingly become violent with no purpose except to act out and not be understood and handled correctly by authorities, such as police and people around them who view them as a threat and treat them as such..this is why I believe that police have an expert in mental illness and it's treatment when they are called out to deal with a person who is out of control in their psychosis. I believe that their actions are misinterpreted by such people as law inforcement and the general public. I know because my son is a sheriff's deputy. They respond to things like this with physical action in case a person is physically out of control with their psychosis instead of being trained to help bring a person down to some kind of cooperative reason and are there to help them rather than physically control them...just an insight that I have. As for me, I am bipolar type 2 and also have PTSD and a whole host of other problems. When I get manic and then crash and sometimes when I am psychotic, I have not only suicidal thoughts, but homicidal thoughts as well. Those thoughts are not specific and I don't feel any threat to follow through on those thoughts. Suicidal, frequently yes..but homicidal, no. I just seem to get so angry at everyone who threw me away in my life and how I developed the PTSD and no self-esteem then or now and all that I deal with that I feel will never get better. And now, when I get so upset, which is all of the time, I stop eating and want to weigh what we weighed as a child...I have multiple personalities as well. That's why I say "we". We want to weigh what we weighed before we developed and were thrown away I believe sexually, which was the only love we believe we got. It was not from our father. It was somebody else who I am not sure of...I have an inkling, but no proof. Anyway, I just wanted to add this to what you pointed out. Yes, the majority of mentally ill people are misunderstood and need to be dealt with in the correct way when psychotic, but I feel that is just not how they are handled in those given situations with people...the stigma seems to continue even in this day and age. Shelly

[antipress]

the media has baptized Schizophrenic people borderline dangerous, this is definitely not the case

alfredo, on 29 August 2009 - 11:48 AM, said:

As I stated before I do study mental illness but I am not part of any University or research at present. I study for my own benefit to expand my knowledge and I find that this does help me to control of my Bipolar Disorder. The reason why I write on this Depression site is because my moods are mostly Depressed and I Experience less of the manic moods. In any case I believe that while there is a distinction between Depression, Bipolar and Schizophrenia all of these mental illness benefit from self help strategies, the ability of the sufferer to recognize triggers and to understand the need for knowledge/wisdom. An Australian psychologist friend of mine, Dr Robert Rich, has given me permission to write this here:

I reckon that schizophrenia has much the same causative mechanisms as bipolar and depression. Probably the difference is due to different genetic weaknesses. But when the pressure is too much, the person breaks, and it almost doesn't matter what direction the break is in. So, everything that works for your bipolar could work for them.

I find it helpful to study the three forms of mental illness Depression, Bipolar and Schizophrenia. By studying the three kinds of mental illness I gain a better understanding of what mental illness is. I feel that by studying the three mental illnesses I gain a new perspective. For example, psychosis can be experienced by people who suffer from severe unipolar Depression; same with people who suffer from Bipolar they may or may not experience psychosis; and of course psychosis is always present in schizophrenia.

What is important to remember is that violence is not correlated to Depression or Bipolar or Schizophrenia. Some people are violent and some are not but we do have evidence that mental illness is not at all correlated to violence. This is a mistake that the media makes and it is a great part of STIGMA. I know many schizophrenic people (I often work as a volunteer for the homeless) who are kind and gentle and could not hurt a fly. If and when they become psychotic their friends know how to comfort them and help them. I also have friends who suffer from severe depression and who experience psychosis. There are many similarities in the three kinds of mental illnesses and it is good for all of us to have knowledge of the three. And it is also good for us to share our experiences with our friends here and open up. When we share our problems we release some of the negative energy stored inside of us and this makes us feel better.