Mental Illness

[kiwi_OT]

As some may know I am a third year Occupational Therapy (OT) student here in New Zealand.
I am currently completing a internship for a non profit organisation called Supporting Families. They pretty provide group education and support and counseling for the families of those with a serious mental illness (namely Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Schizophrenia, Anxiety disorders) in particular to children and teenagers.

My question is, has anyone here got a family member (or even a friend) with mental illness. I would be particularly interested to hear from people who as a child or teen dealt with a parent/sibling going through this stuff. And what kind of supports (or lack of) YOU (not the family member) received from either health care professionals/services, the community (including church) and within your own families.

What is your understanding of these particular mental illnesses and those who deal with them?

 

[Consumed]

hi, all mental illness is demonic, medical science says its chemical imbalances. I use to ponder on that and asked God to answer my query, not long later i met the leading lecturer of a Sydney University who held a doctorate in Psychiatry. We had a general conversation about mental health issues and i boldly declared that it is all demonic, her response floored me, "if only i could say that from the lectern at the university" and no she was not a walking talking faith believing Christian but believe as i found out that there is and has to be a "higher power", so God used my query, answered my question and got me to witness to her about who this "higher power" is - Jesus...

best part was she blessed us with $100, still makes me laugh

how good is our God

ps not long later i prayed for a teenage girl unbeknown to me she was epileptic, cast out the demon that manifested itself and found out few years later tha tshe was epileeptic and hadnt had a seizure since

 

[Allie3]

I know I'm really late responding to this, haha. But I suffer from clinical depression, I think. I'm 14, and my mom has depression. I can't tell anyone, I just...can't. It's different from normal hormones, because I'll feel withdrawn from the world sometimes, or like I'm all alone. Or there will be this heavy pressure of sadness just come over me and I'll cry. I cry a lot at night. Sometimes I don't even know why. I've thought about suicide twice, googled how to kill myself with pills once. But I've never been to the point where I would have actually done something. I cut myself, and I have a lot of scars on my wrists. Yeah, depression sucks. And I know a lot of people who are Christians are gonna say depression is a demon but it's not. It's really not. My mom is a strong Christian and she suffers from it. Idk why I have it, but it's supposed to be inheritable.

 

[KisDawn]

What is an Occupational Therapist? Like do you have the same abilities like doctors? Or is it more like physical therapist? Just wondering, also congrats. ^__^

My dad has ptsd along with a bunch of other stuff because he was in the Vietnam war, back then once you got out that was it you were out. Then after he ended up needing to be in the hospital until they figured out the right about and types of medication he'd need. Really the more support you can give to someone the better and the sooner the better, at least that is from personal experience. Although I have untreated ocd XD but it doesn't interfere enough at least to my own perspective to need medicine treatment.

Consumed I'm sorry but I do think you are incorrect. I'm not demonically possessed I just don't like germs or food that is germy or touching other parts of my food. Did you ask her what kind of epilepsy she had? and if she had treatment? I do think that sometimes modern society has stressed people a lot which can cause the chemicals in their brain to be unbalanced, and that having a more positive outlook can correct this unbalance. However if you look at brain scans of people as an example that are schizophrenic their brains look different from normal healthy peoples brain scans. If it was demons only then there would be no visible abnormality. I think it's dangerous to think of people who are already dealing with something to tell them they also are being demonically influenced. That's how things like the Salem witch trial started and we don't want a repeat of that. People who are sick just need more love and proper treatment.

Allie3 chances are you then got it from your mom, and if your dad has history of depression or it's in his side of the family too you ended up with more genes for it. I'd really suggest that you seek out a psychiatrist because if it is chemical like your mom the only way you are going to fix that is by changing the neurotransmitters in your brain. Chances are you have low levels of dopamine and serotonin and once they get brought up to the levels they should be at you'll feel much better.

 

[pickles]

One of my children has depression, anxiety and bypolar as well. This is due to a genetic defect and a secondary rare disease.
Although I do believe that some mental illness can be caused by oppression or possesion, I also believe some is simply a physical illness.
I say physical illness because we need to recognise that this is a physical illness like any other illness that can effect any person.
The most difficult part for us was that drs failed to recognise the health issues as my child grew up. Not because there were no symptoms but because they could not explain them. We were blessed a few years ago when the dna micro-array test became available. With alot of fighting and struggleing I was able to finally able to have my child seen by a genetic specialist, thankyou to a dr that was willing to put his reputation on the line.
The test revieled a spacific delition that as far as the drs know they have no child that has lived to my childs age and survived.
We have the support of good drs now but there is alot of damage that has to heal because of the drs inabuility to acknowladge the problems.
If I were to recomend anything it would be that drs need to be able to see beyond the box and simple tests. Read the full reports and look at back lab tests. Listen to the parent and do not assume that as a dr you know all.
My child suffered not only the symptoms mentioned but many other physical symptoms for years.
I realise that diag. is not an easy task, but it is even more difficult for those that suffer them and for drs fail to recognise the indivigual's complaints is adding even more stress to their suffering.
We are greatful now to the drs that have diag. and are treating all now, and more greatful to Jesus for his help in healing the heart in all of this.
Much of the success is understanding and lerning how to live despite the illnesses.
God bless, pickles

 

[grace]

I was married to someone with bi-polar (as well as with a personality disorder)....not diagnosed until after we were married. Soooooo difficult to deal with/ AND, society has such a stygma about such things that there is little support....from with the church as well.

 

[zeroturbulence]

What is an Occupational Therapist? Like do you have the same abilities like doctors? Or is it more like physical therapist? Just wondering, also congrats. ^__^

My dad has ptsd along with a bunch of other stuff because he was in the Vietnam war, back then once you got out that was it you were out. Then after he ended up needing to be in the hospital until they figured out the right about and types of medication he'd need. Really the more support you can give to someone the better and the sooner the better, at least that is from personal experience. Although I have untreated ocd XD but it doesn't interfere enough at least to my own perspective to need medicine treatment.

Consumed I'm sorry but I do think you are incorrect. I'm not demonically possessed I just don't like germs or food that is germy or touching other parts of my food. Did you ask her what kind of epilepsy she had? and if she had treatment? I do think that sometimes modern society has stressed people a lot which can cause the chemicals in their brain to be unbalanced, and that having a more positive outlook can correct this unbalance. However if you look at brain scans of people as an example that are schizophrenic their brains look different from normal healthy peoples brain scans. If it was demons only then there would be no visible abnormality. I think it's dangerous to think of people who are already dealing with something to tell them they also are being demonically influenced. That's how things like the Salem witch trial started and we don't want a repeat of that. People who are sick just need more love and proper treatment.

Allie3 chances are you then got it from your mom, and if your dad has history of depression or it's in his side of the family too you ended up with more genes for it. I'd really suggest that you seek out a psychiatrist because if it is chemical like your mom the only way you are going to fix that is by changing the neurotransmitters in your brain. Chances are you have low levels of dopamine and serotonin and once they get brought up to the levels they should be at you'll feel much better.

Excellent advice and insight, KisDawn.

My pharmacy program instructor, who used to work at a mental institution said that they just wanted to be treated like they are normal.

 

[kiwi_OT]

Ok, from a mental health point of view an occupational therapist assists with many things. For starters we refuse to call people victims, sufferers and patients. We refuse to say "This is Sue and shes schizophrenic." Mental illness should not be a label.
In acute mental wards, clients have either been self referred or sectioned against their will by their family or someone else due to them being a safety risk to themselves or someone else. OTs are one of the few trusted professionalsclients feel free to go to as we're the only ones who encourage activity. We are against clients being secluded as there is absolutely no evidence out there that this is therapeutic. We advocate for and run psychoeducation groups, support groups, activity groups and episode management, anger management, cognitive behavioural therapy, art therapy, teaching social, financial and work related skills etc the list will always go on.
We also work in psychiatric prison wards, community rehab, and with clients and their families in their homes.

This area in my undergraduate career has always been an interest of mine. I myself have a history of post traumatic stress disorder so from a professional point of view clients tend to like me as I actually empathise with what theyre going through.
As an enthusiastic academic and lover of Jesus I am still learning however I refuse to believe that this topic is only black and white. My non christian professors have taught me for three years the importance of the four areas that make up our health - phyical, emotional, social and spiritual. People who have not experienced working with these clients and are christian most often believe that all these people need is to be exorcised of demons and thumped on the head with a bible. This is such an ignorant and uneducated view. Majority of people who experience mental illness symptoms usually have suffered trauma in at least 3 of those key areas of health. I DO believe in denomic attacks and I DO believe that everyone needs to be prayed for in this area whether your well or unwell.

Paul said that our bodys are like a temple and we should treat it accordingly. Our body I believe also incorporates the emotional, spirit and social within us as well. You may well be successfully exorcised by a pastor, but whose to say the demons wont come back again? All because the person hasnt been taught how to keep the door closed on that part of their life. For example, you may be a young woman who suffered from being gang raped, constant emotional manipulation by your mother and now deal with severe depression and you were caught trying to end your life and were thus put in a psychiatric ward by said mother. You dont need to be a rocket scientist to know rape will screw up all four of those areas.

In a lock up ward this woman will most likely be put on antidepressants. Depression is such an ugly disease in that in its severest form it actually slows your muscles down and your appetite. These help in that they get the person out of bed and eating. It gets them out of bed yes but its only curing the symptoms not the source. As an OT I would refer her to counselling and a rape support group (with no men) and do cognitive behavioural therapy with her (changing thought patterns around self worth), I would also monitor her recovery and introduce anxiety management, teach her any skill or activity she wanted to learn, relaxation techniques, relationships/boundaries etc I would then find a supportive group of people for her on the outside and get her connected to a community group and services.

I think Christianity has 3 points - Salvation, Fellowship, and Witnessing. In my opinion I think many people just skip straight to the witnessing without actually having practice in building fellowship. There is one important statistic we have here in New Zealand which is very scary and the basis for my ministry when I graduate. Of those who have come through acute wards and then reenter community, those with no family/community support are 4 times as likely to attempt suicide than those with support. And half of those who attempt suicide succeed - if not they end straight back in a psychiatric ward and are back to square one.
Its all about community and guided assistance to make a new life. And the main thing we should do as christians is to be loving, patient, and prayerful. Some people are just not ready and refuse to hear about Christ. Thats under Gods timing not ours and we should not be disgruntled and demand immediate conversion from them. If you want a person recovering from a psychotic episode to convert then include them. Help them feel welcome. Ask them to educate youon what they deal with. Go with them as a friend to a support group. You must be willing to form a relationship with them first if you want them near Jesus. We are after all his ambassadors of love. Lastly medicine for mental illness is not satanic, they are incrediably helpful and medicine has come a long way in improving lives in history. However I do believe doctors should not prescribe pills like candy, like its common to these days. Every case is multifactorial and all sides need to be looked at. I personally deal with anxiety and periodic depression and after praying about it with my family have decided not to take meds. I choose this because I have fantastic loving support around me. Some however are not as lucky, and surviving without medication is just impossible for the time being.

 

[kiwi_OT]

By the way I forgot to add, Pickles I agree with you. Physical illness can actually affect the brain which can then display mental illness symptoms. Having a parent with a mental illness makes you twice as likely to be unwell later in life as well, though researchers believe it is both a social and a genetic thing.

One question though, how does you child have both bipolar and depression? Bipolar means the person has episodes of both hypermania and depression. So depression is already included in a bipolar diagnosis, not as a seperate entity. *Shruggs shoulders - just a thought.

Many prayers with you

 

[KisDawn]

I was married to someone with bi-polar (as well as with a personality disorder)....not diagnosed until after we were married. Soooooo difficult to deal with/ AND, society has such a stygma about such things that there is little support....from with the church as well.

I think a lot of that comes from misunderstanding of the human body. If things are found out quicker it is better for everyone. Jesus wouldn't like the way people that need help have been stigmatized, he'd want other people to us the gifts they were given to help. That's where I disagree with things that the church has done in the past. However we are more educated now, so we all need to start acting that way. That must have been so hard on you, I hope you and her are doing better now.

Excellent advice and insight, KisDawn.

My pharmacy program instructor, who used to work at a mental institution said that they just wanted to be treated like they are normal.

Thanks, and yes everyone if they look at mental disorders especially we can self diagnose our selves a few times over. That's why I think everyone has a little bit of it in them it's just a matter of degree and how much it adversely effects their lives.

kiwi_OT you are right, I think my ocd tendencies come from emotional and social. Your also a good person because even if you have experienced something bad you want to make your life a positive. Too few people do that. It's much easier though to connect with someone if you have experience something similar, it's a really good comfort to know you aren't alone. <3

 

[Consumed]

the girl had sever epileptic fits since childhood, was on meds to control them, eased her "medical condition" but did not set her free from it. Demon possessed and being demonised two different things, but let me ask you, Legion, in todays world we call him schizophrenic, was he?? Infirmities are from God? Sickness from God? Unless we hold Jesus as our healer as well as deliverer and believe and just lean on medical science what?do we need Jesus?

a man come to Jesus and said his son had seizures and foamed at the mouth,when asked- do you believe, yes i believe help me with my unbelief.

heard this Christian woman who been a church going woman for years who suffered sever bouts of depression say "one morning i held my little white pill in my hand and it dawned on me how i believe that this does make me feel better, but it doesn't set me free, i made a decision that day forward to change my thinking and confess that Jesus has healed me by His stripes, not that He will, but had" it may of took her a few more months of taking that little white pill, yet she walked straight into that healing by confession of her faith each day.
The lady travels now preaching that message, medicine helps us yes, Jesus makes us whole. Every ones walk is different, mention demonic and initial responses are "i haven't any demons, I'm not possessed" yet the war is not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers. Medical science today plays god, can never be God.

and yes God made the doctors, for those who struggle to believe and thats ok too for He is a loving and merciful God but wants us so much to believe or the promise of "by His stripes we are healed" is a lie and that is definitely not the case, just receive by faith and a change of belief
Glory be to God

 

[karuna]

And what kind of supports (or lack of) YOU (not the family member) received from either health care professionals/services, the community (including church) and within your own families.

Education, education, education.

I needed to be told that my husband was sick, how to recognize when he was going into a episode, and what do to about it. I needed to hear stories from other people, because I learned that the words coming out of his mouth were so stereotypically bipolar. I learned to recognize a bipolar conversation and stop it before it started.

I was taught not to take it personally that I couldn't always fix his mood. Sometimes, the best thing I could do for him was to wait for tomorrow. Not make any decisions today. Not take him seriously today.

From church, I learned to forgive more completely.

What is your understanding of these particular mental illnesses and those who deal with them?

They're leaves in the wind. These people are often not in control of themselves and, even when they try to exert willpower, they find that their efforts to be happy lead only to suffering. Nine times out of ten, they try their best. They're not any more evil than I am - the cross they carry is just a whole lot heavier than mine.

One question though, how does you child have both bipolar and depression? Bipolar means the person has episodes of both hypermania and depression. So depression is already included in a bipolar diagnosis, not as a seperate entity.

There are several types of bipolar, according to the (American) diagnostic criteria. The name can be misleading, because it makes us think that the person necessarily has to go up and down with equal ferocity. This confusion is one of the reasons we no longer tend to call it manic-depressive disorder.

All you need for diagnosis of Bipolar I, for instance, is one or more manic or mixed episode. Major depressive episodes are often associated with Bipolar I, but not always. For a diagnosis of Bipolar II, though, you do need one or more depressive episode. You don't have to have a manic episode, but there should have been at least one or more hypomanic episode.

I can imagine a person with actual mania receiving a diagnosis of BP I and depression. It sounds like it's redundant, but what it means is that the person is prone to going all the way up, all the way down.

 

[KisDawn]

the girl had sever epileptic fits since childhood, was on meds to control them, eased her "medical condition" but did not set her free from it. Demon possessed and being demonised two different things, but let me ask you, Legion, in todays world we call him schizophrenic, was he?? Infirmities are from God? Sickness from God? Unless we hold Jesus as our healer as well as deliverer and believe and just lean on medical science what?do we need Jesus?

a man come to Jesus and said his son had seizures and foamed at the mouth,when asked- do you believe, yes i believe help me with my unbelief.

heard this Christian woman who been a church going woman for years who suffered sever bouts of depression say "one morning i held my little white pill in my hand and it dawned on me how i believe that this does make me feel better, but it doesn't set me free, i made a decision that day forward to change my thinking and confess that Jesus has healed me by His stripes, not that He will, but had" it may of took her a few more months of taking that little white pill, yet she walked straight into that healing by confession of her faith each day.
The lady travels now preaching that message, medicine helps us yes, Jesus makes us whole. Every ones walk is different, mention demonic and initial responses are "i haven't any demons, I'm not possessed" yet the war is not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers. Medical science today plays god, can never be God.

and yes God made the doctors, for those who struggle to believe and thats ok too for He is a loving and merciful God but wants us so much to believe or the promise of "by His stripes we are healed" is a lie and that is definitely not the case, just receive by faith and a change of belief
Glory be to God

There are many treatments for seizures some are environmental others are do to fever, did the doctors do the proper test to make sure she was an epileptic and not reacting to other factors? Also you still didn't answer my question what treatment did she get? There are many things from medication to cutting the corpus callosum to break the circuit. That's only done in really bad cases. Also there is idiopathic epilepsy where some children just grow out of it. Doctors don't know why exactly but research still needs to be done. That and also she could have switched to absence seizures where she has them but doesn't move around like she use to. It also helps to know where in the brain she was having seizures. I'd really like you to answer these things because you can't claim she was being possessed or having demons hurt her if you don't know everything about her case.

Take for example some faith healers that help people with cataracts and when they are helping the person they are getting them to bounce around it causes the end bits to chip off a little helping them with their vision. That's how a lot of people fall for scams that God would not being used that way.

Also some cases of depression are self induced that's where talk or cognative therapy helps people more then medication. It helps to know what kind.

As far as demons go people back then didn't really understand neurobiology so do you think Jesus would have been understood if he said he was increasing someones 5-ht? You can't just read the bible and take it at face value because people back then didn't understand science the way that we do now. If you believe that Jesus can cast out demons isn't it equally as possible that he is able to heal their minds and said it was demons because that is what people understood them to be? If he started to go into neurotransmitters and how he was fixing them and receptors inside their brains what kind of reaction do you think he would have gotten? I think people whould have been really confused and think he was crazy and possessed as well.

 

[Consumed]

tree of life v tree of knowledge, your choice. the girl was diagnosed as being epileptic, by what your saying to what happened that day when i prayed for her was pure coincidence, to deny the power of God, thats people s choice, i wont debate how one thinks , honestly though we are healed by his stripes, no coincidence to it. There are many testamonies of Gods love setting them free from many diseases, sicknesses and "chemical imbalances", ive personally seen with my own eyes God move by the power of the Holy Spirit. Can i ask you . what do you think that Dr of psychiatry (lecturer) i mentioned meant by "if i only could say that from the lectern"??? We think man has all our answers and then write Gods name on top of it. Medical science today thinks that they are overall smarter than God and He doent exist to a large portion of the profession. If you speak to Doctors (have meet a few church going ones) they will testify that they see some amazing things that they themselves,believers and non alike, just cant explain medically.

Dont deny the power of the Holy Spirit, please, you only deny yourself one of the free gifts God has to offer that cost Him so much. Im just trying to encourage people to believe, believe that He is the same yesterday,today and forever......

 

[Lauren]

My question is, has anyone here got a family member (or even a friend) with mental illness. I would be particularly interested to hear from people who as a child or teen dealt with a parent/sibling going through this stuff. And what kind of supports (or lack of) YOU (not the family member) received from either health care professionals/services, the community (including church) and within your own families.

What is your understanding of these particular mental illnesses and those who deal with them?

My husband has PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder and has also experienced disassociative episodes. He's also been diagnosed with other things that I'm not too sure were accurate diagnoses: schizoid personality disorder, agoraphobia, anxiety disorder, etc.

Problems with his care:

- Piling on one medication after another in an attempt to treat each individual problem and ending up with so many medicines you don't know if you're actually making his condition worse (and also sometimes not even taking into account potential interactions of the medications)

- Over diagnosing

- Not taking a holistic approach to his care (looking beyond the diagnosis and medication)

I tend to believe that some of my husband's illnesses were demonic in nature given his circumstances, but I don't know.

It's very hard on a family and there's not a lot of support available for the family. Off the top of my head, I can't remember ever finding any support for our family in the form of community services over the last 10+ years. However, we do live mostly in the country which may affect the availability of services.

 

[Consumed]

worst part is that the medications people take over the long term only end up making organs deteriorate

 

[Consumed]

worst part is that the medications people take over the long term only end up making organs fail, liver,pancreas etc

 

[Lauren]

worst part is that the medications people take over the long term only end up making organs fail, liver,pancreas etc

Yes, my husband was taking one medication that caused him to develop compulsive like symptoms (for lack of a better description) - constant foot tapping, hand tremors, leg swaying. It was terrible, like his body could never rest. Even in his sleep he would twitch and move, always restless. I then researched the medicine and found that the symptoms could be potentially irreversible even if he stopped the medication. Fortunately, they did stop after he ceased the medicine, but it took many months for his body to return to normal.

 

[KisDawn]

Consumed I'm not saying that God can't come to people and help them, however you shouldn't assume a miracle when it happened becasue of natural reasons that God made natural. To not want to fully understand that beauty to me is denying God the real amazingness of God. Encouraging people to believe is one thing, out of ignorance is something that I am firmly against. Knowledge is a gift and I don't care if you think it's a curse, I won't throw away my knowledge, and I don't want anyone else to either.

worst part is that the medications people take over the long term only end up making organs deteriorate

Actually I am on medication because my 5-ht gets so low it cause me to get very painful migraines where I'm not suicidal at all but when I'm in a migraine I want an asteroid to just fall and kill me so I won't be in anymore pain. It feels like my head is being crushed so much so that I can't even yell for help. I haven't had an attack like that since I started preventative medicine. (it has been a few years already) I've had a few headaches but that's all they were headaches that I can deal with. That medicine has increased my value of life where I don't worry anymore about it happening again. I love my doctor for giving me that medicine to keep my levels up, and taking one low dose of a pill a day is easy compared to dealing with that kind of pain. I would never want anyone to experience that. I do think over medication is a problem however that shouldn't stop someone from taking the medicine that they need.

 

[shawntc]

I was suicidally depressed as a young'in, but a few years of counseling got me out of it.