Integral/Holistic view & approach to schizophrenia

[redstone]

Hi Being

do you know or have come across any websites or information regarding tactile hallucinations? besides hearing voices my brother has these tactile sensations that go along with these voices, and this really compounds the problem for him...any ideas I could pass on to him to cope with this waking nightmare he goes through would be appreciated, thanks.

[Being]

Originally Posted by redstone

Hi Being

do you know or have come across any websites or information regarding tactile hallucinations? besides hearing voices my brother has these tactile sensations that go along with these voices, and this really compounds the problem for him...any ideas I could pass on to him to cope with this waking nightmare he goes through would be appreciated, thanks.

Hi. Nothing specific, although there is sometimes discussion on the subject on mental health forums.

i don't know what to suggest?

[redstone]

Thanks for responding

it is for me and for many others I think a very informative thread your doing, I shall be going through some of those links you attached and see what can find, thanks for posting and the links

[Being]

Originally Posted by redstone

Thanks for responding

it is for me and for many others I think a very informative thread your doing, I shall be going through some of those links you attached and see what can find, thanks for posting and the links

Thanks.

i get very tired of the general attitudes to mental health. Things are very much dominated by the pharma/biomedical view - That all non-ordinary/extreme psychological/emotional states are mental illness > it's a problem with the brain > & best there is are labels/diagnosis & some medications.

Ironically i do accept the diagnosis, condition, illness & medication - that is easier to do.

i've been attacked a lot for my views on-line. 10 years of trying to argue for more comprehensive psychological/social/spiritual alternatives has done me in, & i don't see what real difference it's made to anything? Need to just accept the way it all is/people are. Am tired of trying to argue for alternatives, & being attacked for it the whole time. What is it my responsibility for how everything is & for the mass drugging of society - can't change people, nor stop it all. Best left to be.

[Being]

Trauma, Psychosis, and Spirituality: What’s the Connection? By Ron Unger, LCSW

http://spiritualemergenceciis.weebly...ron-unger-lcsw

There is a perennial question directed toward those of us who see madness as having a spiritual dimension, and it goes something like this: “How can “psychotic” experiences that are both terrifying and debilitating be seen as at all spiritual? Isn’t it true that looking for spirituality within psychosis is just a case of “romanticizing madness?”

One way to answer this question is just to turn it around, and to point out how the usual psychiatric approach of seeing nothing at all positive in “psychotic” states acts to increase fear of madness, which in turn increases distress and disability. In other words, the usual approach goes to an extreme opposite of “romanticizing” madness, and instead “awfulizes” it. We can then explain that what we advocate for is simply a balanced view, or being open to noticing both what is negative and positive in experiences that go outside of usual cultural boundaries and are seen as “psychotic.”

But to fully address the question, I think we need to go deeper – very much deeper! What follows will be my take on how to make sense of some of the deepest issues of our existence which I believe play a pivotal role in key experiences such as those of trauma, psychosis (or madness), and spirituality.

[Rest in Link]

[Being]

An interesting article on spiritual crisis -

http://thewellnessuniverse.com/are-y...ritual-crisis/

[Being]

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicin...l.pmed.1001861

Summary Points

Existing studies of long-term antipsychotic treatment for people with schizophrenia and related conditions are too short and have ignored the impact of discontinuation-related adverse effects.

Recent evidence confirms that antipsychotics have a range of serious adverse effects, including reduction of brain volume.

The first really long-term follow-up of a randomised trial found that patients with first-episode psychosis who had been allocated to a gradual antipsychotic reduction and discontinuation programme had better functioning at seven-year follow-up than those allocated to maintenance treatment, with no increase in relapse.

Further studies with long-term follow-up and a range of outcomes should be conducted on alternatives to antipsychotic maintenance treatment for people with recurrent psychotic conditions.

The Future

The majority of people who experience more than one episode of psychosis are currently recommended to remain on long-term antipsychotic treatment, with little guidance about whether the treatment should ever be stopped, and if so, how this should be done. Many patients find this approach unacceptable, and stop of their own accord without support, which likely leads to the complications of sudden medication withdrawal, including relapse.

The studies used to justify current clinical practice do not provide reliable data about the costs and benefits of long-term antipsychotic therapy. In particular, questions remain about how maintenance treatment affects people’s overall functioning over the long term, with some indications it may be detrimental for some people. There is abundant evidence that long-term antipsychotic treatment is associated with other serious and disabling adverse effects.

We need to do more research to establish the pros and cons of long-term antipsychotic treatment for people with one or more episodes of psychosis or schizophrenia. Further studies that evaluate a gradual and individualised approach to antipsychotic discontinuation are particularly important, both in people with first episode psychosis, and more challengingly, in people with recurrent conditions. Such studies need to include assessment of outcomes other than relapse and could assess what additional support might facilitate patients to successfully reduce their antipsychotic burden. Longer-term follow-up of five to ten years is required to reflect the duration of treatment in clinical practice. Research on treatments for other medical conditions demonstrates this can be achieved when it is prioritised [48,49].

Response to long-term antipsychotic treatment is likely to be heterogeneous, although so far there has been little success in identifying factors that might predict successful discontinuation [11]. Existing research rarely distinguishes people who recover and are symptom-free between episodes from those who have ongoing positive psychotic symptoms. In the former situation, long-term antipsychotic treatment is aimed solely at preventing relapse, whereas in the latter, long-term treatment may be a form of symptom control, instead of, or in addition to, its desired prophylactic effect. The considerations involved in these situations may be different, and research needs to identify the varying pros and cons of long-term treatment for the two groups. For example, in people who recover completely, the adverse consequences of having reduced social or neuropsychological function may be more significant than for those people who are already somewhat disabled by ongoing symptoms.

While we await the results of further long-term discontinuation studies, I suggest we need to reconsider antipsychotic maintenance treatment as the default strategy for people with recurrent psychotic disorders. In 1976, two leading psychiatrists felt that the cost-benefit ratio of long-term antipsychotic medication was often not favourable for patients and recommended that “every chronic schizophrenic outpatient maintained on antipsychotic medication should have the benefit of an adequate trial without drugs” [50]. Recent evidence suggests that, when risks allow, modern-day clinicians and patients could also consider this option.

[Rest in Link]

Related/Further Info -

http://madinamericacontinuinged.org/...-is-less-more/

[Being]

‘More Harm than Good’ conference can be watched live

http://cepuk.org/moreharmthangood/

More Harm Than Good: Confronting the Psychiatric Medication Epidemic

a one-day international conference at the University of Roehampton

The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry invites you to join global leaders in the critical psychiatry movement for a one-day conference which will address an urgent public health issue: the iatrogenic harm caused by the over-prescription of psychiatric medications.

There is clear evidence that these drugs cause more harm than good over the long term, and can damage patients and even shorten their lives. Yet why are these medications so popular? What harms are they causing? What can be done to address the problem?

This event brings together key experts from both sides of the Atlantic to debate these issues, and we invite you to join the discussion

http://cepuk.org/2015/09/07/harm-goo...-watched-live/

CEP is pleased to announce that its upcoming conference More Harm than Good: Confronting the Psychiatric Medication Epidemic will be ‘live streamed’ via YouTube on 18 September. This means that anyone with an Internet connection can watch the conference for free in real time. In addition, each of the talks will be filmed and posted onto the CEP website for later viewing.

There are two streams to view. The first starts at 9am BST (GMT+1) and will record the morning session. The address is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8kMnFTBgvc

The second starts at 2pm BST (GMT+1) and will record the afternoon session. The address is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSF1vjCwrk

[Deepsoul]

Dear Being my spiritual stuff can be right off the rickter scale, Somehow Ive created all this sickness in me and Im slowly unwinding the causes,I cant even read much of your posts today as Im really bla ,but balance is definetly the answer ,I am probably Bi polar amongst over stuff , I just have to be patient and keep workin it out ,be kind to myself and lean on higher powers often although I tend to bi polar that out too ,I have had alot of break throughs though and I would just like to get to a stage where it is alot less painful and to feel like my world made sense...Never been able to take meds Im too sensitive .

[Gem]

Thanks, Being.

I hope to be able to watch live.

Originally Posted by Being

‘More Harm than Good’ conference can be watched live

http://cepuk.org/moreharmthangood/

More Harm Than Good: Confronting the Psychiatric Medication Epidemic

a one-day international conference at the University of Roehampton

The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry invites you to join global leaders in the critical psychiatry movement for a one-day conference which will address an urgent public health issue: the iatrogenic harm caused by the over-prescription of psychiatric medications.

There is clear evidence that these drugs cause more harm than good over the long term, and can damage patients and even shorten their lives. Yet why are these medications so popular? What harms are they causing? What can be done to address the problem?

This event brings together key experts from both sides of the Atlantic to debate these issues, and we invite you to join the discussion

http://cepuk.org/2015/09/07/harm-good-conference-can-watched-live/

CEP is pleased to announce that its upcoming conference More Harm than Good: Confronting the Psychiatric Medication Epidemic will be ‘live streamed’ via YouTube on 18 September. This means that anyone with an Internet connection can watch the conference for free in real time. In addition, each of the talks will be filmed and posted onto the CEP website for later viewing.

There are two streams to view. The first starts at 9am BST (GMT+1) and will record the morning session. The address is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8kMnFTBgvc

The second starts at 2pm BST (GMT+1) and will record the afternoon session. The address is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSF1vjCwrk