# Mental illness is exaggerated **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 9, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522 "2013-06-09T03:18:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/161 "2013-06-10T20:41:39Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > ok lets lock up all drunks coming out of bars for 60 days mental evaluation because they might drive home right? You’re not doing yourself any favors by using this kind of lazy and silly argument. ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/162 "2013-06-10T20:46:21Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You’re not doing yourself any favors by using this kind of lazy and silly argument. I dont see how its any different. Your suggesting locking up his gf in a nut house because she might be driving high or drunk. Well let her get caught then or lock up all the drunks and druggies who might be doing the same. Stop being a hypocrite. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/163 "2013-06-10T20:50:02Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > Because people know that except for a hardcore few, the idea that the entire field of psychiatry exists largely if not solely to turn independent thinkers into conformist sheeple is a non-starter among fighters of ignorance, so they turn to something more obviously objectionable. Ha! I say! This may have been true at one time. These days, the goal of therapy and meds is to get the patient functional. I have only seen one therapist who had normalizing me as a goal- and I’ve seen an awful lot of therapists. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/164 "2013-06-10T20:55:03Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > I dont see how its any different. Your suggesting locking up his gf in a nut house because she might be driving high or drunk. Well let her get caught then or lock up all the drunks and druggies who might be doing the same. Stop being a hypocrite. No, it was suggested that a short-term emergency commitment might help her alarmingly self-destructive behavior. Behavior that is suggestive of mental illness. Which should be treated by mental health professionals, not the guards at the county jail. While some of her acts were criminal, _that’s not the point._ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/165 "2013-06-10T20:58:45Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Is straw on sale this week? There seems to be a fundamental disconnect between you and just about everyone else in this thread. I bet you want to silence _everyone_ who disagrees with you, with duct tape! And stapleguns! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/166 "2013-06-10T21:00:45Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I bet you want to silence _everyone_ who disagrees with you, with duct tape! And stapleguns! It’s probably a mental health issue that needs to be addressed by forcefully committing me against my will to a mental health hospital where I, with a bunch of intrepid women inmates will fight the forces of evil in an epic struggle of good verse evil and allow one of the female inmates the chance to escape… ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/167 "2013-06-10T21:01:05Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > No, it was suggested that a short-term emergency commitment might help her alarmingly self-destructive behavior. Behavior that is suggestive of mental illness. Which should be treated by mental health professionals, not the guards at the county jail. > > While some of her acts were criminal, _that’s not the point._ I think you missed the point that America is free not the thought police let her do what she wants and hold her accountable for it. She’s a adult. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/168 "2013-06-10T21:01:13Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > I dont see how its any different. Your suggesting locking up his gf in a nut house because she might be driving high or drunk. Well let her get caught then or lock up all the drunks and druggies who might be doing the same. Stop being a hypocrite. Her history tells me that she will get locked up or seriously injured as her history of hospitalizations and years spent in prisons clearly indicates. This si an otherwise good. law abiding citizen who has periodic mental breaks, very often the 72 hour lock up successfully interupts this cycle. ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/169 "2013-06-10T21:03:53Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Her history tells me that she will get locked up or seriously injured as her history of hospitalizations and years spent in prisons clearly indicates. This si an otherwise good. law abiding citizen who has periodic mental breaks, very often the 72 hour lock up successfully interupts this cycle. Let her get locked up then or injured. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/170 "2013-06-10T21:06:47Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > I dont see how its any different. I believe you, but only based on your misunderstandings of the law and psychiatry. > [@](#): > > Your suggesting locking up his gf in a nut house because she might be driving high or drunk. I said it was OK for him to get her locked up for a brief period because she _was_ walking out into traffic and driving drunk and high and getting into getting into car crashes on something like a regular basis. She had a consistent history of being a danger to herself and others- which I guess you’re not able to deny at this point. > [@matt357](#): > > Let her get locked up then or injured. Minor question: why? How does it make sense to potentially let her kill someone else when she loses control instead of a short term confinement that might help? ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/171 "2013-06-10T21:12:18Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > Let her get locked up then or injured. Hell, let her die, and decrease the surplus population. ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/172 "2013-06-10T21:14:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I believe you, but only based on your misunderstandings of the law and psychiatry. > > I said it was OK for him to get her locked up for a brief period because she _was_ walking out into traffic and driving drunk and high and getting into getting into car crashes on something like a regular basis. She had a consistent history of being a danger to herself and others- which I guess you’re not able to deny at this point. > > Minor question: why? How does it make sense to potentially let her kill someone else when she loses control instead of a short term confinement that might help? If she was driving high and crashing her car on a regular basis she would be in jail by now. My guess is her bf was exaggerating things. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/173 "2013-06-10T21:18:00Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > If she was driving high and crashing her car on a regular basis she would be in jail by now. In other words, you can’t argue with the story and it doesn’t fit with your opinion, so you’re going to assume it’s not true. That suggests you don’t have much of an argument. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/174 "2013-06-10T21:21:24Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > If she was driving high and crashing her car on a regular basis she would be in jail by now. My guess is her bf was exaggerating things. That was a stupid one! She has spent a minimum of 5 years in prison allready. Close to 50% of her adult life in some kind of institution. Well past the age of 30 anyway. Finaly her Dr, prescribed a medication that seems to have stablized her. She still drinks some but well within normal boundaries. The fact is if she goes off on liquor bad things will happen every time! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/175 "2013-06-10T21:31:58Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > My guess is her bf was exaggerating things. For the record, you can’t call another poster a liar in this forum and this comes close to doing that, depending on what you think is implied by “exaggerating.” Please don’t do that. Calling another poster a hypocrite (or other names) is not a great idea either. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/176 "2013-06-10T21:35:24Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > No but I have visited an uncle who was in one so I know what horrible places they are. They were not allowed to go outside at all, were woken up every 15 minutes all night long with the light in the rooms being turned on. The place was dirty and cold and he was not even given a nail clipper despite having a hang nail. Really a horrible place worse than prison. If second-hand experiences count, a good friend of mine has been in San Diego’s County Mental Health hospital a number of times, and the only thing you describe that happened to her was, yeah, not being allowed to have a nail clipper. Fairly obvious safety precaution, given an institution with numerous suicidal patients residing. Oh, and we looked in to involuntary institutionalizing for my mother, after her first suicide attempt. (She jammed the gun.) We found that, in California, it is extremely difficult to commit someone against their will. My mother was able to speak quite normally, and assured everyone that she was no danger to herself or others. The second attempt…she didn’t jam the gun. In my opinion and experience, there may just possibly be too many protections. However, as a civil libertarian, I can’t argue against them very harshly. (By the way, just about any policeman can put you in a holding cell for well over 48 hours – if he takes you in on a Friday evening. That’s never happened to me, but one nice policeman threatened me with it once. “You want to spend the whole weekend in jail? Just say one more word.”) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/177 "2013-06-10T21:38:42Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > Well then arrest her for DUI or public intoxication. Doesn’t that also violate habeus corpus and entail imprisonment without due process of law? (Not by any objective standards of law, mind you, but by your own?) Why are you so accepting of one form of involuntary incarceration, but opposed to another? Does it really matter that one is from a doctor and the other is from a cop? Do you imagine there are no bad cops? ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/178 "2013-06-10T21:46:48Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Doesn’t that also violate habeus corpus and entail imprisonment without due process of law? (Not by any objective standards of law, mind you, but by your own?) > > Why are you so accepting of one form of involuntary incarceration, but opposed to another? Does it really matter that one is from a doctor and the other is from a cop? Do you imagine there are no bad cops? The burden of proof is different for one thing. They are not the same at all. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/179 "2013-06-10T22:13:25Z")
I’m in a transitional phase right now, after being on meds for many, many years. I won’t go so far as to say that mental illness is a myth and that psychiatry is a “pseudo-science.” Whether you see ghosts, hear voices, have to touch something fifty times, are depressed, etc. it’s a real problem and something that needs to be addressed. But what is the best way to address it? Medication? I don’t think so. At least not like I used to think. A couple of years ago, I was very depressed. I was semi-suicidal, in the sense that I didn’t give a damn if I died in my sleep but I didn’t set up any elaborate plans to do myself in (like tying a noose to the ceiling, buying a gun, etc.). I made the mistake of saying to a friend of mine (who I met in the mental hospital years ago and so is from that mental health culture) that I wish I was dead. Boom! That was it. This guy would not let go of me until I walked to the ER. There was NO evidence that I was going to go home and suck on a gas pipe that night. NONE. But this guy heard that I wish I was dead and would not let go of me. I wound up going to the ER, losing my job (it wasn’t directly due to the inpatient stay but it’s a long story). “It’s a great place,” he told me. “They’re going to help you in the ER. I was there just last week when I got anxious over the hurricane in the news.” yeah, this guy goes to the ER whenever he has a crisis. And they help him by sending him home because there’s really _nothing_ they can do for him and they need beds for the truly suicidal. If I sound like I’m angry, it’s because I am. I recently left my last shrink because she wanted me on Abilify. Even though my real diaqnosis should be anxiety/depression, she believes I’m psychotic, to the point where I might buy a bunch of guns and go on a campus to shoot people up. Let me repeat that: she believes that I’m going to buy a bunch of guns and go to a campus and shoot people up. Like that bum did in Denver and that other lunatic did up in Connecticut. She wanted me on Abilify. I’m worried that I might get diabetes. Never mind that. Shooting people up is far worse than getting diabetes. Well, this isn’t the pit so I won’t say what I really feel. But that is just wrong. I may be capable of “going postal” as much as anyone (that is, not at all). But to put medication in my body that will give me serious side effects because you think that it’s exotic to diagnose with me something so absurd is WRONG. My teeth are messed up because dry mouth ruined my mouth. I could have gone to therapy to sort out my anxiety issues. There is a lot of great, intensive therapies for anxiety that don’t take away your sex drive, balloon your weight, and even take away your interest in many things. But nope. Can’t do that. Better to pull out the prescription pad. I am by no means saying that mental illness is fake. I despise when some ignoramus says that depression isn’t real and that you should pull yourself up by the bootstraps. However, meds _are_ overprescribed. If there is a death in your family, that hurts. If you lost an arm or go blind, that is devastating. But medication is not the answer in those case, yet invariably meds are pushed on to anyone who has any crisis. This is wrong because although I do believe that there is something wrong with a mentally ill person’s brain, we really don’t know exactly what it is and medication are basically throwing darts at a wall. When I was in the hospital, I was told about electroshock treatment. It’s ctrl-alt-delte for the brain the pretty psychiatrist told me. That’s admitting that you don’t know what in the heck it is supposed to do. There were a few psychotics who were “cured” but much more who became zombies. Mental illness is real but medication is way overprescribed. And (according to my own personal experiences) some doctors just don’t know what in the hell they are doing when it comes to diagnosing. Mental illness is by no means a pseudo science. It is an important branch of medicine. I just think that it is highly flawed at this point in time. Too much medicating, not enough talk therapy. P.S. I would never, ever tell anyone who is stable on medication to stop taking it just because I’ve decided I might want to do so personally. Whether it’s a placebo effect or what, if you are stable, and don’t want to go my route, keep taking your meds and live a good, happy life. This is just my own personal decision to get off of meds (and many, many others that I’ve met online and in real life). ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522/180 "2013-06-10T22:17:05Z")
So, Matt, what’s up with repeatedly ignoring the simple, direct questions asked of you? And do you think anyone is failing to notice? (Also, you are laughably wrong about ECT. What are your sources of information which form the basis for your assertion that ECT works by erasing memory? BTW, ECT is used far and away most often for the depressive disorders, not schizophrenia). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-illness-is-exaggerated/660522.md?page=10)