Poll: Mental illness: a conspiracy?

[Davey Woo]

I think the amount of kids I hear about from my mums skill with ADHD (attention defecit hyperactive disorder???) is phenomenal, I think alot of hyperactive behaviour from children is just to grab attention, or due to bad parenting, and alot of parents use ADHD as an excuse for bad behaviour.
One example, a 9 year old at my mums school, brings a kitchen knife to school in his bag. The teachers find it, ALL of the kids in his year said he brought it in because he was going to stab somebody, he said he didn't, his mum got into school and told the teachers "his baby sister must have put it in there" and that "he's got suspected ADHD" and their kids let off with a verbal warning and thats that.
I'm 16 now, and "suspected ADHD" wouldn't stop school from expelling me straight away, and I know even if I was 9 I'd at least be suspended.
I think the "advances" in mental health research mean that kids (who in my opinion just need a bit of discipline) get an easy ride out of bad behaviour because they "have ADHD"

Sorry about that I just needed to rant (I hate young children)

But yea I think minor mental problems like dyslexia and ADHD are WAY over diagnosed. But I think the heavy stuff like bi-polar, autism and schizo are legit.

 

[razer17]

I volunteer at a book club for mentally disabled kids. One of them has Down syndrome. The others have other mental illnesses of varying degrees. A few have facial deformities that go with it.

No, after knowing these kids, there's no doubt in my mid that they exist.

I agree with orannis. Things like ADD and whatnot that have no physical presence on the body besides behaviour can be said to not really exist, but if they really-

Actually, screw all of the above. Now I have only two things to say:
1)Down syndrome isn't a mental illness it's a chromosomical disorder, EDIT: Point taken already while I wrote this crap
2)Do any mental illnesses have any physical effect on the body? If not, how do we know they exist?

yes many mental illnesses have measurable effect on the body. for one thing there is increased dopamine in schizophrenics, and lowered serotonin in depressive, and heightened levels in those with anxiety. then their is the fact that things such as OCD and Phobia have a clear effect on people, often to standards not even brad pitt could act up to.

 

[razer17]

Mental illness is something that modern society is pretty much helpless against. There are no cures and one of the most effective treatments is electro-shock therapy. Yes it still exists and actually works and doctors are experimenting with installing electrodes under the skull for smaller, more frequent treatments. If this doesn't scare you, have a brain frying device inserted into your skull because you don't think like everyone else, then you probably have known someone with a mental illness and realize the desperation that leads to this kind of thing.

ECT is rarely used in modern psychological treatments. its uncomfortable and unethical ( can't get fully informed consent). generally it is used as a last resort for suicidal depressives, and it has a similar effectiveness to drugs and cognitive therapy.
edit- ok i realise you said it is one of the most effective, not the most effective, my mistake

 

[antipunt]

When you can prove a mental illness by studying brain chemistry and neuron pathways, and can prove beyond a doubt that there is a physical difference between someone diagnosed with a mental disorder and someone who does not have one, then yes, you can prove that they exist. To claim that it's just trying to make an excuse for people with behavioral problems is just stupid, and borderline offensive.

This

 

[GothmogII]

Mental illness does exist and it's because of the ignorance of a surprising amount of people that there are so many people suffering because of it.
However, shit like dyslexia is just a middle class excuse for not being bothered.

I don't get you. You at the same time express how mental illness does exist, and how people are suffering because of ignorance about it. Then utterly pull yourself down to their level by claiming how dyslexia is 'just a middle class excuse', bull. Shit.

 

[GothmogII]

When you can prove a mental illness by studying brain chemistry and neuron pathways, and can prove beyond a doubt that there is a physical difference between someone diagnosed with a mental disorder and someone who does not have one, then yes, you can prove that they exist. To claim that it's just trying to make an excuse for people with behavioral problems is just stupid, and borderline offensive.

This

Okay...side with the prick. That's fair. Just please, do yourself a favour and go visit a special needs school or a psychiatric hospital. Then come back and say these words: It's all in their heads, it's all their fault. They're just making excuses. Every single one.

 

[IronDuke]

Yes, they are real, but yes they are over-diagnosed. I don't think anyone can really argue with the evidence of full blown schizophrenics-they really aren't pretending.

Of course there are some illnesses that through vague symptoms can be diagnosed when they are not actually present; depression, ADD, ADHD are the common ones, and yes, in these situations it is because of people labelling something incorrectly in order to deal with it the easy way. Spanking should not have been criminalised, I know I, and all the people I know who were spanked turned out decent enough, and I know that those I am aquainted with who were treated like the boss at such a young age instead of harsher more appropriate parenting ended up as soft cushy brats on a prescription to Dexamphetamines or similar. I can't say if ADD is real and if so overprescribed with medication or not, but I know I'll take an appropriate course in raising my kids-if they turn out ADDish, well I'm not sure what I'll do yet...

I was depressed for a very long time, but didn't seek help until it eventually became Bi-polar disorder and began disrupting my life catastrophically. I was afraid of being labelled in a derogatory manner for something I couldn't control because most people at that age don't understand what other people can be suffering- especially since you try hard to appear happy and normal so as to avoid further alienation. I just thought I was weak emotionally and even teased others when they said they had depression because I couldn't believe it was a real thing happening to me. It was. I came to terms with it and others should to. Noone can really say what another person is experiencing and they shouldn't try to. I'm fairly certain scientists have proven that depression/bi-polar is caused by different chemical/neurotransmitter concentrations, though I can't vouch for other illnesses.

Anyway, they are real and of varying degrees and I suppose in time we will come to understand them better.

 

[new_age_reject]

Mental illness does exist and it's because of the ignorance of a surprising amount of people that there are so many people suffering because of it.
However, shit like dyslexia is just a middle class excuse for not being bothered.

I don't get you. You at the same time express how mental illness does exist, and how people are suffering because of ignorance about it. Then utterly pull yourself down to their level by claiming how dyslexia is 'just a middle class excuse', bull. Shit.

Because there are serious mental illnesses that seriously effect peoples lives.
There are also times when some people supposedly have ADHD and dyslexia when clearly it is just their child being a brat that needs to face a bit of discipline.

 

[Zannthebored]

I volunteer at a book club for mentally disabled kids. One of them has Down syndrome. The others have other mental illnesses of varying degrees. A few have facial deformities that go with it.

No, after knowing these kids, there's no doubt in my mid that they exist.

I agree with orannis. Things like ADD and whatnot that have no physical presence on the body besides behaviour can be said to not really exist, but if they really-

Actually, screw all of the above. Now I have only two things to say:
1)Down syndrome isn't a mental illness it's a chromosomical disorder,
2)Do any mental illnesses have any physical effect on the body?

Well, extreme anxiety and distress can cause a variety of effects, including hair loss, diarrhoea, vomiting etc. But, I do stress the extreme bit, it's not exactly common for people to have their hair fall out after a bout of depression, but, there still are physiological symptoms that come on as a result of psychological problems.

As a simple example: You know when you get butterflies in your stomach when you're doing something stressful, like a job interview etc? Well, imagine that, only the feeling is so strong it causes vomiting.

That's quite true, actually. Funny how you don't think of these things, eh?

 

[CoziestPigeon]

Over-diagnosed. Half the jackasses I know who say they have Assburger's (however you spell it) are just really, really, really terrible people.

 

[antipunt]

When you can prove a mental illness by studying brain chemistry and neuron pathways, and can prove beyond a doubt that there is a physical difference between someone diagnosed with a mental disorder and someone who does not have one, then yes, you can prove that they exist. To claim that it's just trying to make an excuse for people with behavioral problems is just stupid, and borderline offensive.

This

Okay...side with the prick. That's fair. Just please, do yourself a favour and go visit a special needs school or a psychiatric hospital. Then come back and say these words: It's all in their heads, it's all their fault. They're just making excuses. Every single one.

Can you please, for the love of God, read a post in its entirety before you attack someone. Jesus Christ, how could you possibly think I'd believe mental illnesses were fake. Can you -read-?

 

[GothmogII]

Mental illness does exist and it's because of the ignorance of a surprising amount of people that there are so many people suffering because of it.
However, shit like dyslexia is just a middle class excuse for not being bothered.

I don't get you. You at the same time express how mental illness does exist, and how people are suffering because of ignorance about it. Then utterly pull yourself down to their level by claiming how dyslexia is 'just a middle class excuse', bull. Shit.

Because there are serious mental illnesses that seriously effect peoples lives.
There are also times when some people supposedly have ADHD and dyslexia when clearly it is just their child being a brat that needs to face a bit of discipline.

Then why not say that from the get go? I don't like the people who abuse mental illness either, the only people it hurts are the people who actually do suffer from these illnesses.

 

[GothmogII]

When you can prove a mental illness by studying brain chemistry and neuron pathways, and can prove beyond a doubt that there is a physical difference between someone diagnosed with a mental disorder and someone who does not have one, then yes, you can prove that they exist. To claim that it's just trying to make an excuse for people with behavioral problems is just stupid, and borderline offensive.

This

Okay...side with the prick. That's fair. Just please, do yourself a favour and go visit a special needs school or a psychiatric hospital. Then come back and say these words: It's all in their heads, it's all their fault. They're just making excuses. Every single one.

Can you please, for the love of God, read a post in its entirety before you attack someone. Jesus Christ, how could you possibly think I'd believe mental illnesses were fake. Can you -read-?

Nope, read it again, feel free to correct this gist:

Unless it can be proven otherwise that there is a physical difference between someone with and without a mental illness. ----> To claim otherwise is to make an excuse on the part of those who are currently understood to be under the effects of these illnesses.

Ergo: Until there are/is readable physical data to prove so - Metal illness is either, greatly exaggerated or non-existent.


Maybe I am overreacting, but do tell anyway.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

"Talk to a schizophrenic, tell me they are pretending"

I do talk to myself regularly.

 

[Good morning blues]

Obviously, a lot of mental illness is 100% real. Some, however, is a complete sham, and that applies to physical illness as well.

The biggest issue with the OP is that the "conspiracy" is not on the part of the mentally ill - they are the victims. People serve to profit from mental illness, and that introduces a number of issues.

Important is political benefits to mental illness. The obvious advantage is that you can just ship away your political opponents if you can successfully declare them insane - see the Soviet Union and "Creeping Schizophrenia." The less obvious advantage is that the label of an "illness" thrusts the problem onto the individual rather than the context that brought it about. An example is post-traumatic stress disorder. It is treated as an illness - that is, as a problem in the individual that must be corrected. The fact that it is a perfectly natural and reasonable response to wartime experience is outside the scope of psychology; the factors that led to the patient getting the disease at all are left unexamined. This is also especially typical of depression.

There's also the issue of profitability. Some kinds probably do have some sort of chemical imbalance causing erratic behavior; many more are probably diagnosed with such in order to sell a lot of Ritalin. The same is doubtlessly true with at least a few diagnoses of depression and with several physical conditions such as high cholesterol (which is only actually damaging to people who have already suffered a heart attack).

Mental illness isn't a myth, but it's really easy to use for some super-shady purposes.

 

[Ago Iterum]

It's way over diagnosed. Any kid who cries has 'ADHD' these days.

I once knew a person from these forums who pretended to be mentally ill to get benefits so he didn't have to work. That made me sick. It's despicable.

 

[Agayek]

Most mental illness is legitimate.

Things like ADD though, are completely ludicrous. Any child with ADD needs nothing more than a slap upside the head and to be told to shut the fuck up.

 

[antipunt]

When you can prove a mental illness by studying brain chemistry and neuron pathways, and can prove beyond a doubt that there is a physical difference between someone diagnosed with a mental disorder and someone who does not have one, then yes, you can prove that they exist. To claim that it's just trying to make an excuse for people with behavioral problems is just stupid, and borderline offensive.

This

Okay...side with the prick. That's fair. Just please, do yourself a favour and go visit a special needs school or a psychiatric hospital. Then come back and say these words: It's all in their heads, it's all their fault. They're just making excuses. Every single one.

Can you please, for the love of God, read a post in its entirety before you attack someone. Jesus Christ, how could you possibly think I'd believe mental illnesses were fake. Can you -read-?

Nope, read it again, feel free to correct this gist:

Unless it can be proven otherwise that there is a physical difference between someone with and without a mental illness. ----> To claim otherwise is to make an excuse on the part of those who are currently understood to be under the effects of these illnesses.

Ergo: Until there are/is readable physical data to prove so - Metal illness is either, greatly exaggerated or non-existent.


Maybe I am overreacting, but do tell anyway.

Dear God, I can't believe I'm doing this. OK, fine, I'll do it, but I only ask for an apology in return afterwards:

1. "When you can prove a mental illness by studying brain chemistry and neuron pathways, and can prove beyond a doubt that there is a physical difference between someone diagnosed with a mental disorder and someone who does not have one, then yes, you can prove that they exist. "

He is saying, you -can- prove there are mental illnesses. Why? Because I've studied neurology and everything he says is fact, and he knows it as well. Brain chemistry/neuron pathways are already officiated by modern day science, so he is saying 'when you can do this' (which is now), then yes, obviously you can prove they exist (of which they do).

In addition to hammer an extremely obvious point, he says:

2. "To claim that it's just trying to make an excuse for people with behavioral problems is just stupid, and borderline offensive."

^OK, this, I really can't understand how you could've missed. It's so obvious I don't even need to explain it.

 

[razer17]

When you can prove a mental illness by studying brain chemistry and neuron pathways, and can prove beyond a doubt that there is a physical difference between someone diagnosed with a mental disorder and someone who does not have one, then yes, you can prove that they exist. To claim that it's just trying to make an excuse for people with behavioral problems is just stupid, and borderline offensive.

This

Okay...side with the prick. That's fair. Just please, do yourself a favour and go visit a special needs school or a psychiatric hospital. Then come back and say these words: It's all in their heads, it's all their fault. They're just making excuses. Every single one.

Can you please, for the love of God, read a post in its entirety before you attack someone. Jesus Christ, how could you possibly think I'd believe mental illnesses were fake. Can you -read-?

Nope, read it again, feel free to correct this gist:

Unless it can be proven otherwise that there is a physical difference between someone with and without a mental illness. ----> To claim otherwise is to make an excuse on the part of those who are currently understood to be under the effects of these illnesses.

Ergo: Until there are/is readable physical data to prove so - Metal illness is either, greatly exaggerated or non-existent.


Maybe I am overreacting, but do tell anyway.

im pretty sure he is saying that the diseases where you can see the effects, e.g schizophrenai that destabilises dopamine levels, that those thing do exist, whereas things like ADD do not. although im not in his mind so i cant say that for a dfinite
ok the post above this one offers better explanantion