Mental Hellth

These are the days of quick fixes and instant gratification. It seems as if no one has the patience to wait for results and real problems are covered up and buried without ever being resolved.

Depression and anxiety disorders are two of the most common mental/emotional disorders in this country. Common courses of treatment: drugs, drugs, and more drugs. Now, while it's true that drugs do have their rightful place in treatment, whatever happened to that old-fashioned concept of psychoanalysis?


I know a young lady who has had a panic disorder for about 3 years. It's a mild one, but frustrating to her nonetheless. Her shrink talks to her about once a month, just enough to refill her prescriptions for Xanax, Paxil, Buspar and several other medications. They have never once discussed other methods of treatment. They have never discussed how to change her thought processes or how she can learn to change her reactions to situations. They have simply put her on drugs and she is exactly in the same position that she was 3 years ago. That have essentially cut her off at the knees. Any time she talks about going back to work, they are quick to tell her 'no we don't think you're ready'. But they are not so quick to take her off of the drugs, or to actually sit down and find the root cause of the problem.

Children with ADD or ADHD: drugs, drugs and more drugs. So few people bother to look for another cause of the disorder. They just want the problem to go away. They don't necessarily want to fix it, they just want to shut it up. (I'm not talking about the parents mind you, but the mental health care field as a whole.)

If there is not an organic cause, something actually physically wrong with the brain itself, why keep these people on drugs for quite possibly the rest of their lives? Is that fair to them or to their loved ones? Why can't the mental health professionals just do their jobs and talk to these people, get into their heads, figure out where the wiring short-circuited? Why are they so quick to give you a feel-good pill versus going on the trip with you until you get to the end of the road labeled 'well'?

I have had a panic disorder for 15 years. For a year and a half (1997-98) I was almost completely agoraphobic. (Meaning I could almost never go out of the house without having a panic attack) The one time I managed to talk to a shrink, the first thing she told me was "Well, I would like you to try this medication." I politely told her no thank you, had my friend check out some books from the library for me, prayed a lot and did the work myself. I haven't had a severe panic attack in over 5 years. It took a long time but with the help of real friends who were willing to talk to me and education I finally overcame it.

Like I said, there is a place for drugs in treatment, but drugs alone are not the cure for anything.

I know that there are some mental health care professionals who are NOT in it for the money, who actually have a heart for helping people. There are just not enough of them.

Sorry for the rant peeps. Sometimes you just gotta haul back and let fly though.

Peace allll..........