Self-Medicated?

I was thinking about medication as a means to treating mental illness, and wondered what you guys feel about this.

I guess in my mind, medication would be to help promote more healthy thoughts and emotions. I assume this is by the action of chemicals that interact with neuro-transmitters, and other chemicals active in the brain and body.

I was thinking that someone could simulate the action of medication, by mentally focusing on certain feelings.

You might try and cheer yourself up, or compose yourself so that you feel like you do when comfortable or 'normal'. Rather than let yourself be overcome, and treating it chemically, you could put your mind to work. You might calm try to yourself down first, by focusing your attitudes, before deciding it's time for another pill.

My questions... (Please have a think about it...)
- Do you think this can work?
- How realistic would this be in different cases?

(Bear in mind, you may still need medication, but you could develop techniques to help further. This could potentially be such a method.)

I've been reading a book on tantric yoga and the author says that each emotion we experience is linked to a pattern of breathing. The breathing pattern for anger is usually curt and choppy.

The author says that if you change your breathing pattern (to perhaps one that is slow and long) while you're feeling angry then you won't be able to hold onto that anger, and can presumably be more objective about the situation.

I personally don't agree with the amount of medication being used to "cure" mental neuroses these days. I think all of these mental ailments have roots in fear, resentment, longing, etc. and it's just life's way of trying to help you sort it out (why do we seem to be a magnet for the things we try to avoid?) By treating a symptom and not the root with the use of medications, people are then avoiding the same problems they need to overcome to be free, whole beings and consequently causing themselves a great deal more confusion and pain in the long run.

good point... point(s)

I of course, may not be the sharpest needle in the haystack... and yet I believe very soon the haystack will burn, and we'll be able to see every rusty little prick hiding here ~ lol!

here's why...

The Psychiatric field is similar [ nearly identical ] in their violation of the population as any crooked law enforcement group one could name...

their anti-American and anti-social and perhaps even Anti-Constitutional bent reads, (( to me )), identical to the peril of racial profiling...

but far worse...

With racial profiling, the presumed majority [ that have power ]
crafted rules behind closed doors and in smoking rooms, where segments of the population are isolated according to either demographics and/or race and definately according to social status...

and by culling from this "herd" all the malcontents they can "find"

(( all they need do is hang in a neighborhood or look ))

anyways... they don't always get the bad guys, a lot of good ones are wrongfully imprisoned jailed or executed... imperfect system..

What this does is ENSURE that the criminal elements of the non-stereotyped or profiled group will overwhelm the law abiding demographic of the SAME group...

Think about it... if you're eliminating the "BAD GUYS" from one neighborhood... and allowing the "BAD GUYS" from the next to proliferate... soon the imbalance will be overly aparent..

problem?

Well, while all the while touting the Good over the Bad... you've cleaned up the neighborhood of the very ones you're trying to subjugate or hold back with the bigotry of profiling...
And whoever is left, are! as good as it gets, perhaps in society as a whole...

And when they move towards controling an out of control government, and move into powerful positions... the GOOD from the powerful neighborhood will join the GOOD from the historically powerless neighborhoods... and conquer the BAD

It's the same way with Psychosematic problems and the psyche drugs... if anyone remembers.. the kid who talked out, raised his hand all the time, contradicted the teacher...?

He was raised to another grade level ahead of time
He was placed in advanced placement classes to occupy his agile mind
He was in and out of college ahead of schedule and
His genius was made available to the Public Good..

Now they give the kid a pill to slow him down, and stopped hiring teachers that can keep up with him
Now they say he is Behaviorially Challenged or ADD or hyper
They try to keep him on meds that shrink the brain all his life

They profiled the Genius in our Society, when they know that with very few Dietary Changes, he/she would be able to effect their rapid cycling mind in a way that they could socialize normally...

But being in bed with the FDA and the Giant Corporations and other if not all Government Arms... has its own big picture view..

It was easier to manage and deal with my daughter when she was a one year old, than now that she's 4years old...

my point...?

It's obvious to me now, that an uneducated mass of people is far easier to manage and CONTROL than the educated...

simple

Systems of Control.. IS culture

paz'

You should research cognitive behavioral therapy and REBT.

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They profiled the Genius in our Society, when they know that with very few Dietary Changes, he/she would be able to effect their rapid cycling mind in a way that they could socialize normally...

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Keen observation there Adam.

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Do you think this can work?

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Yes, but in some cases genetic disposition can make it extremely tough for someone to over come said thoughts. One should also consider that sometimes thoughts can build and that medication can be used to help people learn to control their thoughts.

However we do over medicate a lot.

The nature of Psychological or mental illness to be treated It first has to be diagnosed and here's the clincher accepted by the patient unlike with other ailments cancer /broken bones ect physical ailments can be sensed and understood by the patient no further convincing is needed to let the patient understand their ailment .
On the other hand a person with a mental illness may not understand their ailment or be able to see the difference between his and "a normal psyche "
examples
Skicofrenia
narcissism
autism/aspurgs

So chemical medication may be the only course of action

AS for ADD and ADHD misdiagnosis im sure do occur on a regular basis and some of the young talented minds of the future are being waisted because of ill trained doctors /psychologist (Qwacks).
But their are some very disruptive active children whom have learning difficulties and its up to the parent on what course of action to take to give their child the best chance in life .Not I believe a secret squirrel conspiracy to keep the population under control by the process of lowering its collective Intelligence

so to sum up as with everything their is a happy balance. Chemical medication and what it can do for the mind and bodys health is a modern wonder, But it is still only part of any treatment
if your mentally ill a change in diet may help ,talking about your problems may help perhaps even controlled breathing. every person is different and has their own requirements ,Stay informed ,Stay positive ,Stay healthy .

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"...secret squirrel conspiracy ...'

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I couldn't have resisted any better... take it from someone dealing with a dumbed down world... which used to rank high in the top ten among countries for education...

who is personally dealing with one of those "individualized" scenarios ~ where his daughter is hyper attentive, due to an increased sensitivity to her environment spurred on by her razor sharp intellect..

she's 4 years old and conducts herself like a 50 year old woman ~ the stories that won't even reach her memoires are amazing...

The society is so conditioned to be weak, as there is nearly no place for a person of her intensity to fully express without causing a disruption...

there used to be stringent guidelines, discipline and a demand on personal accountability inherently expressed in our culture..
not so much so, anymore

now she will/would be a disciplinary issue... then she would have been disciplined..

there's a difference

both in affect and outcome ~ hence ~ potential can be incumbered by too much freedom and excess..

the wealth of a family can ruin the education of the child...

everybody knows that...

I guess I couldn't resist either

paz'

the jury is still out on this issue. there are different fields of psychology that deal with things differently. if you're into psychoanalysis than you believe that all thoughts and feelings are manifestations of past events and that mere reflection and expression of your emotions can help you overcome your illness.

From a biological perspective, mental illness is the result of chemical imbalances in your brain that do have a lot to do with neurotransmitters, and several have to do with a chemical called serotonin that does a lot to effect your mood, and the thoughts that you have.

Still others believe it all has to do with things you've been conditioned to believe and or do or not do.

Personally I believe we use drugs too freely. The reason psych drugs are so popular now is that they are a quick fix and typically cheaper than paying a psychiatrist to meet with you on a regular basis, and people now-a-days love nothing more than instant gratification.

I think a lot of problems can be solved by good counseling and, as i believe it was adam said, getting to the heart of the problem and not just treating a symptom with drugs. The problem is, a lot of people don't want to take the time, and they don't want to have to pay the money for it. So yes there is a better answer, but it doesn't seem like a popular one.

in addition, the breathing thing is more or less a product of an emotion as opposed to a cause or a parallel symptom. When you are angry your breathing does become heavy and choppy, but that is because of the heightened excitement you are feeling, the same thing happens after running. Controlling how you breath will help to change your mood because it will cause a biological change in your body much like drugs will. It isn't a long term solution, but it helps to calm you down.

my quick thoughts on drugs, having been through many a mental hostpital and forced feed the poison is that it changes you, and if you take some thing else. Say your bi-polar, they tend to have very strong, overwhelming thoughts feeling, leading into actions. Say you give them a mood stablizer like depakote that is bascically a serotonin balancer. All mental illness drugs work in this similair way, by supplying a supplement for a neurotransmitter, as you continue to take the serotonin balancer, your body starts to make less and less of it on its own untill you can feel your personaillity become colder and colder as serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in passsion. at least this is how I feel from personal expirence, it can help but really you need to read philosophy and learn about yourself to truly change your outlook on life, but believe me genitics does play in, and there are cases that it is absolutely nesscary but mostly I think big pharmas out to make a buck and the herd of sheep that is the american public will usually lean towards convience and illusion, religion the worst mental illness of them all.

ChrisD

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By treating a symptom and not the root with the use of medications, people are then avoiding the same problems they need to overcome to be free, whole beings and consequently causing themselves a great deal more confusion and pain in the long run.

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That's what psychoanalysis believes in and that's why they rely on the talking cure...the analyst does nothing, he just sits and listen's ( really listening each word and emotion of the patient).
It's up to the patient to dig deep and find keys to unlock the complexes and let them have a voice for once instead of using your body through symptoms as their spokesperson.
Chemicals can help but they wont treat the root as ChrisD pointed out. And if the bad root is not extracted from it's rear end it will sprout from some other place in a different symptomatical expression.