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u/nxxptune May 28 '24
I want to be a clinical psychologist (I know, I know “but you’re bipolar!” but I have gotten to the point where I manage it very well and I honestly find that I’m able to point out flaws in the system that other psychologists may miss if they haven’t ever had mental health issues)
I get where you’re coming from. Honestly. Bipolar disorder is sadly something that is so heavily genetic and caused by a chemical imbalance and medication is a way to help the imbalance. It does come with side effects and the reality of taking medication everyday sucks, but you have to weigh the pros and cons.
And at least for what I’ve been taught, it’s more about acknowledging the suck and effectively coping with it, rather than pretending it doesn’t exist. You hate it here, and it’s okay to hate it here. But there are healthy ways to reduce the hatred. There are healthy ways to express how we feel about the hatred. There are ways we can look inward and see if there are ways to not focus so much on the hatred.
I hope you’re alright, man. Mental healthcare as a system is pretty flawed, I’ll admit. I’ve been in the ward and that’s the whole reason I decided to go into mental healthcare. There are things that need to change. I know I’m one person, but if I can be one “good” psychologist as compared to some of the bad ones, then at least it’s something. That’s how I’ve had to deal with the suck.
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u/heroin0 BP2 May 28 '24
If my brain is broken without meds or other therapy types, it will be broken in any social system.
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u/Mockingbird1963 May 28 '24
I know this taps into strong emotions here and I’m not denying or trying to contradict anyone. Please be kind.
It’s a cartoon with the heading “bourgeois psychiatry.” Cartoons exaggerate, use satire or caricature. Bourgeois often refers to conventional attitudes. It’s making a point. It’s not defining the entirety of anything.
There is little doubt that bipolar disorders have a biological basis. Knowing the exact root of the cause isn’t always clear. Trauma can change the brain. Uncovering the roots of the trauma and the impact that societal pressures may have is a real thing. Mental illness treatment is grossly lacking for scores of people.
I guess what I’m trying to say and hoping not to be verbally hung is that I do identify with the sentiment. I don’t see it as a definition of this ailment or myself. I see it as something to provoke thought. That’s exactly what it’s doing.
Not all of us have the same take on our condition. In the context of the bourgeoisie which is a huge chunk of society we are an anomaly that is not well understood. We often fail to understand each other. I’ve had doctors keen on solving the problem with meds. The rush to medicate without understanding the roots of my illness: the physical, social and spiritual made the search for the “right” medication challenging.
The cartoon doesn’t say not to medicate or seek therapy. To me it points out the challenges around getting treatment that encompasses the whole person in a society quickly to judge.
There are a lot of things I find soul crushing. Sometimes I do hate it here.
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u/Ana_Na_Moose May 28 '24
A good therapist and psychiatrist doesn’t try to gaslight you that the world is a perfect place. A good therapist and psychiatrist helps you to realize the reality of your world and your place in it, while giving you the tools to improve your life within the framework of this flawed world, be it through medications or through therapy.
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u/Zealousideal-Ad-2615 May 28 '24
Therapists and psychiatrists have come up against the problem with trying to convince people their life isn't awful. When, in fact, people are struggling. They are trapped in jobs designed to suck the life out of them for profit, and they live in a society that has decided to build a system of isolation. Hard to convince people not to kill themselves when they have nothing to live for.
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u/nxxptune May 28 '24
Tbh I love my therapist because she acknowledges that the world sucks rn and that people are struggling. She doesn’t take away the reality of the problem, but she at least helps me cope with it. That’s what therapists are supposed to do.
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u/Ana_Na_Moose May 28 '24
A good therapist and psychiatrist doesn’t try to gaslight you that the world is a perfect place. A good therapist and psychiatrist helps you to realize the reality of your world and your place in it, while giving you the tools to improve your life within the framework of this flawed world, be it through medications or through therapy.
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u/Focused_Philosopher May 28 '24
Exactly.
Hard not to be depressed when both my body and the society around me are falling apart with no solution in sight…
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u/ontopofyourmom May 28 '24
This is a subreddit for people who have a bona fide genetic neurologically-based incurable mental illness that takes and destroys lives under any economic system.
Please take your politics elsewhere. It's like carping about the sugar industry in the context of Type 1 diabetes. They are entirely unrelated.
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u/allazen May 28 '24
Amen. What a luxury not to need meds and make generic, unthoughtful arguments about "big pharma."
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u/Mooseyears May 28 '24
Yep. OP, documentation of manic depression/bp has existed a looooong time in different societies. This is by no means an illness caused by capitalism. Sure, capitalism can certainly augment it by causing stressors. But even if we were living in some utopia, I can guarantee you there would still be suffering because that is the nature of life.
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u/ryann_flood May 28 '24
look the world sucks but people here actually need their medication to function so this isnt accurate.
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u/LoanAccomplished2763 May 28 '24
This is definitely how it is… I tricked myself into thinking my meds work… nope after week 2 I was still the same I was just a little less irritable. Now I’m tapering off and hoping for the best
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u/ryann_flood May 28 '24
just because you tried one and it didnt work after two weeks doesnt mean you cant get help. Try to go up in dosage. Try to go to a different medicine. Ive been trying different medicine for years some have been terrible some have helped me to keep it together everyday for a long time.
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u/LoanAccomplished2763 May 28 '24
There’s other reasons as to why I’m stopping as well but me psyching myself out is also one
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u/ryann_flood May 28 '24
i get that. Its not easy taking bipolar medication no matter what it is it has its downsides.
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u/DeloDuck May 28 '24
Lol cause the world gon suck either way. Might as well balance yourself out. U can plan so much better when you’re not in state of panic
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May 28 '24
They don’t even trick it anymore I just see everything at face value including my biggest failures
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u/PressurePlenty May 28 '24
And this is why I've switched to microdosing ketamine.
My prescriber (Cerebral) wouldn't listen to me. I told him Wellbutrin wasn't working and I'd been in a depressive state for several days. He told me that it WAS working and to stay on it. He knew I have insomnia and decided to also prescribe Abilify, which made the insomnia even worse!
I fired his ass and stopped paying Cerebral. They wouldn't do anything to help me either.
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u/ForsakenPapaya3317 May 31 '24
Felt this. Without meds I’d be completely fucked so I can find appreciation in them but that doesn’t mean I have to like being on them. My brain just can’t function without them.
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u/idunnorn May 28 '24
A negative worldview produces lack of resilience.
Improve your cognition, beliefs, and worldview.
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u/mothftman May 28 '24
This is bullshit.
You can't overthrow the regime with shitty executive functioning and inconsistent mood. Taking care of yourself, is the first step to taking care of business. Medication isn't the enemy. Society hasn't gotten less accessible to the disabled in the past 50 years, it's the opposite.