Do you suffer from an affective disorder?

[micromass]

Do you suffer from an affective disorder??

Mental illness is very though to deal with. Most people will just not understand what's going on and think that you're crazy. When you have a broken leg, then people will sympathize with you and help you. But when you have a mental illness, then people avoid you and make fun of you.

I think that this poll might help some people to see that they're not alone. I encourage everybody to post their story. And remember: you are never alone.

As for me: I have OCD, depression and an avoidant personality disorder.

 

[Evo]

I suffer from anxiety and OCD.

 

[lisab]

I've had depression in the past. I didn't realize how debilitating it was until it was gone.

 

[Pengwuino]

Does being a physicist count?

 

[Lacy33]

Do I have to choose only one or can we select as many as apply?

 

[micromass]

Do I have to choose only one or can we select as many as apply?

You can choose as many as you want to.

 

[Evo]

Remember people, aspergers is now listed under autism.

 

[Lacy33]

And with all the Service people, battered children and women do we not have PTSD up there?

 

[Evo]

Ok, who lied and said they had none?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I voted for none. I didn't see it there at first and naturally I assumed that someone was trying to set me up as some kind of nut case. People always are you know. Sometimes when I'm walking, I can feel their eyes on me. When I turn around to see them they hide, but I know they're there waiting for their chance to get me. But then I saw it was the last choice.

 

[Evo]

i voted for none. I didn't see it there at first and naturally i assumed that someone was trying to set me up as some kind of nut case. People always are you know. Sometimes when I'm walking, i can feel their eyes on me. When i turn around to see them they hide, but i know they're there waiting for their chance to get me. But then i saw it was the last choice.

lol.

 

[Dembadon]

I haven't been clinically diagnosed with either, but I put OCD and depression. I can't think of many people I know who haven't been at least mildly depressed at one point in their life. I'm mildly OCD (contrast with Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets).

There are varying degrees to the disorders/illnesses in the poll. Some, if not all, can be life-threatening in their extreme cases.

 

[kcajrenreb]

I put none. I don't think being sad/ slightly deppressed at one point in your life counts as a mental illness if everyone has it. Its obviously another story if you actually are deppressed.

 

[Dembadon]

I put none. I don't think being sad/ slightly deppressed at one point in your life counts as a mental illness if everyone has it. Its obviously another story if you actually are deppressed.

I don't understand your reasoning. Would you say, then, that if everyone were to develop some form of psychosis that we should remove it from the list of mental illnesses?

 

[Evo]

Mentally ill sounds too harsh, what would be a better way of saying it?

 

[Dembadon]

Mentally ill sounds too harsh, what would be a better way of saying it?

If you're referring to depression, I feel as if it's more of a mood disorder than a mental disability/illness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder

The site claims it's a "mental disorder."

 

[SpringCreek]

Depression in my teens and twenties.

Anxiety/panic in my thirties.

Now in my forties it's anger.

There are some overlaps and occasional relapses.

It feels like a progression. Depression was the descent. Panic attacks were rock bottom. Anger is the ascent. Anger is the transition from the bad years (which is what I'm angry about) to the more peaceful years of maturity.

 

[kcajrenreb]

I don't understand your reasoning. Would you say, then, that if everyone were to develop some form of psychosis that we should remove it from the list of mental illnesses?

mental illness

— n
any of various disorders in which a person's thoughts, emotions, or behaviour are so abnormal as to cause suffering to himself, herself, or other people

Yes.

 

[Evo]

This is something to read if you aren't sure.

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-types-illness

 

[Dembadon]

Yes.

Hmm. We won't get far quoting dictionaries; the English language is circular.

Here's Dictionary.com's definition:

mental illness 
noun
any of the various forms of psychosis or severe neurosis.

Here's Merriam-Webster's:

a mental or bodily condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual—called also mental illness

Here's a more in-depth explanation of mental illness:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-illness/#WhaMenIll

We'll probably just have to agree-to-disagree since your opinion of what the criteria for mental illness are differ from mine. I don't believe that something has to be uncommon for it to be an illness.

 

[kcajrenreb]

Neither do I, but I don't think an emotion, or a mild depression that everyone has can be considered an ilness.

 

[Lacy33]

Mentally ill sounds too harsh, what would be a better way of saying it?

Damn Crazy, Frigin Nuts, Not In All Day, Elevator Don't go All the Way to The Top, Not quite Right, Special, Has Issues, Rather Treat the Symptoms Than call It a Name, Not Crazy, Just a little more Gentle, Fragile, I don;t think your'e crazy, You will never have to worry about any thing again...,
Evo, Do you like any of these?

 

[lisab]

Neither do I, but I don't think an emotion, or a mild depression that everyone has can be considered an ilness.

A cold can be mild, but it's still an illness. In a similar vein, mental illness can be mild.

I can understand not wanting to use the term, though. In a lot of societies, there is a taboo about mental illness.

 

[Evo]

Damn Crazy, Frigin Nuts, Not In All Day, Elevator Don't go All the Way to The Top, Not quite Right, Special, Has Issues, Rather Treat the Symptoms Than call It a Name, Not Crazy, Just a little more Gentle, Fragile, I don;t think your'e crazy, You will never have to worry about any thing again...,
Evo, Do you like any of these?

Those are great!

 

[Pythagorean]

I don't think so. I'm pretty detached from society and people, which probably keeps me sane (or is an insanity?)

 

[zoobyshoe]

Neither do I, but I don't think an emotion, or a mild depression that everyone has can be considered an ilness.

Shrinks separate a period of sadness caused by real loss from 'Depression', which is a disorder in that it persists in the absence of a present, real cause.

Any disorder in which emotions are out of whack is called an "Affective Disorder". The main ones are Depression, Bipolar, and Schizoaffective Disorder, but just about all mental illnesses have a strong affective component.

 

[Borek]

This is all a matter of where do you draw the line between illness and a lack of. If I am in a gloomy mood does it mean I have a depression?

Or, to put it differently - a lot depends on what we define as normal. How wide is normal? Is it just a point? What is it relative to? For IQ we assume norm is 100±3σ, so it depends on the population. We don't have a ruler to measure depression, but using the same approach (that is ±3σ) if everyone is mildly depressed, no one is actually depressed, as everyone is in the norm; just our definition of "depressed" doesn't fit the population.

Looking from this side of the world I have a feeling Americans tend to classify a lot of things that I would not care about as diseases or disorders. I guess that's partially effect of marketing - if you can sell a medicine, if you can try to cure it, it is advertised and becomes a known problem with solution present in every drugstore. At this moment people start to classify it as a disease.

No, I am not against using drugs where it makes sense, I am against abusing drugs, which is a clear tendency. It starts here as well, unfortunately.

Besides, poll is incomplete. There is no "none that I know of" choice.

 

[rhody]

Does being a physicist count?

No, being a closet penguin does !

Rhody...

 

[wukunlin]

never had a diagnosis, but I think when I have one there will be a long list...

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

By reading the posts, I get the impression that you don't so much suffer from mental illness as you luxuriate in it. The percentages in the poll are much higher than I expected, except for none which is much lower. So I did a cursory search on the web to find out the percentage of people who have been diagnosed with mental illness. The figures I got were for Americans, not everyone. One site said 25% in a year, and another said more than 50% in a lifetime. This is hardly a scientific approach, none the less, I had no idea it was anywhere near that high, I would have guessed something like 5% at any given time. Even so, the numbers here are much higher than any of the reported numbers, 18/22 as I write this. As the joke goes, you don't have to be crazy to post here, but it helps.

 

[cobalt124]

Nice thread, I've posted a bit about depression on other threads, better to speak out than hide.

To anser the OP, I've only voted for what I've been given a diagnosis for, depression and OCD. But I suspect I have/have had any in the list between eating disorder and other (inclusive ) to varying degrees.

 

[Borek]

By reading the posts, I get the impression that you don't so much suffer from mental illness as you luxuriate in it.

Nice word, luxuriate. I didn't know it up to now. In a way fits my thinking.

 

[zoobyshoe]

This is all a matter of where do you draw the line between illness and a lack of. If I am in a gloomy mood does it mean I have a depression?

The line is drawn at functionality. When the symptoms make you dysfunctional for a significant period you're likely to end up getting routed to a shrink and getting diagnosed.

Famous case is the autobiographical one reported in Zen In The Art of Motorcycle Maintainence. After an incident caused the author to lose faith in Academia he took to his bed and didn't get out of it until he was discovered by a friend two weeks later and taken to the hospital. Suicidal thinking and attempts are another obvious indicator a person is not merely "gloomy".

 

[rhody]

I discovered through a life time of reading, self introspection that certain symptoms of OCD fit me to a T. I think I have a mild form of it and have had it all my life, only recently recognizing it through reading two books that discussed it and what people do to cope with it. I went throught a period or denial at first, then bargaining, and finally, acceptance. Along the way I discovered some things that help to alleviate the worry that do not involve taking drugs, quite by accident to because I was not expecting it. These provide temporary relief from worry, a big plus IMO. Looking back, these same symptoms were present in family members, so there may be a genetic component to this as well, at least in my case.

Rhody...

 

[Borek]

The line is drawn at functionality. When the symptoms make you dysfunctional for a significant period you're likely to end up getting routed to a shrink and getting diagnosed.

Good point.

Do anyone believe only 6 out of 27 voting people so far were never dysfunctional because of mental problems at some point of their lives? I look around - and I find it hard to believe.

Unless PF is not only a magnet for crackpots, but also for psychos.

 

[cobalt124]

It's good to see posters voting none, given the vast amounts of creativity in members, given the "supposed links" between creativity and depression.

Humour helps!

I voted for none. I didn't see it there at first and naturally I assumed that someone was trying to set me up as some kind of nut case. People always are you know. Sometimes when I'm walking, I can feel their eyes on me. When I turn around to see them they hide, but I know they're there waiting for their chance to get me.

I feel better these days. No longer are they all out to get me. We are all out to get you! Look out!

Damn Crazy, Frigin Nuts...

My symptoms may be milder than yours. One sandwich short of a picnic, one slate short of a roof, and so on.

Does being a physicist count?

No, being a closet penguin does !

Maybe a penguin that is a physicist counts

Sharing helps!

avoidant personality disorder

I'd never heard of this. The Wikipedia article gives a frighteningly accurate description of my experiences.

I didn't realize how debilitating it was until it was gone.

You never do while you are "on the inside".

Now in my forties it's anger...It feels like a progression.

Mine is a similar experience, though I'm probably not angry enough.

Discussion may help!?

My immediate thoughts are that discussion can help, but at the end of the day, no matter how wise, you cannot reason yourself out of depression, in many cases reason can reinforce it. It seems that you have to rely on a trusted individual diagnosis, that is why I only voted on my diagnoses. At the end of the day, a sufferers view has to be taken into account, as, as has been said, a lot of people live their whole lives in a state of what might be called depression and will see it as normal, as "that is how things are". It does have to be dealt with subjectively, and on a case by case basis, and not pigeonhole sufferers into a diagnosis with a treatment. And the sufferer has to see the problem, and has to want to do something about it. I seem to be saying what Borek is saying in #27, but with less clarity, and from a sufferers point of view. I don't think classification is a problem, but that a narrow pigeonholing of sufferers would be, and marketing may well encourage this. I need a better word for "sufferer", too depressing".

As Jimmy Snyder says in #30, I'm sure plenty of people luxuriate in depression, though I don't see anything unusual in the numbers for this poll.

 

[zoobyshoe]

By reading the posts, I get the impression that you don't so much suffer from mental illness as you luxuriate in it.

Anyone with a manic or hypomanic component to their condition is likely to make gross fun of the whole thing. "Inappropriate humor" crops up in a lot of diagnoses, including neurological ones. Here's one I recall from Oliver Sacks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witzelsucht

 

[nobahar]

Mentally ill sounds too harsh, what would be a better way of saying it?

I try to use the term mental health issue.

I voted OCD and anxiety disorder, although OCD is an anxiety disorder. I assume the person who made the poll is referring to general anxiety or social anxiety with anxiety disorder. I have social anxiety. For those who have OCD and depression, they have quite a high comorbidity. Heres the Stanford University website:

"Patients with OCD are at high risk of having comorbid (co-existing) major depression and other anxiety disorders. In a series of 100 OCD patients who were evaluated by means of a structured psychiatric interview, the most common concurrent disorders were: major depression (31%), social phobia (11%), eating disorder (8%), simple phobia (7%), panic disorder (6%), and Tourette's syndrome (5%). "

I think bouts of depression are likely with OCD and other anxiety disorders. Since they can take their toll.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I try to use the term mental health issue.

I voted OCD and anxiety disorder, although OCD is an anxiety disorder. I assume the person who made the poll is referring to general anxiety or social anxiety with anxiety disorder. I have social anxiety. For those who have OCD and depression, they have quite a high comorbidity. Heres the Stanford University website:

"Patients with OCD are at high risk of having comorbid (co-existing) major depression and other anxiety disorders. In a series of 100 OCD patients who were evaluated by means of a structured psychiatric interview, the most common concurrent disorders were: major depression (31%), social phobia (11%), eating disorder (8%), simple phobia (7%), panic disorder (6%), and Tourette's syndrome (5%). "

I think bouts of depression are likely with OCD and other anxiety disorders. Since they can take their toll.

There's a lot of co-morbidity going around. I have a diagnosis of Major Depression, but this is most likely an epiphenomenon of a seizure disorder. Something like 49% of people with seizure disorders also have symptoms of Major Depression.

One book I read about Asperger's asserted it almost never happens in isolation, that it is usually co-morbid with something else, common things being OCD, OCPD, Tourettes, Depression, Seizures, and Bipolar Disorder. I don't know how accurate that particular book was, but my impression is that it's actually rare to find a clean, insulated case of any mental diagnosis, one without features of something else.

 

[Dembadon]

So, I guess micromass needs to decide whether or not he wants the poll to reflect those who've been clinically diagnosed? Do each of the illnesses in his poll require a clinical diagnosis to be debilitating? I don't mean to be pedantic, but I think the results of the poll would benefit from his input on what he wants.

 

[zoobyshoe]

So, I guess micromass needs to decide whether or not he wants the poll to reflect those who've been clinically diagnosed? Do each of the illnesses in his poll require a clinical diagnosis to be debilitating? I don't mean to be pedantic, but I think the results of the poll would benefit from his input on what he wants.

I drew a line for Borek's benefit, a definite mark beyond which a problem cannot be denied, but there are many people who'll go to a doctor when they sense they're in trouble and are approaching the line without having crossed it. There's a gradient and a person doesn't have to have been outright debilitated to seek treatment or merit a diagnosis. It's certainly a lot smarter to go to a doctor if you simply feel depression is escalating than it is to wait until you can't get out of bed and hope you die, for example. Likewise, if you have to have to get back out of the car and check and make sure you locked the front door more than once a trip, it's probably time to see a doc rather than wait until you miss work because you spent the whole day getting back out of the car to make sure you locked the door.

However, I think the poll should be limited to people who've actually gotten a diagnosis from a doctor.

 

[micromass]

So, I guess micromass needs to decide whether or not he wants the poll to reflect those who've been clinically diagnosed? Do each of the illnesses in his poll require a clinical diagnosis to be debilitating? I don't mean to be pedantic, but I think the results of the poll would benefit from his input on what he wants.

Well, I'm not after a serious study on the health of the PF members. I just wanted to make people feel that they're not alone. So I'm not going to say that you need a diagnosis to vote on something. Maybe a better title for this poll would be: "what mental illness do you recognize in yourself?" or something...

This poll is just a "You're not alone"-poll, it's not meant as a scientific survey...

 

[Pythagorean]

micromass...

you're not alone

=)

 

[Borek]

We love you micro.

 

[cobalt124]

This poll is just a "You're not alone"-poll, it's not meant as a scientific survey...

That was how I read it. I did vote only on my diagnoses as I trust them more than my own judgement on this issue, which would slant to having everything going. And I'm finding new ones here! I've just managed to convince myself I don't have Witzelsucht. Hard to resist with a name like that, but at the end of the day I just have to face up to the harsh reality that I am just not funny.

You're certainly not alone. Just feels like that sometimes.

 

[Dembadon]

Well, I'm not after a serious study on the health of the PF members. I just wanted to make people feel that they're not alone. So I'm not going to say that you need a diagnosis to vote on something. Maybe a better title for this poll would be: "what mental illness do you recognize in yourself?" or something...

This poll is just a "You're not alone"-poll, it's not meant as a scientific survey...

That was my interpretation of what you wanted.

 

[Evo]

I try to use the term mental health issue.

I voted OCD and anxiety disorder, although OCD is an anxiety disorder. I assume the person who made the poll is referring to general anxiety or social anxiety with anxiety disorder. I have social anxiety. For those who have OCD and depression, they have quite a high comorbidity. Heres the Stanford University website:

"Patients with OCD are at high risk of having comorbid (co-existing) major depression and other anxiety disorders. In a series of 100 OCD patients who were evaluated by means of a structured psychiatric interview, the most common concurrent disorders were: major depression (31%), social phobia (11%), eating disorder (8%), simple phobia (7%), panic disorder (6%), and Tourette's syndrome (5%). "

I think bouts of depression are likely with OCD and other anxiety disorders. Since they can take their toll.

I was the one that added OCD as a separate choice on the poll. I wasn't sure that people with OCD would know to choose anxiety. As micro mentioned, the poll is not meant to be a medical thread, it's just to let people know that they aren't alone and it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I think creative/scientific people are more prone to these types of things.

The thread isn't about micro either, he did it for others. There was an article last week that said 40% of Europeans are mentally ill, and that's what started the discussion.

 

[rhody]

micromass...

you're not alone

We love you micro.

Seconded, BTW, Micro, were your surprised, relieved to learn that you are not alone ? I bet it makes you feel a wee bit better, no ?

Rhody...

P.S. edit: Sorry Micro, I vaguely remember that from chat on Sunday, Evo put me in my place, no harm no foul intended.

 

[Evo]

Seconded, BTW, Micro, were your surprised, relieved to learn that you are not alone ? I bet it makes you feel a wee bit better, no ?

Rhody...

This thread isn't about micro, he started it to help OTHERS.

Nearly 40 percent of Europeans suffer mental illness

Europeans are plagued by mental and neurological illnesses, with almost 165 million people or 38 percent of the population suffering each year from a brain disorder such as depression, anxiety, insomnia or dementia, according to a large new study.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/04/us-europe-mental-illness-idUSTRE7832JJ20110904

 

[Evo]

Another article (non medical)

Creative minds: the links between mental illness and creativity

At first glance, Einstein, Salvador Dali, Tony Hancock, and Beach Boy Brian Wilson would seem to have little in common. Their areas of physics, modern art, comedy, and rock music, are light years apart. So what, if anything, could possibly link minds that gave the world the theory of relativity, great surreal art, iconic comedy, and songs about surfing?


According to new research, psychosis could be the answer. Creative minds in all kinds of areas, from science to poetry, and mathematics to humour, may have traits associated with psychosis. Such traits may allow the unusual and sometimes bizarre thought processes associated with mental illness to fuel creativity. The theory is based on the idea that there is no clear dividing line between the healthy and the mentally ill. Rather, there is a continuum, with some people having psychotic traits without having the debilitating symptoms.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/creative-minds-the-links-between-mental-illness-and-creativity-1678929.html