Re: Cindy asks questions concerning psychiatry; on a different(dental)thread

[Robert]

> i have more to add to my ttc ticket discussion and my soul, i'm just
> fuming about that whole situation. i'm at the point where i feel as
> if i can't get bogged down with anything else. my week-end included
> taking my 12 year old child to be formed on friday night due to
> threats of suicide and then her being released on saturday and the
> psychiatrist just telling us to keep up with the family counseling.
> so, is that a problem with the health care system or is it a problem
> with the mental health care system? (apologies for going off topic).

Where to begin? I have had serious major depression, ongoing since
1975. I was in the Kitchener psyche ward in 1975. I moved on to the
London Psychiatric Hospital and had a nice stay in 1975, 1976, and
1977. I was in and out 4 times. Anyway I found out that anti-
depressants really helped me. However my Elavil stopped working in
1977. Time passes. I tried everything. Anti depressants no longer
worked. Why? I don't know. Finally, at the end of 2004, I was at
the end of my rope. I went to the emergency room of my hospital, and
asked to get into the psyche ward because I was extremely suicidal,
and I wanted to find correct medication. The jerk shrink said NO!
So, I didn't know what to do. A couple of weeks later, I took all of
my Elavil(an anti-depressant that didn't work, but it was really good
for helping me sleep). I was found about 14 hours later. I was taken
in to the hospital and was in a coma for five days. I lost bone mass,
and I lost muscle mass(which hasn't returned). I found out later that
the docs thought I might be in a coma for the rest of my life. I woke
up. They transferred me down to the psyche ward(which I had stayed in
in 1975). There were people in there who were no danger to
themselves, or others, or who were addicts. One fellow was in there
because he was playing word games with his brother. Yet the creep
shrink would not let someone suicidal into the hospital? Lucky for
me, I did get proper meds and am now able to live with myself.
Just so you know, about a year before I went into the psyche ward in
2004, I went to see a shrink to ask for proper meds. I told him that
I was diagnosed with depression in 1975. I was literally hanging onto
life by the skin of my teeth. Well maybe not literally, but very
close to it. At the end of an hour, he told me that he didn't know if
I was depressed or not. And I felt such hatred come off of him, his
eyes upon leaving his office, just bored right into my back. So, now
having said this, I'll let you make up your own mind as to how the
system works. Hopefully, you can find better treatment than what I
received. I'm sure good treatment is out there. You just have to
luck out. In my experience(maybe it's because my depression is very
very severe, and they're not used to dealing with this kind of illness)
shrinks are worth less than their weight in cheap britlle contaminated
cast iron. Once again, I hope your experience(s) will be better than
mine.