The key difference is in whether it is a mental health problem or a mental illness. Speaking again from personal experience I have come to the conclusion that for mental health problems such as ocd, anorexia, depression etc more often then not it is in changing circumstances and lifestyles that improves the lives of those living with such 'disorders' - working on the cause is just as important as working on the symptoms - sometimes drugs can help to put a person in a place where they can make the changes necessary - sometimes a complete change of scenery is what can help - but no lasting change will happen unless the root cause is identified and removed.

With mental illness such as schizophrenia, clinical depression or bi polar the root cause is biology and therefore needs a different approach as well as the person living with it learning coping mechanisms and ways in which to identify behavioural abnormalities in order to recognise if they are having an 'episode'. Those with mental health problems tend to 'know' that their behaviour is abnormal those with mental illness tend not to - which again is a key difference when it comes to how to treat it - getting a schizophrenic to realise that they way in which they see the world is not necessarily the reality of what is going on is bloody hard work without some sort of medication to help 'clear the fog' or quieten the 'voices'.

I am not entirely sure that pharmaceutical companies have the best interests of those with health problems in mind when they develop new drugs as it does not make business sense to cure people - nor does it make business sense to use ingredients which cannot be patented. I know for a fact that for at least 3 people personally who find a benefit in using cannabis as a way to alleviate symptoms associated with their mental health problems - on the other hand I know of two for whom cannabis use has caused mental health issues. Which goes back to what lesley said earlier about us all being different and having differing environmental factors to deal with - perhaps there is no one 'cure' - we already know that different people react differently to different medications the same can probably be said for alternative cures.

The worrying thing for me is that we as individuals are increasingly turning to behaviours that impact on our lives to such an extent that we cannot function meaningfully - and that those who decide what function meaningfully means have decided that the only criteria for meaningful functionality is ones ability to morph into what they wish us to be.

You make a lot of sense.

However, I've recently been mulling over the fact that maybe the perceptions and experiences of schiz­o­phre­nia, clin­i­cal depres­sion or bi polar are totally valid and that they're only problematic because we've been conditioned to think that way.

A schiz­o­phre­nic in a differet time and/or society would be a shaman. It's differently thinking, not mentally ill as such (imo).

A mental health professional told me that everyone experiences psychosis to a degree. If that's the case, who's to say that psychosis isn't normal?

i hear you have mulled the same over myself - some forms of psychosis can even be good in that they are motivating and inspire a lot of creativity in the person experiencing it - psychosis is just an extreme exhibition of natural human behaviours.

My very recent experience with schizophrenia is not a positive one tbh I can only imagine how awful it is for the person going through it.

One interesting observation I have made is that much of the confusion and pain arises from the discovery that the world is not how it is viewed - it makes you question everything - every decision every belief every reaction as you have no idea whether or not your reaction belief or decision was made for the right reasons. Whilst you are in the psychotic state you don't know any different as it is your reality - that reality may be terrifying or it may be euphoric but it is still your reality. Living with someone who is not in the same reality as you is tremendously draining - constantly on eggshells, worried, having to be the bad guy when trying to stop the person from doing things that put them in danger - turning into the focus of anger and paranoia because you are trying to keep things together.

The problem that society has is in where its responsibility begins and ends - if someone is unable to provide themselves with the basics due to mental health/illness issues - who does ensure that they have food, shelter and warmth? If the person can be 'fixed' enough so that they can provide for themselves should they be expected or enforced to do so? who should pick up the tab for the costs associated with providing a standard of living and care for those unable to care for themselves? for how long? how bad does the illness/problem need to be before someone has the right to interfere? does anyone ever have the right to interfere? even if somebodies life is put at risk? who decides what is risk?

I guess that in todays 'society' we have no real need of 'shamans' as we instead have science and oprah and jeremy kyle (eeeek) or people like icke that we turn to to 'cure our ills' or provide answers

Am probably talking a load of bollocks - its just a subject that is very close to the bone for me right now and am struggling to correlate some of my very deep seated beliefs with the reality of my life atm.

brainblogger.com/2012/06/23/is-schizophr...lly-a-brain-disease/

the comments are really good

LesleyPumpshaft wrote:
G'day LesleyPumpshaft.

Here's something from The Biology Of Perception that you may find interesting ...

Experience shapes perception

Perception creates beliefs

Beliefs reinforce perception

Perception shapes experience

Experience reinforces beliefs

Beliefs create experiences

Experience shapes perception

... and here's another, when if you think about what goes on (not only in the mental institutions), well, it's something worth thinking about ...

If man's life is purposeful motion, what is the state of a being whom purpose and motion are denied ?

I think there is such as a thing as world pain. A shut down from the world when you see the reality of whats going on and an escape to your own reality. If the world doesn't make sense then in a phycotic state you may be able to make sense of it and provide a sanctuary to live in or exist. Maybe certain psychosis is a form of personal defence or avoidance of a reality you can't make sense of and want to escape from.

Interesting post Life2live
Indeed sometimes when the World out there gets too much one of the mechanisms of 'coping' does seem to be to create a new reality within.
Monarch programming seems to work on that kind of principle anorl.