Medicines For Mental Illnesses - Comments

Medicines For Mental Illnesses - Comments


Note : The article below is about the hidden hazardous side effects of modern medications meant for the treatment of mental illnesses.



In fact most of the depression-related medications, especially the antipsychotics (such as Risperdal etc) meant for the treatment of such mental illnesses as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder etc would tend to carry such hidden and potentially hazardous and disastrous side effects (especially the ones manifesting in the forms of various uncontrollable, involuntary and purposeless movements / muscle twitching disorders on the parts of the eyes, face, arms, legs etc) as Extrapyramidal Symptoms , Tardive Dyskinesia, Dystonia, Akathisia, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and in some serious cases, the neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinsonism etc.




Next, no matter how sophisticated the modern drugs are being invented and developed, especially the second-generation antipsychotics, such a potential side effect remains inherent in such medications that carry the side effects of antagonizing the dopamine receptors (one of the main neurotransmitters / the key elements of neurons / nerve cells in our nervous system essential for the control of human body motions) . Even though the possibility of manifestation of such neuromuscular symptoms may be very small or even negligible as proven by the established scientific research, other experimental and clinical verifications, it would still depend on such other factors as the different physical conditions of the users of such drugs, other unexpected possible allergy cases etc.




All in all, it would be the amount of medical attention and professional care of the medical personnel dealing with the specific cases of their patients and dispensing the drugs with such dopamine-disturbing side effects that would be primarily essential to ensure the non-occurrence of such disorders or minimize the risk of getting such disastrous and undesired neuromuscular side effects.


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Follow-up



In regard of the topic elaborated above, well, based on my real life observations so far, usually the paper catalogues, pamphlets and brochures for such medications would tend to include the information about their side effects in the forms of fine prints and some very small-size characters in that many users would most of the time tend to ignore them or simply take them as some medical jargons that are otherwise meaningless to them.



But in reality, it's always important to at least get an understanding about the medications that one takes so as to take precautions against any unwanted disastrous side effects from them. Lastly, I hope that the information given above will be useful to the intended readers. Thank you.

In regard of the post made above, as a matter of fact, since I am a non-Pakistan foreigner, naturally I wouldn't know how the Pakistan society's perception in general would be for the ones suffering from mental illnesses. However, most of the antidepressants / antipsychotics / medications for miscellaneous mental illnesses do absolutely carry such potentially disastrous side effects that may ruin the lives of the ones suffering painfully from them especially when such medications are taken haphazardly and arbitrarily by its users. Next, the ones who are unfortunate enough to get such disastrous neurological movements-incapacitating side effects / sicknesses would usually have got no choice but to make do with their misfortunes (such as the recently reported case of the leading actor of 'Harry Porter')



In my case, I was suffering from the 'visually incapacitating' sickness of involuntary uncontrollable purposeless rapid eyelid-twitching/ eye-blinking caused by the side effects of Risperdal - being one of the symptoms of Tardive Dyskinesia.



As for my sad story, actually I had got a large family with some small kids to support by the time I got this uncontrollably rapid eyelid-twitching / eye-blinking sickness. Later on when I was fired by my boss because of 'unsatisfactory work performances' (I was working in a bank by that time) due largely to this eye-blinking sickness (countless times in a split second and you just wouldn't be able to imagine how serious it was), my other family members just ended up suffering poverty and hardships together with me.



I had a very hard time dealing with that. I tried almost everything and they cost me a fortune...from eye drops, vitamin / mineral pills, neurobions, anti-muscle-spasms pills / injections, chiropractic and then to Botox injections (whose muscle-paralysing effects lasted only temporarily - 3 to 6 months).



Luckily I got this sickness effectively and totally cured in the end through acupuncture therapy and got my normal life back and my family needn't suffer anymore now.



I just hope that by making such posts about my personal experiences with these drugs in this website, they will at least to a certain extent help the other individuals to become aware of the hidden hazards of such drugs so that they themselves could just avoid following in the footsteps of my sorry past.



Besides, my real life experiences and observations simply tell me that there tend to be more and more grown individuals, especially the working adults nowadays who would eventually turn to such depression-related drugs to deal with the stressful work-related pressures that they could hardly cope (and the economy anywhere is still taking a downturn now while the fuel prices continue rising almost everyday, and hey, it's really tough making a decent living nowadays). So I guess it would just be rationally reasonable enough for this group of people to at least take note of such an issue about the undesired side effects of such drugs to take the necessary precautions against them so as to avoid any unwanted disasters that may potentially ruin their lives and perhaps also the ones directly and indirectly dependent upon them altogether.

Depression-related Medications - My Personal Opinions



In addition, my opinion for such depression-related medications is such that in the case of depression sickness itself which would only cause a person to have a lower self-esteem, lose interest in mixing with other people and to a certain extent make one feel reluctant to go to work sometimes, it certainly will not worth one's while to soley depend on such drugs to relieve such a mental disorder at the expense of getting all the disastrous irreversible physically incapacitating side effects from such drugs eventually.




Hence, my point of view is that extreme cautions should be exercised when one has got no choice but to take such drugs to deal with their mental disorders.

Please be informed that such depression-related medication as Risperdal is actually meant in reality for prescription purposes by the related medical personnel / specialists to be taken by any of its current and prospective users temporarily for a period of 6 months and below (after which it should be replaced with something else).



Such a measure is intended as a safety precaution to safeguard its users from any of its unwanted disastrous physically incapacitating side effects that will almost in all cases manifest onto the ones taking such medication over the long-term. In connection, it's actually at the same time, a strictly-adhered medical practice / protocol for the medical professions of U.S, European and other western countries.

In addition, clinical evidences also indicate that those troubled with mental disorders, especially the serious ones, shouldn't just rely solely upon the medications as the one and only means of solution to their mental problems.


To put it bluntly, such medications, they are no different from sleeping pills whereby their calming effects just 'come and go' after the lapse of their effective period whilst their potential disastrous side effects can be permanent upon manifestations. In medical sense, such mental disorders, especially the serious ones is mainly caused by the malfunctionings of the mood regulator neurotransmitter, especially Serotonin in the brain. Next, though the related medications can to a certain extent bring such a severe mental disorder under control by 'artificially' regulating, blocking and controlling the re-uptake of it in the brain of the persons suffering from it, medications alone however, by no means would be able to deal conclusively with the problems due to the fact that the root causes of such a disorder is actually resulting largely from the environmental, circumstantial and other interpersonal factors (or the changes of them) that are deemed to be emotionally and adversely unacceptable to the ones suffering from it to a very great extent. Such negative changes in turn actually account for the negative behavioural changes in them as described



In short, it remains the truth that most of the antipsychotics / neuroleptics meant for especially the treatment of chronic mental illnesses would tend to work in such a way that they would need to change / alter the chemical balances in the brain of those taking such medications in the process of bringing such disorders under control. In the process of doing so, such a mechanism would unavoidably and eventually antagonize the neurotransmitters of the nervous system, especially the serotonin and dopamine (which is necessary for various neuromuscular functions), and hence disturb and interfere with the normal functionings of the nerves of the human body.


Next, though it may take years for such undesirable side effects / scenario to manifest onto the ones taking such medications, I am just in the opinion that in the case of the medications having potentially such unwanted side effects, it would naturally be the duty of the medical personnel / specialists-in-charge to take all the precautionary measures to safeguard the well-being of the patients for the sake of their healthcare and welfare.



The real-life examples that I have come across so far is such that for the ones relying merely upon medications and nothing else to deal with their mental disorders, they would tend to develop both emotional and psychological dependences upon such medictions over the long-term whilst getting their mental conditions deteriorated from time to time, eg, from neurosis to psychosis and then just acquire all those almost irreversibly disastrous undesirable side effects like Extrapyramidal Symptoms, Tardive Dyskinesia, Dystonia, Akathisia, Parkinsonism disorders etc from such medications in the end.


In such a connection, psychotherapy, emotional and other communication supports would be needed to complement the use of the related medications to achieve greater curative effects for such patients troubled by chronic mental disorder.


As such, medications is one thing, but the mental / cognitive abilities of the patients themselves to eventually change their views and perceptions about their environments / surroundings, circumstances and people they are facing in a more positve way, particularly developed through the help of such counselling supports from the others in order for them to really get better and gradually develop positive behavioural / personal changes, is simply another thing that cannot achieved solely with the help of medications alone.


In a nutshell, medications alone by no means can be a substitute for the positive interpersonal experiences that such patients would eventually need for genuine improvement and recovery of their sanity and the use of them should at the same time be complemented by other psychotherapy efforts to achieve the purpose of holistic healing.


Lastly, I hope that the information given above will turn out to be useful to its intended readers. Thank you.

Statistics of Recovery Cases For Mental Illnesses



In fact, statistical evidences actually show that among the ones getting mental illnesses, especially the serious one like Schizophrenia, generally one-third of the population of such people would eventually manage to achieve full recovery, another one-third would gain significant improvements while getting sporadic relapses of such disorders, whilst the remaining rest would just get their disorders worsened day after day until no recovery is conceivably possible.


Lastly, what I am trying to say is that as long as there're hopes in getting improvements for one's mental disorders, one should put in the necessary efforts and work hard towards that goal of gaining more and more sanities and finally full recoveries if possible.

But what I see most of my students are living in a world of illusions, delusions and profound confusion. They are so tough nuts to crack, that I have lost all hope in bringing them back to sanity.

I can, but, just only say one word now: "Manufacturer's Fault"- Programmed for Self Destruction, these mechanized self destroying robots would one day realize that they are at the loser's end

General Cognitive Behavioural Process



Well, a psychologist has actually explained to me before that any human actions / behaviours are generally dictated by a cognitive mental process summarized such as follows, and it would apply as well to the ones suffering from any mental disorders, but nevertheless are still mentally and cognitively well-aware of their surroundings and other objects / factors around them. Next, I find that such reasonings really make great senses, and hence, I just feel like to share it with the intended readers :-


Perceptions (anything we see, we hear, we know, we taste, we touch etc from our surroundings / other people) => Feelings (the way we feel about our surroundings and other people based on anything we see, hear, know, taste, touch etc) => Thoughts (the types of views and opinions that we form in our minds based on the types of feelings we have for anything we perceive) => Actions (how we choose to react in response to those surroundings / other people based on the feelings and thoughts that arise in our minds).


In such a regard, the underlying problem faced by the ones with schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and other mental disorders are such that they would tend to treat their perceptions (as mentioned above) in a very much negatively different way, and that in turn results in them forming all those negative feelings, thoughts and then all those negative actions of which others get to label them as negative behavioural / personality changes.


For example, a person suffering from schizophrenia may, after 'observing' his surroundings, (Perceptions), just in turn, for certain reasons like past traumatic experiences, anxiety disorders, panic attacks etc, would tend to spontaneously and directly feel very much uncomfortable, anxious, scared and fearful for what they get to see, hear, know, touch etc (Feelings) , and in extreme cases, maybe they may get to hear 'voices' and feel very much threatened by their surroundings then have such false and unreal imaginations of which they subconsciously choose to firmly believe in that someone out there is 'really' / 'actually' threatening his life (Thoughts or in this case, purely false hallucinations), and finally just try his very best based on his own misguided judgements, to subconsciously become violently defensive and hostile against the others in order to save himself, from being killed etc (Actions).


Similarly, such an explanation to a certain extent would apply as well to the ones having such disorders like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Claustrophobia (a morbid fear of being closed in a confined space) etc whereby a given surrounding, which may appear normal to other people, would nevertheless and otherwise appear to be abnormally unacceptable to them possibly because of past traumatic experiences, anxiety disorders, panic attacks and other reasons. Next, the feelings and thoughts that such people would have based what they perceive for the given surrounding in turn would be largely uncontrollable, if not subconciously involuntary, while their subsequent responses/ reactions / actions based on their such negative feelings and thoughts, would in turn be very much the so-called reflex reactions which are substantially and in most cases, totally beyond their self-control.


In this regard, it would be very much helpful for the ones dealing with such persons to understand their basic underlying problems and difficulties and in turn treat them considerately and thoughtfully with care, respects and most importantly, compassion, whilst at the same time, also try to be friendly and amicable to them in such as a way that rather than feeling uncomfortable with a given surrounding and becoming agitated, these persons would on the other hand, feel more mind-easing, emotionally calm, placated, pacified, soothed, comfortable and relaxing with that given 'uneasy' / 'uncomfortable' / 'threatening' surroundings that they perceive. Subsequently, all these efforts will definitely be tremendously conducive to the improvements of the conditions of their disorders and possibly the final recovery in the end.


With all due respect, the antipsychotics and other neuroleptics just serve to temporarily block such negative nerve impulses about their such negative perceptions from getting sent to the brain of the ones having such disorders so as to artificially block all those negative feelings, thoughts, and then the actions. Hence, they are simply not a conclusive and permanent solution to such disorders.


Well, in such a context, the most direct way of treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in the most effective, and maybe largely hypothetical way would be for such persons to totally change their perceptions about their surroundings, environments, the other people in a positive way and to start having positive and realistic thoughts and at the same time, to get rid of those hallucinations, fanciful ideas, little by little gradually and slowly out of their mind and replace them with anything normal, practical, realistic and positive. Theorectically, positive perceptions => positive feelings =>positive thoughts => positive actions.


In this sense, a great deal of interpersonal, interactive, communications and emotional supports from the ones genuinely willing to help them would be very much essential in getting this achieved, essentially in changing the ways they perceive, feel and think for anything they deal with so as to enable them to come to a decision on their own to have positive actions.


Nonetheless, above all these external constructive helps from the others, all the self-initiatives, self-controls and self-disciplines that are meant to be exercised, essentially on the parts of the ones suffering from such a disorder, particularly to 'mentally-train' themselves to think realistically, positively, optimistically and to cast out / expel all those weird thoughts, hallucinations, fanciful imaginations and preposterous urges and whims little by little out of their minds and get them replaced with the positive, practical and realistic ones, so as to slowly develop positive behavioural changes in themselves, would in turn actually be the decisive factor in determining whether their conditions will pracitcally improve or not, slowly and gradually in the end.



Further References (Please Look For Posts Made By ntuc) :


http://www.mentalhealthforum.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3039

But what I see most of my students are living in a world of illusions, delusions and profound confusion. They are so tough nuts to crack, that I have lost all hope in bringing them back to sanity.

I can, but, just only say one word now: "Manufacturer's Fault"- Programmed for Self Destruction, these mechanized self destroying robots would one day realize that they are at the loser's end
_________________
The One and the Real Leader: Aitzaz Ahsan
The One and the Real Hero: Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudry




Well, in my opinion, it would be quite important for the ones trying to help them to firstly find out the main and underlying reasons as to why your students are living in a world of illusions, delusions and profound confusion. Do the causes lie in drug abuses, their backgrounds and surroundings or the negative influences from the peers / other people. In such a connection, one of the viable solutions here would be to do something effective to keep them away from those negative factors / influences.


Based on my personal observations and experiences dealing with such people, it would be extremely difficult for anyone else to 'drag' such people out of thier world of illusions, delusions and profound confusion and 'bring' them back to the world of reality due to the very fact that psychologically, such people, rather than heeding or taking directly the kind advices from others, they would somehow choose to firmly believe in their own personal distorted beliefs / ideologies / views that those illusions, delusions and profound confusion could keep giving to them. For example, when anyone were to talk seriously about something in real life to such people, they would then answer back based on ' imaginary facts' derived from their own illusions, delusions and profound confusion, and hence, it's simply very difficult to make them come to their senses directly. In short, no one could 'do the positive / sensible thinking' for them / on their behalf in order for they themselves to 'walk out' of their own world of illusions, delusions and profound confusion.


Next, if such people were to become normal again so as to think positively, rationally, realistically and sensibly, it would eventually need they themselves to finally come to realising their own 'mistakes' in the end and starting to make positive changes on their own.


Hence, rather than giving direct advices, counselling and instructions ; the inductive, indirect reasonsings and persuasions done in a carefully-planned, subtle and tactful way by someone wishing to help them would be much useful in such cases.


For example, one would need to look for a certain occasion / opportunity, such as when having meals, jogging, watching tv etc with such students, to start a casual talk with them in a nice and friendly way and most importantly, listen to what they say patiently over the entire conversation. And it's important for anyone trying to help them to hide their real intentions from those students for the purpose of the inductive, indirect reasonings and persuasions embodied in such casual conversations.


Then, you may indirectly, without them noticing your intention, discuss something about their future. In this regard, having listened to what they say, you may indirectly ask such questions like ' what do you intend to do when you grow up ?' , 'without proper academic qualifications, how are you going to survive after you finish schooling ?', 'who is going to support you after you finish schooling ?', 'are the ones that you actually care about really happy about the way you live your life ?' etc.


'The One and the Real Leader: Aitzaz Ahsan
The One and the Real Hero: Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudry'


Well, you actually have mentioned about these people and I have read something about them online through the internet. And if it actually turns out that your students actually ideolize / worhip such famous people as the Real Leader / Real Hero, maybe you could just focus your casual conversations with them on their lives, what are the the great things they have done and then the mindsets they have ever since childhood. Then maybe you can just make indirect implications to them (by showing some related reference materials about these persons such as their biographies etc) that these people, apart from having great ambitions, big plans in their minds, most importantly, they would eventually be willing to really work hard all the way ever since they are small, put in all the necessary efforts and make all the needed sacrifices to actually carry out their plans to get them realistically accomplished instead of just daydreaming / having illusions, delusions and profound confusions about them.


Then as a conclusion, maybe you can inductively and indirectly ask such questions like ' what 'those thoughts' that you tend to have in your mind all the time would bring to you / lead you to in the end ?' 'would you actually achieve anything by just 'thinking about those things' alone while doing nothing else ?', If such famous people were to know about the way you live your life, then how would they think about you in return ?' etc. In such a connection, the purpose of asking such questions (indirectly and inductively) would be to guide / lead them gradually and slowly to the world of reality away from their 'world of illusions / delusions / profound confusions'.


Subsequently, when these new ideas imparted inductively and indirectly to these people by the ones trying to help them are accepted into their minds, these people would then very much possibly just compare and contrast the real-world scenarios with their distorted unrealistic beliefs /ideas / ideologies that come from their illusions, delusions and deep confusions and then start making their own conclusions.


When this happens, there would be a very good chance for they themselves to eventually come to their own senses and then choose to embrace the world of reality by thinking more positively, rationally and realistically.


Lastly, patience would take a long way to achieve this given the fact that if they have been living in their world of illusions, delusions and profound confusion for a long time, it would hardly for anyone or they themselves to change the whole scenario once and for all just overnight.