Comments on: Utility of Categorising Mental Illness http://www.spring.org.uk/2006/01/utility-of-categorising-mental-illness.php Understand your mind with the science of psychology - Mon, 04 May 2009 10:30:58 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Jeremy (PsyBlog author) http://www.spring.org.uk/2006/01/utility-of-categorising-mental-illness.php/comment-page-1#comment-19538 Jeremy (PsyBlog author) Mon, 23 Jan 2006 19:29:00 +0000 http://spring.org.uk/2006/01/utility-of-categorising-mental-illness.php#comment-19538 Thanks for your comment spiritual emergency. In fact you've rather neatly lead onto my next post on the subject - treatment - so I'll be interested to read your reaction. Thanks for your comment spiritual emergency. In fact you've rather neatly lead onto my next post on the subject - treatment - so I'll be interested to read your reaction.

]]> By: Spiritual Emergency http://www.spring.org.uk/2006/01/utility-of-categorising-mental-illness.php/comment-page-1#comment-19537 Spiritual Emergency Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:46:00 +0000 http://spring.org.uk/2006/01/utility-of-categorising-mental-illness.php#comment-19537 <i>The course of psychosis is unpredictable. The only fairly solid finding is that the occurrence of psychotic episodes seem to increase the probability that they will occur again in the future. This process is known as kindling.</i><br /><br />I once read that psychosis is literally the "fever" of mental illness -- its presence can indicate anything from schizophrenia to an underlying chemical sensitivity (i.e., I'm aware of one fellow who underwent a psychotic episode after taking a popular cough syrup.) In spite of the diversity of situations that can produce altered consciousness states, it seems that with rare exception all forms of psychosis are addressed with one tool only -- anti-psychotic medication.<br /><br />In turn, this seems to have shaped the psychiatric field wherein those practicing no longer know how to approach psychosis with anything less than neuroleptics. For example, not too long ago I had a discussion with a psychologist who had more than 30 years of clinical experience under his belt. I asked him if he had ever known of anyone who recovered from psychosis without anti-psychotic medication. "No," he replied, "not personally." The course of psychosis is unpredictable. The only fairly solid finding is that the occurrence of psychotic episodes seem to increase the probability that they will occur again in the future. This process is known as kindling.

I once read that psychosis is literally the "fever" of mental illness -- its presence can indicate anything from schizophrenia to an underlying chemical sensitivity (i.e., I'm aware of one fellow who underwent a psychotic episode after taking a popular cough syrup.) In spite of the diversity of situations that can produce altered consciousness states, it seems that with rare exception all forms of psychosis are addressed with one tool only -- anti-psychotic medication.

In turn, this seems to have shaped the psychiatric field wherein those practicing no longer know how to approach psychosis with anything less than neuroleptics. For example, not too long ago I had a discussion with a psychologist who had more than 30 years of clinical experience under his belt. I asked him if he had ever known of anyone who recovered from psychosis without anti-psychotic medication. "No," he replied, "not personally."

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