Do you think mental illness is curable?

I know I will be stuck taking PTSD meds and going to therapy for the rest of my life but is there hope for future generations? Will society find a way to prevent people from being born with cognitive abnormalities (or life threatening illnesses) or are drug companies and insurance corporates too greedy to care about the little guy?

No 9
Depends 25
Yes 16
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Comments ( 27 )
  • It depends. Some things are and some things arent. I've heard of cases of PTSD go away. Depression and anxiety often go away for some people. Other things like autism, schizophenia, psychopathy, and alzhimers do not go away.

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    • Those lucky people... I guess the real queation is whether or not disease is too profitable to "cure" (at least in America)

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      • Yes, the pharmaceutical companies make a fortune.
        Some people are over prescribed and some arent. What they should do is allow different companies to compete with other drug companies instead of monopolizing and not allowing off brand medication for certain things. I take provigil and it costs my insurance about 1000$ monthly.

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        • Damn

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          • insanebotv21

            And some mental illnesses can't be cured, only treated. In general, the ones without physiological causes are curable and the ones with physical or genetic problems can't.

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          • insanebotv21

            Yeah, the monopolization of certain pharmaceutical companies to insurance companies is a far bigger problem than simple greed... It's not fair to the consumer that rights to serve to an insurance company can be owned by only one company.

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  • Kevinevan

    I think it's manageable not curable. I've overcome anxiety, ptsd and i have a handle on other issues but it never goes away completely. I have to actively and consciously deal with it.

    Mental illness isn't a death sentence but it makes life challenging.

    The worst part is the isolation that comes from family and friends who have no idea what you are going through and dickheads who claim mental illness doesn't exist.

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  • Skittles23

    Right now, mental illness is manageable. Not curable.

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  • SmokeEverything

    It all depends on what you consider mental illness. The mental treatment and drug counseling industries work hand in hand to normalize any marginalized people towards societal function. Free people have to perscribe their own medications.

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  • PenisNV

    If you were sane then you would not be on this site. Think of all the fun you would be missing. Crazy can be fun.

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  • Nickvey

    stress disorders are really anxiety. all humans are genetically capable of feeling anxiety. Most humans develop skills to cope some dont. you just lack skills . doent make you special in any way.

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  • Nickvey

    yes vitamin B12 deficiency can cause extreme madness. and its completly reversible. Psychiatric symptoms attributable to vitamin B12 deficiency have been described for decades. The earlier reports are for the most part in accord with more recent ones, despite being diagnostically less specific in psychiatric and hematologic terms. These symptoms seem to fall into several clinically separate categories: slow cerebration; confusion; memory changes; delirium, with or without hallucinations and/or delusions; depression; acute psychotic states; and (more rarely) reversible manic and schizophreniform states. While there still remain abundant hematologic, psychiatric, neurologic, or nutritional reasons for obtaining a serum vitamin B12 level, its use in the investigation of the etiology of a patient's dementia seems unjustified. However, acute or subacute changes in a demented patient's mental status, specifically a clouding of their consciousness, may make such testing advisable as part of the complete workup of their delirium regardless of a normal hematologic picture.

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    • ChiggerDaMan

      That's vitamin B6. Check Wikipedia.

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      • Nickvey

        i want to thank you for wasting my time.

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  • JewluminatiTits

    You completely control mental illness. I will in fact go as far as to say mental illness doesn't exist. You give yourself mental illness and expect a doctor to fix something that you are making up. It's ridiculous that people believe this shit. Seriously. Just stop acting. I know it's hard to go right out of it when you have been doing this for so long because people tell you that you have ptsd but no. It's not real. It's all a delusion.

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    • texastakeover

      sorry but you are the one,delusional & ridiculous!

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    • Kevinevan

      Congratulations. Your statment just proved mental illness is 100% real. Best of luck in dealing with yours when you decide to get treatment. I wish you the best.

      You said something that's accurate tho. Doctors can't fix mental illness and any doctor claiming to should be avoided. What they CAN do is to provide tools and resources which will help a person deal with and eventually manage them.

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    • How do you stop "acting" when everyday common items trigger memories and fear that makes you think peope are going to hurt you again?

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      • shade_ilmaendu

        You don't stop "acting", this guy is full of shit. PTSD is an incredibly real and trying thing and anyone trying to say otherwise is either simply ignorant of what it really means or lacks the empathy to relate to anyone with different life experiences from their own.

        You can, however, move on from it. I had PTSD as well. While I wouldn't say I'm cured - I don't have flashbacks anymore. I still get anxiety, sometimes incredibly badly, but time, support and mental conditioning have made an enormous difference in how it impacts my day to day life.

        It's not going to be easy, and it's not going to happen quickly. It's going to feel at times like you're not making any progress, or that you're relapsing or moving backwards - that's all part of the healing process, don't beat yourself up over what seem to be backslides.

        What works is so highly dependant on the individual. In my case, I wound up not taking or even really being given the option for medications, as the only thing the doctor I saw would perscribe me were antipsychotics that made me incredibly ill and I needed to stop taking them.

        Get yourself a good support network. If there are people in your life you can open up to, friends, family, significant other, do so. Explain what you're going through and how it effects you - those who truly care for you will understand and be there for you. That support is huge. Therapy definitely helped me a lot in the beginning too - just having someone to talk to openly without judgement and get things straight in your own head.

        As for mental conditioning... I found ways to manage the attacks when they came. First by simply sitting quietly, allowing it to happen while telling myself "this will end. This isn't permanent, I'm safe now" or simply being with someone else who could hold or support me through it. It was difficult, at times it felt like no progress was happening. I became violent at times, mostly towards myself but lashing out verbally and ocasionally physically at others. If things like this happen, forgive yourself but strive for that control.

        Eventually, I became able to mostly manage my anxiety by distracting myself - talking about something I enjoy or can go on about, jumping into an intensive game, removing myself from whatever situation and reading or trying to meditate or do anything to bring my mind back to a baseline.

        Exposure therapy for triggers can work wonders if done properly, or hurt if not. For me, I had to avoid certain subject matter for a time while I gave my psyche time to heal. Eventually, I could deal with reading triggering things in small doses, and now, if I'm mentally prepared can watch films that would have triggered me in the past as well. It's been a long road to get to this point, and it does sound like your own triggers may be more wide reaching than mind. I'd suggest consulting a therapist for how to best begin to condition yourself against them, perhaps find one who has specialized study in trauma cases if you can.

        This went on pretty long, and I won't put myself out there as an expert by any means, but being as I have had some experiences in these things I hope this could help you. If you would have any questions or just want to talk more about this by all means let me know here, I'm more than happy to do what I can to help.

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        • Kevinevan

          I couldn't have put it any better. You described what I did perfectly. Thank you!

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        • Granted this probably isn't the best place for (accurate) results, it is nice to know that there are others out there... Life can be one big scary place.

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        • JewluminatiTits

          I am not full of shit. It's my opinion and I think you should respect it. Also, I'm not a guy.

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          • shade_ilmaendu

            “Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”

            -Issas Asminov

            Your opinion does nothing to change objective fact and decades of psychological study. All you have accomplished here is to treat someone who is suffering like shit. Congratulations.

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            • JewluminatiTits

              You aren't intulectaul enough to understand the point I am making and think I'm stupid because of your own ignorance. I have always had my own way thinking and it works for me but every time I try to share it with someone they just think I'm a fucking asshole or an idiot except for one person. You can control anything in life (not just mental illness) if you think about it hard enough. If you truly think something without a doubt in your mind it will come true but just one tiny doubt can through that off and that's why many people think it's rediculous. They don't trust themselves enough to believe in something 100%. I'm a unique person and I think it's very annoying to assume I'm mentally ill rather than asking questions about my ideas and opinions. Even when I disagree with someone I just ask questions about their opinion to get an understanding of it and to see where they are coming from even if I don't agree and it's mind boggling to see so many people judge ideas without getting a clear understanding of where I am coming from. Also, none of you have even tried to ask about it. I think it's completely ridiculous.

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          • plot twist!

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    • Go visit the people in the psych ward and see if they are faking it.
      The mind is a complex organ and like all organs, things can go wrong.

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    • RoseIsabella

      Mishegas!

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