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Mental illness-how many people you know impacted...
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littlefoot
Jan 15, 17 15:24
Post #1 of 21 (1594 views)
Sorry for the book. Feel free to answer if you want. I am very curious how many people around us see and feel the same way...

Main Question:
How many people do you know personally as family or friends that struggle with mental illness to some degree. If you can or are willing, list the illness.
Next question:
How the freak are so many people struggling with these issues?! What is causing all of this?!

My story...kinda...
Just got off the phone with my sister. She told me a crap-load of stuff about her husband and what just came about the past few days. I like her husband a lot. Really cool guy. Just shocked by a lot of the crap. It struck me, that I know far too many people with mental "issues" (for lack of a better term-and NOT trying to insensitive).

Brother in Law-potentially an alcoholic (not totally sure though). But definitely bipolar. This could have been brought on by meds. He had a seizure7ish years ago after drinking wine, beer and coffee all day, then went out and shoveled a huge area with 18" of snow. Had a seizure that night in bathroom and it started this downward spiral. After being prescribed many meds (took a while to find the right ones) his personality changed and he is a withdrawn, somewhat lifeless person. I know he enjoys a few drinks here and there, but I think his mental issues are causing him to drink more now. My sister told his psych. about what she had recently discovered in his phone, email etc and he told her to take him to the ER immediately. He is apparently "delusional" and doesn't know if certain people or things are really real, and he is also hearing voices in his head. He is protective of his phone, deleting texts etc. He also lied to my sister about some things-she didn't go into detail. I AM AWARE THAT SOME OF YOU WILL SAY HE IS CHEATING, but I am not totally sure. If he is, I will let you all know later.

My brother-in-laws siblings. They probably all have mental issues. His mom is nuts. a legit hypochondriac.

My sister's kid-super affectionate little guy. 1st grader. Just told his mom (my sister) that he feels like there is something missing in his life. Very abnormal for him.
He just started ADHD meds this summer. My guess is that there is definitely a connection. I told her to take him off.

My brother-Bipolar. Also a bit off the track with life and theology/philosophy etc. Loves drugs. Now divorced and has 3 kids. Actually attempted to get his wife and 3 kids (before the divorce) to live on a farm with his girlfriend, her kid, and her husband before his wife figured things out. The other girl's husband apparently didn't figure it out either until it was too late

My aunt killed herself about 15 years ago around thanksgiving because her boyfriend broke up with her. She was definitely a different type of person than I was used to being around. She was a "biker" type of chick you would see in the bars.

I have a friend from high school. He and his 2 sisters have mental health issues. Don't know much details since they are pretty private. But I know the 2 girls went off the deep end a few times.

My sister's best friend. Bipolar.

My wife's sister is a bit off...maybe depressed. Totally moves to her own beat. Does things when she wants, not based on what you want.
Wife's mom is a bit off-based on stories from her childhood.
Wife's grandfather-I have never met. He died a while ago, but he was a strange dude.

Did many people in the "old days" have these type of disorders, or are they shooting up now based on *conspiracy theory* chemicals in foods and genetic modifications etc. Military testing...

I just don't get it.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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jschm13
Jan 15, 17 16:15
Post #2 of 21 (1561 views)
There's been a couple decent threads in the main forum on this if I recall correctly-- some good stories in there http://forum.slowtwitch.com/..._Alcoholic_P6128580/

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/..._Happiness_P5956073/

Personally I've been treated for depression and I know at least a few people in my circle of friends have had issues with addiction, anxiety, ect.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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Dr. Tigerchik
Jan 15, 17 17:49
Post #3 of 21 (1503 views)
More than I can count. 3/5 in my immediately family
I will list mine - I am an anorexia nervosa survivor but still suffer from anxiety.

Friends, lots, one bulimic, one friend committed suicide last year (was bipolar)
maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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jkca1
Jan 15, 17 18:05
Post #4 of 21 (1497 views)
My wife's side has a preponderance of family members suffering from depression/alcoholism. There just has to be a gene getting passed down each generation because the numbers are so freaking high.

I went through a period of anxiety/depression/insomnia in the early 90's. I lost my dad to dementia, went through a divorce and survived numerous layoffs all within an 18 month period. I kept a diary of those days. The daily entries are brutal. Looking back at them makes me realize how far I have come from that pit of hell.
"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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TriguyBlue
Jan 15, 17 18:23
Post #5 of 21 (1484 views)
I think it's just better medical screening these days, these things would have just gone un-diagnosed back in the day.

As for why, who knows. But for much of our evolutionary past the average life expectancy was on in the 20-30s because of infant mortality, all the weak children died back then as infant mortality was massive.
Last edited by: TriguyBlue: Jan 15, 17 18:26
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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owen.
Jan 15, 17 20:02
Post #6 of 21 (1444 views)
I seem to know more than a few PTSD sufferers. One good friend who did a couple tours as a medic in Afghanstan and my father-in-law who did a couple of tours and lost folks as an MP. The military shrinks think he started out with asbergers and the PTSD and drugs they gave them have given him early onset dementia. Both are getting drummed out of the military, which is quite sad as it was their life.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-laws are flaming progressive liberals which must count for something... I'm really not sure how my wife turned out so well.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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cerveloguy
Jan 15, 17 21:15
Post #7 of 21 (1419 views)
My nephew has schizophrenia. He's 31 and will never be able to work a day in his life. I had a former business partner also develop the condition. He was the most ambitious driven guy I ever knew, but today he is a street person. My son is bi-polar, absolutely brilliant but irrational at times. Over all though, he is managing fairly well. I had an old girlfriend that developed uni-polar syndrome, in fact she must of already had it when I knew her. Haven't seen her for years so not sure how she is doing. I have a deceased uncle that was never very successful in life. I believe now he may have had some sort of a mental health issue but it was just not diagnosed back in those days.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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wimsey
Jan 15, 17 21:36
Post #8 of 21 (1413 views)
My godmother was a paranoid schizophrenic.

One of my nephews seems like he's on the autism spectrum, but it's fairly mild (if there at all) and hasn't been formally diagnosed.

Ex-sister in law exhibited classic signs of borderline personality disorder (big part of why she an ex-SIL).

One good friend, one former boss, both bipolar. Both are successful, high functioning attorneys - they do therapy and meds and seem to have a decent handle on the disorder.

A handful of former colleagues on the autism spectrum - makes some of them terrific lawyers in some ways, they have scary focus and encyclopedic knowledge when they decide they are interested in something.

Couple former classmates had eating disorders when younger, seem to have a handle on them now.

Two high school friends that I know of with diagnosed depression. A third I strongly suspect it was an undiagnosed issue that was directly linked to his suicide in his 20s.

Mental illness is all around us. As previous poster said, I think it's diagnosed more frequently now, in the past it was swept under the rug or referred to in code, people being "in one of their moods", or "melancholy" or "a bit peculiar", etc.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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Andrewmc
Jan 16, 17 0:50
Post #9 of 21 (1384 views)
Historically it's always been present. I'm not sure anyone could speculate on prevalence. Obviously one part of it was the "village idiot" which would have covered a broad range of issues from being disabled to having full blown mental health problems.

I think we are almost all surrounded by it, from low grade mentail health issues to full on psychotic episodes we are only more aware of it as a wider social awareness of it has grown
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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EndlessH2O
Jan 16, 17 5:21
Post #10 of 21 (1342 views)
tigerchik wrote:
More than I can count. 3/5 in my immediately family
I will list mine - I am an anorexia nervosa survivor but still suffer from anxiety.

Friends, lots, one bulimic, one friend committed suicide last year (was bipolar)

I feel for you. My sister has been recovering (from what I understand one never fully recovers) from anorexia for at least 20 years. Back in her late teens and early twenties (she is 46), there were several extended stints in clinics. It was a brutal time for the family, especially my mother, father and even me. She blamed all of us for her issues - my mother took the brunt of it because it was her relatives who apparently sexually abused her. My sister made an erroneous claim on a national syndicated program (she was a panel member) about 10 years ago that my mother was so brutal that she made my sister do "weigh ins" every day when she was in early teens before it was discovered that she was anorexic. I called her bull $hit, because those were the exact same words that a friend of ours had used about what her mother had done to her around the same age, knowing that our mother would not have been mean.

Her psychosis had metastasized into a supposed bi-polar diagnosis where she claimed to me that she was diagnosed with something like 29 personalities, but at the time that she told me she informed she was down to three. The comedian in me did ask her how that worked - Did she fire or "unfriend" those 26 personalities? Were her personalities "true" personalities or just "hangers on" or "posse"? While she is blood and I feel for her, I try to stay far away from it (like 3 states and an 8-hour drive), mainly to protect my family from the abuse that she sometimes hurls our way.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [EndlessH2O] [ In reply to ]
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Dr. Tigerchik
Jan 16, 17 5:27
Post #11 of 21 (1336 views)
 
Quote:
More than I can count. 3/5 in my immediately family
I will list mine - I am an anorexia nervosa survivor but still suffer from anxiety.

Friends, lots, one bulimic, one friend committed suicide last year (was bipolar)
I feel for you. My sister has been recovering (from what I understand one never fully recovers) from anorexia for at least 20 years. Back in her late teens and early twenties (she is 46), there were several extended stints in clinics. It was a brutal time for the family, especially my mother, father and even me. She blamed all of us for her issues - my mother took the brunt of it because it was her relatives who apparently sexually abused her. My sister made an erroneous claim on a national syndicated program (she was a panel member) about 10 years ago that my mother was so brutal that she made my sister do "weigh ins" every day when she was in early teens before it was discovered that she was anorexic. I called her bull $hit, because those were the exact same words that a friend of ours had used about what her mother had done to her around the same age, knowing that our mother would not have been mean.

Her psychosis had metastasized into a supposed bi-polar diagnosis where she claimed to me that she was diagnosed with something like 29 personalities, but at the time that she told me she informed she was down to three. The comedian in me did ask her how that worked - Did she fire or "unfriend" those 26 personalities? Were her personalities "true" personalities or just "hangers on" or "posse"? While she is blood and I feel for her, I try to stay far away from it (like 3 states and an 8-hour drive), mainly to protect my family from the abuse that she sometimes hurls our way.

Mental illnesses are hard on the entire family. I'm like you in that I use humor to cope.
maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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Elvis Runner
Jan 16, 17 10:23
Post #12 of 21 (1256 views)
I've been around schizophrenics my entire life (I'm 52). My grandmother was declared insane in the early 1940s and institutionalized. My mother and her 3 brothers were placed in boarding schools. In the late '60s, when I was about 5, my mother was institutionalized after a breakdown. I found the medical reports - scary stuff - shock therapy, Thorazine. The doctors told my dad she had to be committed indefinitely. He told me my mom begged him to take her out of there and he did. She struggled with it the rest of her life, and still today takes medication to control it (although Alzheimers has really slowed it down). In the '70s, two of her three brothers developed it; one severely and one functional, although the functional one went from a research scientist to a security guard.
As a teenager and a young adult, I often assumed either I or my brother or my cousins were all going to get it. It made for some pretty risky behaviors on my part - why study hard and take the safe route if you're doomed to go crazy in the future? Fortunately, none of us have developed it, and as we're all in our 50's, unlikely to.
The stigma is gone. As a kid in the '70s, I was the one with the crazy mom. Our family did our best to hide it. Today there is no shame in admitting it. Also, the development of Risperdone in the late '80s was a godsend. My mom had some semblance of normalcy after she started taking that.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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skinny
Jan 16, 17 12:02
Post #13 of 21 (1218 views)
To start with family: Me (cyclothymia aka bipolar light, PTSD which shows as depression and panic disorder), wife, one of our kids, likely my dad (never diagnosed but definitely shows signs), aunts, uncles, grand parents. Mostly some depression, substance abuse, but a few other more rare disorders mixed in.

Friends: Most of them, since my circle of friends is mostly law enforcement, or other first responders or medical community. Tons of PTSD, some depression unrelated to PTSD. We talk often about how odd it is that a large percentage of the people most trusted to help others in times of distress are mentally messed up in some way themselves.

As for why it seems more prevalent now than in the past, we have discussed a few theories. PTSD is better diagnosed now, it is more acceptable to talk about it and get treatment, where in the past those people turned to alcohol, drugs, and suicide. Depression and anxiety is worse now because there is more societal pressure to be more successful earlier in life, to fit in, to be perfect.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Starting from scratch...
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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Alibabwa
Jan 16, 17 15:22
Post #14 of 21 (1183 views)
I have a couple of friends who are bipolar and reliant on medication to stay on an even keel. I have another friend who is clinically depressed and is on lifelong medication. All of them struggle with how much to disclose to their employers.

Many of my friends struggle with anxiety, some badly enough that they are medication. I have anxiety, and depression resulting from it, and it has been pretty terrible at times but I've manged to get away without medication and can manage it through lifestyle changes.

A good friend is OCD, and gets caught in maddening loops where she obsesses over things and cannot let go.

I have two friends with serious post-concussion syndrome and am very concerned about them. The more I read about it the more scared I get. For one of them it has been pretty life altering - going from being an uber-jock to not being allowed to do anything where she can hit her head.

I think the increased prevalence you see is that people are more open about talking about mental illness and it is more readily diagnosed, as other posters have already noted.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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MJuric
Jan 16, 17 17:34
Post #15 of 21 (1134 views)
Physical illness - How many people you know impacted?

We have as a society cornered "Mental health" into some sort of taboo subject that is some sort of an affliction that only "Those people" get. How many people do you know go thru their entire lives with absolutely not health issues, not a cold, not a broken bone, nothing, nada? I'd dare say the answer is ZERO so why on earth would we somehow expect the minds of all these people to operate flawlessly and in complete peak health for the same period of time.

My point is that we ALL suffer from one level or another of mental "Illness". That may be something as simple as going thru a rough patch, like a mental cold or having a broken, that you quickly shake off and are on the way to recovery to sometimes for others a life long chronic illness like diabetes or Crohn's disease.

Until such time society looks at mental health in the same manner as physical health and "Hey I have an appointment with my therapist because I have a mental cold" is as accepted as "Hey I'm stopping by immediate care because I have a cold" the level of mental illness and severity of it will continue to shock people as those most severely impact struggle to deal with it in silence and the rest of us do our best to completely ignore our flu and cold symptoms as not to be shunned by the rest of society.

~Matt
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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BarryP
Jan 16, 17 18:06
Post #16 of 21 (1124 views)
A good friend of mine goes through suicidal level depression.

My best friend's ex has border line personality disorder.

My father has serious PTSD and my mother was just plain nuts.
-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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chriskal
Jan 16, 17 19:36
Post #17 of 21 (1104 views)
A few.

My best friend's sister died from eating disorders. She was a year younger than us. Pretty, smart, kind. It became noticeable to me that something was seriously wrong in college Nothing worked. She passed away at 28

Sophomore year college a pledge brother blew his head off. I assume some sort of mental health issue there as there was no other obvious reason for the act.

Senior year one of my roommates lost it. We lived in a ground floor apartment and he started climbing in and out if his window vs. using the door if anyone was home. Eventually his GF started doing the same. One night the police knocked on our door because he had called them claiming that I was going to kill him with a fork. I wasn't. He made it through the semester, but never came back to school after that. Word was that he was institutionalized for awhile.

Professionally a good number of my clients have mental health issues of some nature.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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cartsman
Jan 17, 17 5:49
Post #18 of 21 (1066 views)
Without going into too much detail, I know a lot of people who have had at least some level of mental illness, mostly depression, and I'm sure there are a lot more that I don't know about. Been through a few bouts of depression myself as well. I'd put the levels of mental illness down to a few things:

1) The medical profession now has names and treatments for things which not that long ago simply wouldn't have been considered an illness.
2) There is vastly increased awareness and information about mental illness, and much less stigma attached to it, which alongside 1) is leading to much higher rates of diagnosis
3) Cultural shift over the last 50 years with much more focus on individual happiness. Go back a couple of generations when you had to be pretty lucky just to make it through childhood, there were lots of major wars and conflicts and a whole bunch of diseases around that could kill you as an adult, and you quite likely had a long and physical job, and you probably were too busy surviving to spend too much time worrying about how your mood was.

In most cases I think it's a good thing that we're diagnosing and treating mental illness better than we used to. I do think in some of the more borderline cases (and I'd include my own here to a degree) that it can be counterproductive. Being stressed by work sometimes, or getting a bit down at times, are natural, and I think at times the approach of the previous generation to basically say HTFU might be more effective than calling it an illness and giving people pills for it. Medical profession is getting better at looking at things like CBT, diet and exercise rather than just reaching straight for the prescription, but it is still far too easy to just be given pills. I think the pills can be useful in the short term to break the cycle and help people get back on their feet, but I know a lot of people who go on them and then never come off, without actually addressing any of the root causes which are often lifestyle factors, not chemical factors.

E.g. a number of the people I know who are on anti-depressants basically make shit life decisions. They go out with or marry the wrong people. They spend money they don't have then stress about financial security. They drink or eat too much and don't do enough exercise so get overweight. They'd be a lot better off addressing those decisions than they would taking pills. This is also where modern society maybe aids and abets people getting themselves into shit positions - the ease and availability of credit, the availability and cheapness of crap food, everything from cars to dishwashers to home- and cubicle-working making a sedentary lifestyle so easy, dating apps so you can go get a new relationship instead of fixing your current one, etc. I'm all for people taking responsibility for themselves, but we do have to recognise that more people are given more rope with which to hang themselves than at any previous point in time so it's not surprising that in many cases they're not equipped to deal with that responsibility.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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nslckevin
Jan 17, 17 5:58
Post #19 of 21 (1059 views)
I don't know the exact number, but it's large.

How many people post in the lavender room?
Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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Perseus
Jan 17, 17 6:53
Post #20 of 21 (1042 views)
The short version is my sister is a bipolar alcoholic. She was always all over the place but wasn't diagnosed bipolar until after her second trip to rehab (late 20's). Initially she would stop her meds when she felt good and of course it was a train wreck. She's fallen off the wagon a few times but she's done really well the last five years.
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Re: Mental illness-how many people you know impacted... [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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BCtriguy1
Jan 17, 17 7:09
Post #21 of 21 (1029 views)
I honestly think there are more people with "issues" then there are who are normal.

My mother has pretty bad and completely undiagnosed anxiety issues. I'm not sure if that is even a medical problem or one that is learned, as I have from her. Growing up, I knew I always lacked focus, and had anxious tendencies, but didn't know to put a name or label on it. It wasn't until I was in my late 20's and after a few relationships fell apart, mainly for the same reasons, that I started going to counselling to start understanding my issues a bit better. For me, it has been a god send. I still struggle, but I am far better at recognizing what's going on, what triggers it, and what I need to do to manage it better. The main thing I have learned is just how self destructive it can be.

My best friend from elementary school had some very serious mental health issues that went unchecked - he jumped off a bridge a few years ago and took his own life.

Good friend's BIL - fell in to addiction, overdosed and died.

Plenty of people at arm's reach with mild to severe issues of some kind.

I blame chemtrails ;-).
Long Chile was a silly place.
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