There is no doubt that there are indeed expressions of mental illness that are diagnosable as organic problems that can only be treated with medication. Yet even in some severe cases, there seems to some room for cognitive intervention. I was reading a case study this morning about someone with severe anxiety disorder. It was so severe that the patient removed an IV twice during an attempt to treat her. The interesting comment made by the physician though was that “her sister calmed her down by talking to her and they were able to get the IV in the third time.” Do you see the paradox here?
Posts Tagged ‘therapy’
Medication
Friday, July 24th, 2009Mental Illness
Monday, July 13th, 2009According to a May 25, 2009, story in the Los Angeles Times, some psychiatrists are urging classification of bitterness as a mental illness under the name “post-traumatic embitterment disorder.” The behavior was discussed before an enthusiastic audience at a May meeting of the American Psychiatric Assn. in San Francisco.
There are many conditions or disorders that are labeled as illnesses that show up in the DSM. There is some question in my mind as to the value of this, so I’m going to take some time to debate it here.
Certainly, there are some illnesses of the brain that cause a person to behave in a way that is anti-social, self-destructive or delusional that can only be helped through aggressive drug treatment, shock or even surgery. No question that these conditions are illnesses.
So many mental disorders though are the result of poor habits of thought or mental injuries that happened during childhood. Most of these can be overcome through Cognitive Behavior Therapies which is what causes my doubt. If someone can be taught to behave in a way that brings them and the people around them more happiness, are they ill, or just lacking in skills? That is what I will discuss in the next blog, but I welcome your comments in the meantime.