Why is going to a psychiatrist a stigma - Page 4

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

Ok you are showing the other side of it but retaining a modern version of stigma....😆

what? 😕 there is no other side.
no stigma where there is education, awareness and willingness to accept the truth. psychiatric solutions can help people w/o a doubt.

human ego that i cannot go wrong.

Originally posted by: mermaid_QT

what? 😕 there is no other side.
no stigma where there is education, awareness and willingness to accept the truth. psychiatric solutions can help people w/o a doubt.

why would u say that "keep psychiatric solutions away "...

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

why would u say that "keep psychiatric solutions away "...

there's a saying "an apple a day- keeps the doctor away" i based mine on that saying, providing a sad picture of how the ignorant, uneducated and unaware people feel about psychiatists and hence keep them away. 😕
got it?😊

Originally posted by: sandya_rao7

human ego that i cannot go wrong.

👏👏 that's true!!

Originally posted by: mermaid_QT

there's a saying "an apple a day- keeps the doctor away" i based mine on that saying, providing a sad picture of how the ignorant, uneducated and unaware people feel about psychiatists and hence keep them away. 😕
got it?😊

chaalnaar nahi...😆....nvmd chalel.

Amazing topic...and direly needed!! 👏 👏

Since I've studied Clinical Psychology myself and am now teaching it, I keep telling my students to realise that many mental disorders are actually aggravated by the stigma and denial attached to them.

Remember that all psycholgical/psychiatric problems usually start pretty innocuously. A student may be suffering from low self-esteem and mild depression because of problems at school and home. Then something happens that acts as a precipitating cause: like failing in an important exam. This is the time when the person needs the maximum understanding and support. Unfortunately, in India our reaction is usually the opposite of what is needed by an overwrought, scared teenager. What do we say? You guessed it: "You have FAILED? How COULD you? After all the money we have spent on your education......"


Add to that the lack of awareness in the smaller towns and the shortage of mental health professionals, and the stage is set for depression, anxiety and even suicide.

We Indians love to hide our heads like ostriches in the sand, thinking that if we don't acknowledge something,it will cease to exist. That is exactly the kind of mindset most of us have towards mental disorder. WE brush off serious complaints by saying, "Oh, it is a way of life now....your peers are coping with it, why don't you?" FAced with this kind of attitude, the problem escalates till it destroys the basic functionality of the person and shatters his/her sense of self.It is ironical that we, as a society, are responsible for creating these disorders and then stigmatising those who suffer from them. 😡


But Dr.Shukla also has a point. It has become almost a fad these days to dramatise our common problems...maybe it makes some if us feel important if we think we are suffering from a "big" illness. 😕 You may have heard this quip, "When the poor steal it is called stealing, when the rich steal it is called kleptomania." 😆 A range of "lifestyle disorders" such as shopaholism, INternet addiction and road rage can be controlled and even cured by a little professional help. It is important to remember that most disorders have their roots in anxiety and low self-esteem, along with wrong habits of thinking ("cognitive biases"), and these can be successfully corrected by relatively simple methods. SOmetimes drug therapy is also necessary, expecially when there is a genetic or neurochemical factor involved, but too many patients become dependent on their drugs. There has to be a middle ground.


The thing to remember is, that even if a person has the roots of mental illness within himself/herself, it may
not manifest throughout his/her life unless there is some environmental stress too. SO we, the people around the "sick" person, are in some respects "sick" too, and we can't shrug off our reponsiblity by blaming the patient or dismissing his complaint.

Here is my one-liner for why its a stigma... Going to the pyschiatrist is literally like saying "My brains gone out of whack so I an having it fixed, or in milder terms my brain is screwed up"

Now who in their senses will have the desire or courage to admit that to the whole world... 😆

So despite the good talk about "need to go to him to remain healthy or to prevent further deterioration" it will always be a stigma... just people will hold lesser bias against them..

I personally feel with the life-style we all are subjected to EEG should be part of the routine doctor visits and anti-depressants should be OTC... 😊

Originally posted by: egghatcher

qwerts mentioned yoga .... i wholeheartedly support that . specially the pranayamas which does pretty much the same as getting de-stressed at a shrink ..

And I abhor anyone that ridicules any body with physical or mental afflictions ...... hell i even love george bush and himmy rash miyya .....so go figure..😆

Wow Eggy..Never imagined you to be G Bush supporter.. 👏.. but what is the Himmy rashtionale behind enjoying nasal ringing?.