Mental Health: What's the main reason for so many treatment failures? (1)

"(Rodrigo Contrera)

My profile indicates that I have schizophrenia (schizoaffective paranoia, classified as F25.0 according to ICD-10). I was formally diagnosed in 2008, but had shown signs of the condition since 2005. From then on, I went through all the stages that a patient undergoes, from significant improvement to despair, and since 2018, I have stabilized. The psychic aspect is controlled by medication, and the therapeutic aspect is addressed through bi-weekly consultations in the public health system. I live in a municipality of S?o Paulo, Brazil, near the metropolis, in a middle-class condominium.

My distinction is that, according to my psychiatrist, I have level 1 autism, previously undiagnosed, as well as ADHD traits, and most importantly, giftedness or high abilities. This, she believes, has allowed me to handle the condition almost on my own, to independently follow my treatment, and to write three books to help families of people with this condition, considered generically. Looking from a distance, I believe the trajectory of any psychiatric patient is quite standardized, and can be seen as a predictable tragicomedy. Referring to it as a comedy might seem odd given the severity, but over time I realized that people don't recover mainly because they lack minimal support, surrounding individuals are uninformed and unguided, the phases are common and treatable, and with medication, patience, care, and therapy EVERYONE can overcome this. So why don't most recover (given that global statistics indicate only 15% escape the pernicious effects of the condition)?

Is it because they don't want to? Partially. Is it because they lack real support? Partially. Is it due to the debilitating isolation? Partially. Is it the illness eroding them from within? Partially. It's a mix of everything.

The most crucial issue, in my view, is that the current societal approach to treating patients is cold and lacks compassion. Medication, therapy, and care are necessary, but what's even more important is to treat the mentally ill not as a hopeless case – which they aren't – but as someone who, with significant effort and some assistance, can recover. But without a strategy to demystify madness, the patient tends to feel guilty for their condition, society tends to mistreat them, neglect pervades their life, and they slowly lose the will to live. Many cases end in suicide.

This is the first piece I'm writing on this subject. It's a brief overview of what it's like to suffer from such a condition, and how this relates to alcohol and drug addicts, as well as individuals with milder conditions or depression.

In my next text, in a few days, I'll write about the potential for psychotherapeutic shortcuts in treating mental illness, as well as about options devised in the so-called first world (like drug rooms) that might work here (but usually fail) and explain why for both cases. Later, I'll discuss the books I've written and then delve into general mental health for those who haven't experienced such conditions, at least not yet.

(Rodrigo Contrera)"

Note: My email was published in FSP this Saturday. Of course, they didn't use the link with the video featuring Dr. Rodrigo Bressan.

Translated by ChatGPT