Post by Jurriaan Plesman BA (Psych), P on Jul 4, 2011 15:12:30 GMT 10
In my opinion the poor success rate of conventional therapy for mood disorder - and remember I myself was a victim of drugs and/or psychotherapy model of treatment for many years - is mainly due to the fact that popular opinion and shared by many so-called professionals in the mental health industry (dependent on the sale of drugs and lucrative talk therapies) are "deluded" into believing that the symptoms of mood disorders are the causes of mood disorders. Hence confusing symptoms for causes. Thus having a low self-esteem is the cause of depression, "the traumatic event" is the cause of PTSD, "spiders" and "lifts" cause me to have a phobia.
Why are discussion board on mental illness so popular?
Answer: "Because conventional therapy fail miserably in helping people overcome their illness and people are looking for alternatives!!!" The professions in society expected to deal with these problems are simply not there. Hence people flock together in support forums to help one another. This may trigger another delusion that mutual empathy and support alone will cure the disease.
But the tragedy of these discussion boards is that these delusions are reinforced by other members of boards convincing their fellow victims of the disease, that their symptoms are due to unfortunate childhood experiences (parents are to blame), faulty and illogical thinking RCBT and DBT (Patients are to blame in Dialectic Behavior Therapy), or due to economic/political/ social environments (society is to blame) or in the case of PTSD a traumatic event. Hence many discussion boards on mental health are in fact "spreading" the very delusions and diseases, that they are trying to treat!!
When we look at a definition of "delusion" one dictionary defines it as:
"an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder ".
It becomes obvious that is a symptom and often seen as THE cause of mood disorders. If it is a delusion, then there is no way of changing the mind of those clients by any logical arguments. One has to accept it as a symptom and not a cause of irrational thinking. The only way of treating this delusion is by way of treating the underlying stress hormones that is ultimately responsible for the misinterpretation of mood disorders. See also discussion of "delusions" here. It may also explain the reason why talk-therapy is often ineffective.
It may be time for psychologists to recognize that non-psychotic delusions and misinterpretations of symptoms form an integral part in many forms (not all) of mood disorders not classed a psychotic.
From a psychological point of view much about our tendency to misinterpret our feelings in terms of environmental events - past or present - is explained in "Psychological Projection.
In the typical self-help discussion forum A may complain of depression and B comes along and suggest that to defeat this depression you "should learn to think in positive terms" by such or such a method. This is in fact reinforcing the notion that "depression is caused by negative thinking" in both A and B. Here, we have an example of how two persons in a "helping" relationship at a discussion forum can reinforce their own depression, when in fact that depression could be caused by a purely physiological or medical mechanism. It is like two blind persons describing an elephant after exploring it by touch.
In some self-help forums, the idea that therapy always must address the cognitive aspects of "mental illness" - the "psychological" model - may be an unquestionable axiom in the group's psychology. The idea that talk-therapy may indeed be harmful if the underlying biochemical aspect of a mood disorder is not dealt with FIRST, becomes so offensive as to be in breach of the "culture" of that discussion forum. Any such person claiming this will be banned immediately from further participating in the forum.
The usual signs of resistance to alternative ways of looking at problems are ad hominem arguments, attacking or concentrating on the motives of an author, instead of discussing the idea itself. The author now becomes the center of attention. The writer of such strange ideas must have an ulterior motive. Galileo became a devil for suggestion that the sun goes around the earth. That the earth is not flat. Psychologists call this "Cognitive Dissonance" triggering an anger reaction to its source.
This is what happened to me in such forums as PTSD.org Social Support Network and other discussion boards on mental health where I was banned for suggesting that PTSD may be a sign of an underlying metabolic disorder and not so much a disorder of the "mind".
Thus social support forums for mood disorders could be perpetuating the very illnesses, they trying to treat.
Victims of delusions become convinced that their false impressions are a reality with a religious enthusiasm. The term "mental illness" itself helps to reinforce delusions, because by definition (and by force of neurolinguistic programming) a mental illness is an "illness of the mind", which is a paramount assumption in the usual psychological model. This suggests that the problem lies "in the mind" instead of the body!! Of course, the idea that the problem lies in the mind makes treatment so simple and attractive - all you have to do is change your mind!!!!
This also explains why patients find it hard to accept the science of psychonutritional therapy, because they fail to recognise that their misinterpretations are delusions just as in other more serious cases of mental illness marked by overt delusions and hallucinations. Science is in conflict with their delusions!
The first step in endogenous depression (anxieties, PTSD, OCD, BPD whatever) is to recognize the biological nature of the disease, treat this accordingly FIRST, preferably by nutritional means, and then use psychotherapy to re-learn social skills, which have been damaged by the illness. Therefore;
BIOCHEMISTRY BEFORE PSYCHOTHERAPY!!
See also: Depression by Julia Ross, a Youtube video.
See also: Fallacious Arguments against Nutritional Therapy
Read:
Depression is a Nutritional Disorder
and discuss with a Nutritional Doctor.
Why are discussion board on mental illness so popular?
Answer: "Because conventional therapy fail miserably in helping people overcome their illness and people are looking for alternatives!!!" The professions in society expected to deal with these problems are simply not there. Hence people flock together in support forums to help one another. This may trigger another delusion that mutual empathy and support alone will cure the disease.
But the tragedy of these discussion boards is that these delusions are reinforced by other members of boards convincing their fellow victims of the disease, that their symptoms are due to unfortunate childhood experiences (parents are to blame), faulty and illogical thinking RCBT and DBT (Patients are to blame in Dialectic Behavior Therapy), or due to economic/political/ social environments (society is to blame) or in the case of PTSD a traumatic event. Hence many discussion boards on mental health are in fact "spreading" the very delusions and diseases, that they are trying to treat!!
When we look at a definition of "delusion" one dictionary defines it as:
"an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder ".
It becomes obvious that is a symptom and often seen as THE cause of mood disorders. If it is a delusion, then there is no way of changing the mind of those clients by any logical arguments. One has to accept it as a symptom and not a cause of irrational thinking. The only way of treating this delusion is by way of treating the underlying stress hormones that is ultimately responsible for the misinterpretation of mood disorders. See also discussion of "delusions" here. It may also explain the reason why talk-therapy is often ineffective.
It may be time for psychologists to recognize that non-psychotic delusions and misinterpretations of symptoms form an integral part in many forms (not all) of mood disorders not classed a psychotic.
From a psychological point of view much about our tendency to misinterpret our feelings in terms of environmental events - past or present - is explained in "Psychological Projection.
In the typical self-help discussion forum A may complain of depression and B comes along and suggest that to defeat this depression you "should learn to think in positive terms" by such or such a method. This is in fact reinforcing the notion that "depression is caused by negative thinking" in both A and B. Here, we have an example of how two persons in a "helping" relationship at a discussion forum can reinforce their own depression, when in fact that depression could be caused by a purely physiological or medical mechanism. It is like two blind persons describing an elephant after exploring it by touch.
In some self-help forums, the idea that therapy always must address the cognitive aspects of "mental illness" - the "psychological" model - may be an unquestionable axiom in the group's psychology. The idea that talk-therapy may indeed be harmful if the underlying biochemical aspect of a mood disorder is not dealt with FIRST, becomes so offensive as to be in breach of the "culture" of that discussion forum. Any such person claiming this will be banned immediately from further participating in the forum.
The usual signs of resistance to alternative ways of looking at problems are ad hominem arguments, attacking or concentrating on the motives of an author, instead of discussing the idea itself. The author now becomes the center of attention. The writer of such strange ideas must have an ulterior motive. Galileo became a devil for suggestion that the sun goes around the earth. That the earth is not flat. Psychologists call this "Cognitive Dissonance" triggering an anger reaction to its source.
This is what happened to me in such forums as PTSD.org Social Support Network and other discussion boards on mental health where I was banned for suggesting that PTSD may be a sign of an underlying metabolic disorder and not so much a disorder of the "mind".
Thus social support forums for mood disorders could be perpetuating the very illnesses, they trying to treat.
Victims of delusions become convinced that their false impressions are a reality with a religious enthusiasm. The term "mental illness" itself helps to reinforce delusions, because by definition (and by force of neurolinguistic programming) a mental illness is an "illness of the mind", which is a paramount assumption in the usual psychological model. This suggests that the problem lies "in the mind" instead of the body!! Of course, the idea that the problem lies in the mind makes treatment so simple and attractive - all you have to do is change your mind!!!!
This also explains why patients find it hard to accept the science of psychonutritional therapy, because they fail to recognise that their misinterpretations are delusions just as in other more serious cases of mental illness marked by overt delusions and hallucinations. Science is in conflict with their delusions!
The first step in endogenous depression (anxieties, PTSD, OCD, BPD whatever) is to recognize the biological nature of the disease, treat this accordingly FIRST, preferably by nutritional means, and then use psychotherapy to re-learn social skills, which have been damaged by the illness. Therefore;
BIOCHEMISTRY BEFORE PSYCHOTHERAPY!!
See also: Depression by Julia Ross, a Youtube video.
See also: Fallacious Arguments against Nutritional Therapy
Read:
Depression is a Nutritional Disorder
and discuss with a Nutritional Doctor.
