Psychiatric diagnosis and possible cure

 I decided to write about how you can heal for real when you have a psychiatric diagnosis.


First of all, I would like to mention that my work doesn't rely on any of such diagnoses, and I see no need to see them seriously. If someone of you were researching the topic, diagnoses are issued according to the symptoms and that means: no one will investigate your brain changes and classify these "diseases" in physiological and neurological nature. The seriousness and the necessity of reading and sorting out someone's symptoms for me is more like reading the palm or the stars. I understand, maybe it sounds very rough and careless as if seeing human problems as not important or relevant, but I'm targeting more the prominence and bloating of psychiatry itself, its severity, the reality of the diagnosis, and so on.
So, while going back to the discussion on the diagnosis, I do not consider them more real than fortune-telling. However, sad as it may be, in many cases, it's even tragic, according to this method of sorting out people's problems doctors are prescribing some drugs that have a major impact on the human body, and, of course, on the brain. Changes are strong and long-lasting enough, but it is very difficult to stop these medications because most of them cause addiction to them and so on. Historically, these drugs do not have serious confirmation for their effectiveness; the chemical imbalance in the brain was only one of the theories, which was quickly caught by pharmaceutical companies, while currently this theory is often no longer appreciated in the scientific world (e.g.: here) but it is still very vital within the public and it distorts reality. There are sets of public stories, about how some pharmaceutical companies provide unrealistic data on the efficacy and side effects of medicines, in addition to that for a long time in history mentally unwell people weren't provided with any medication, but just bled while with the refreshing blood, they would feel some ease about their state and etc. If someone of you took those drugs and read its leaflets, some side effects can be found on the list, really appalling things: such as antipsychotic drugs can lead to stroke and coma, etc., of course, it's a very small statistical percentage. Perhaps it's not so important to pay so much attention to it when such drugs actually greatly improve the quality of life, but there are plenty of stories of the same patients, people, who are taking these drugs and saying that their condition deteriorated from medication, there are people who before medicines consumption did not have suicidal thoughts, and then the following episodes (schematic summary of the possible antidepressant effects - here). It is also a fact that these drugs are very often sold on the black market as hallucinogens or any kind of materials used for cocktail parties. It says something, we probably do not want to know, even though there is plenty of info on it, at least in online readings. Because many of these drugs, especially stronger ones, are addictive, it becomes very difficult to stop and reduce their consumption. Like any addictive substance, these drugs work the same way: the more you consume, the more and more diverse need you have, to get the same effect (no doubt this is true for many, but not all people). In some more advanced countries, there are groups created with some professionals and people, who want to stop the use. With mutual assistance among themselves and some help from professionals, people succeed in stopping the usage in the long run (here - the work of the support group). There are also a lot of statistics, which often tried to hide from the public (for financial reasons), that in countries where patients are not treated with these medications, the recovery percentage is significantly higher (such as India, in this film, you can find information about it - film)
So, summing up: after a very subjective diagnosis people are issued drugs that severely affect the activity of the brain and often exaggerate the problem worse; moreover, you become chemically "preserved" in your critical state, instead of leading out of it. So, in my eyes, psychiatric treatment is certainly not comparable to the common medical treatment and it's based on the chemical imbalance again, which will be (most probably) never measured for you... and this is the most recognized treatment according to its explanations, patients supposedly probably will never heal, and medicines are being prescribed not to heal the causes of the disease, but only the symptoms. So logical assumption here appears: the actual cure is independent of such treatment, - whether you get well or not and the results are more likely negative because then the medication should be not very strong so that the body can cope with the scourge without extra (chemical) load. It is also widely recognized that the reason for such suffering is not actually known and it's still believed widely that it is genetically inherited, although those genes are not found as well. What I want to say with this text is, that psychiatry doesn't actually know much about these diseases and their treatment, However, it is probably the most effective way to get rid of such a kind human and his/her problems and have a client for a pharmacy and psychiatry industry for the rest of his/her life. Well in other words, instead of real assistance, a person is converted into a vegetable and all can finally relax about it. That kind of healing it is.
Are there other options when you feel psychologically unwell life becomes disordered, and it is difficult to cope with all the necessary responsibilities? In the twenty-first century a treatment is known, that is called healing through a conversation or psychotherapy. True is that in the beginning this method was used more on patients affected by hypnosis. Students of a father-initiator (Jean-Martin Charcot): Pierre Zane, Sigmund Freud, and others picked up this method, developed it, and didn't use hypnosis to that extent anymore. Freud achieved the most in this area while working with hysterical and distressed patients (who often were women), he began to understand that the most common reason for patients with serious conditions was severe, inhuman experiences in their childhood, brutal physical and sexual exploitation, which usually occurred in their families. Of course, as it's already known at these times, people who might have to do with small children are usually not strangers but close relatives: fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and cousins. Some of Freud's patients were from more known families and so on. With further understanding of the nature of mental distractions, Freud obviously realized that he was kicking the very basic family concept, tradition, and integrity and it was not only new knowledge but not acceptable at all at that time (and at this time as well, of course). Later, while fleeing from professional condemnation, he created the famous Oedipus complex and similar theories that were both strange and bizarre and just perfect to divert attention and convince the audience of its reality. Thus, psychotherapy just stuck in time even more and was distorted into some sort of sexual fantasies of the kids, and in this way, they have become guilty of inhumane treatment of them. Everything came back to the „normal" track again. Of course, psychotherapy itself wasn't forgotten. There are various branches of it known currently, among which you can find so-called primal therapy, which focuses on young age incurred traumas, you can find cognitive therapy, the IFS (Inner family system) method, which works through the discussions with certain parts of humans psyche to restore the previously held events to allow yourself feel and say, what you couldn't say back then, also there are programs, which allow you to be both: child-self and adult-real-time-self and in this way to transmit messages (to yourself), that you wouldn't know otherwise or simply it would psychologically be pushed away or forgotten if it already has become a regular habit. That's for the brief historical outline. (The material was taken from Judith Lewis Herman's book „Trauma and Recovery" 7-33 p.).
So how is the current situation with the treatment of mental illness, is there any healthier alternative to the usual methods of psychiatry? A former psychotherapist American Daniel Mackler has created several films on healing psyche themes. The focus is on the healing of psychosis, as is popularly believed that this is the most difficult form of mental illness. Often people who are psychotic receive the diagnosis of schizophrenia, which probably scares everyone. Films have a multitude of sources and examples of how psychosis is treatable without using drugs or this usage is very limited at the very beginning when it is necessary to calm the body down until the point when a person can eat and sleep, just to rest up so that it would be possible to hold a conversation. As the author says in other videos, he doesn't avoid taking some sleeping pills on a long airplane on a long journey, etc. So as it appears in normal psychiatry complete healing is considered more as a possible coincidence, as the psychotherapy professionals are not hostile to the use of the drugs, but they just don't hold usage of the drugs as the only possible tool to improve patient lives. (Lithuanian movies with subtitles can be found here - film).
So, how does this psychotherapy actually go on(counseling, coaching)? People gather in the room or at the computer screens on a video call and they chat then, and that's that, nothing more happens. There are no additional meetings, referrals to classes, prescriptions of drugs, medical diagnoses, sending to other doctors, nothing, just a chat over and over and over. Of course, we can say that the kind of conversation we have every day with many various people, especially with friends, life partners, children, and relatives. So what is different? In communication between the therapist and the client, several aspects can not be compromised to maintain effective treatment: the therapist can't have his/her own needs in the sessions, the therapist must keep being an ally to a customer in any case, even if it would manifest itself in maintaining healthy personal boundaries, when the customer requires to ignore them, and so on. In this way, it is different from the relationship with partners and friends. It also differs from the parent/child relationship, although it is closest to this one. The customer is no longer a child, and therefore he/she must pay for the other adult's ability to temporarily give up their needs to create a fully client-oriented environment despite the client's behavior. The client must offer something for creating this kind an environment, usually, there is some amount of money agreed upon. So, it is the client's commitment: to provide payment for consultations and to attend them in the agreed time, otherwise, the fee for the session will be taken as another way to stimulate the responsibility for their own actions as well as to stimulate to calculate accidental loss that happens. Since this relationship is similar to the caregiver/child relationship, the therapist's role and influence are very high. Thanks to a safe environment and unconditional trust clients finally can be fully open to someone, it does not matter whether you are 18 to 85, this experience can't come too late, but it is brilliant if it comes at all. People are not used to relaxing and saying what they might be hiding even from themselves, and unfortunately, parents usually don't provide this opportunity for their children as well. So the customer can open up, discuss their problems, he finally can be himself. The customer can gradually regain confidence, begin strengthening himself, and so on. In this relationship, opinions can differ, and discussions and arguments can appear, but it can't get out of the healthy personality boundaries, which are required to be maintained by the therapist at all times as a model for the client. If the client threatens to injure the therapist, then the therapy can be interrupted. Everything else should be acceptable, even if totally intrusive scary, or strange. Thus, a client pays for this service: a supportive, confidential environment that enables them to open his/her psychological wounds and gradually allows him/her to heal and find ways how to do it in the best way. Therefore, this kind of relationship becomes equally rewarded. How this relationship is different from other relationships between people in greater detail can be found here.
So... there is a possibility for choice. I discussed 1 of them, which can help more and it helped me personally the most. People also prefer more physical alternatives: diet, exercise, meditation, and different beliefs. More fortunate people, can find ways to learn how to self-heal, and to find like-minded, with whom it is possible to effectively understand their problems and with time to solve them, of course could choose that way; although sometimes those people also can try more professional support just out of curiosity. If it is effective, why not? If it is effective to use prescribed psychiatric drugs, why not? If you feel that drugs are more likely to be a run-away and hiding from the actual problems, then you could try the described healing method. The message that I wanted to point out here, is that the diagnosis is not forever. O if to put it the other way, like I recently heard in the TV series "Sense 8" is that, if you have a problem, there are two options: either live with it or fix it. Here I state one of the possible options for it. If you appeared interested in it, here are my contacts - my contacts
That's that folks, and I wish you to find your own unique way to heal your heart/mind. 

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Resources on this theme in English:

Films about healing with psychotherapy, without or with fewer medications
Films
Videos made on a theme of psychiatric medication by Daniel Mackler on YouTube:
About medication​

​And some fun stuff on it.