Mental illness is a rather baffling issue, and psychiatry is far from an exact science. I’ve noticed its difficult to get help with it unless you’re already in a state of crisis. if you arent suicidal when you show up at a hospital you’re often discharged with a list of phone numbers or a far off appointment. I know, I tried to get hospitalized for a scary and very damaging drug fueled manic episode last fall. I was definitely a danger to myself, but without suicidal ideations I struggled to get the treatment I needed.
If you do get hospitalized you usually talk to a doctor or nurse practitioner for 5 minutes a day, and they prescribe powerful psychotropic medications based on the 5 minute impressions. It’s like just throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks.
Hey, that’s my brain chemistry, man.
Many of these drugs take up to a month to be effective, but it’s rare that anyone’s insurance would cover a month in the hospital.
The psych wards are much like human warehouses, where there’s hardly ever anything to do… it’s hard to look at it as therapeutic. I’m not saying I have any answers but I am saying that the system seems deeply flawed, this is coming from someone that was diagnosed with bi polar and co occurring substance abuse issues 22 years ago. Right now they are trying to get my meds right, after first getting them quite wrong, and it’s very frustrating and emotionally taxing. One has to try to work within the limits of the system. If you think the system is effective, go to midtown Manhattan and see how many poor souls are muttering nonsense to themselves or any passers by. I rest my case
