this is absolutely correct.
i had a psychotic break last year, really bad. i was put on intensive medications, which made it easier to fit into normal every day interaction, but also made me tired, depressed and, ultimately, more psychotic. all of the times i've experienced psychosis, it's been a defensive mechanism that my mind uses to explain why i'm feeling so shitty - so taking medicine that is exhausting, makes me gain weight and have trouble focusing just made the problem worse.
the meds stopped the immediately frighting and bizzare imagines my mind presented to me, but they didn't go away - they just changed into longer term, ultimately more frighting images that still scared me, but in a way that was more conducive to my behaving in a way that everybody else expected. i would believe i was trapped inside something like the matrix, where everything i did on the inside had intense consequences for people outside my reality; failing to wash my hands after using the restroom would cause millions to die far away. one of the 'rules' the psychosis imposed on me was that i could never talk about what i was struggling with because that would break the matrix and cause even worse problems.
it's pretty easy to see in retrospect that it was entirely metaphorical; the 'matrix' stands for the world of social convention, and small risks that add up over time (i.e. not washing hands or brushing teeth) were presented as catastrophic nightmares in order to make sure i focused on resolving them.
over the course of the past year i've slowly reduced the usage of these psychotropic medications - with approval from my psychiatrist - and with increased amounts of energy and happiness, i no longer have as much of the psychosis.
the issue i can see with all of this is that treatment for
mental health issues requires love, patience and careful attention from a lot of people over a long time; if you ask me, our society does not want to give that to people for fear of being taken advantage by some unscrupulous people who would feign mental illness to get out of work.
i don't know what a solution would be, but i agree with you - these meds do more to help everybody else than the patients themselves.
i had a psychotic break last year, really bad. i was put on intensive medications, which made it easier to fit into normal every day interaction, but also made me tired, depressed and, ultimately, more psychotic. all of the times i've experienced psychosis, it's been a defensive mechanism that my mind uses to explain why i'm feeling so shitty - so taking medicine that is exhausting, makes me gain weight and have trouble focusing just made the problem worse.
the meds stopped the immediately frighting and bizzare imagines my mind presented to me, but they didn't go away - they just changed into longer term, ultimately more frighting images that still scared me, but in a way that was more conducive to my behaving in a way that everybody else expected. i would believe i was trapped inside something like the matrix, where everything i did on the inside had intense consequences for people outside my reality; failing to wash my hands after using the restroom would cause millions to die far away. one of the 'rules' the psychosis imposed on me was that i could never talk about what i was struggling with because that would break the matrix and cause even worse problems.
it's pretty easy to see in retrospect that it was entirely metaphorical; the 'matrix' stands for the world of social convention, and small risks that add up over time (i.e. not washing hands or brushing teeth) were presented as catastrophic nightmares in order to make sure i focused on resolving them.
over the course of the past year i've slowly reduced the usage of these psychotropic medications - with approval from my psychiatrist - and with increased amounts of energy and happiness, i no longer have as much of the psychosis.
the issue i can see with all of this is that treatment for mental health issues requires love, patience and careful attention from a lot of people over a long time; if you ask me, our society does not want to give that to people for fear of being taken advantage by some unscrupulous people who would feign mental illness to get out of work.
i don't know what a solution would be, but i agree with you - these meds do more to help everybody else than the patients themselves.