Mental Health as a Journey

Ms.Odgeynist

Hi everyone,
looking for thoughts on something.
Just happened to be listening to a radio piece this morning about mental health.
The theme was of one's journey from healthy mental state through mental illness and back. Specifically the piece was about depression.
My query relates to myself more than anything.
I would consider myself as someone who was depressed from a very young age. And I know that this is a relatively controversial idea on its own.

From as young as 8 I was aware that I had a fetish. Relatively harmless, but there nonetheless. It caused me great upset, confusion and so on. Things got even more complicated when my parents realised I had it. Catholic Ireland in the early 80's was not as enlightened. Basically they went berserk and confirmed in my mind what I had feared - that I was a freak of some sort.

My depression developed around this time as i felt completely isolated, even by those who were meant to be my closest support. Now as I've grown up, I have managed to overcome any guilt, at least intellectually. I know I was a child, and that an interest in (looking at/wearing) lingerie, while not 'normal', was neither evil, shameful etc.
But here's my dilemma. My journey from a healthy mental state through mental distress was so drawn out, and so isolated that the flight back to mental health has never been completed as far as I'm concerned. My default state of mind is to consider myself 'freakish', and the secondary feelings are too numerous to mention - anger, self-loathing etc...
I'm going on a bit so I'll try to tie it up. Basically I'm asking any professionals that read the thread about their thoughts on stigmatisation in general, and specifically what are the most successful approaches to people who view themselves in such a fashion.

JuliusCaesar

Ms.Odgeynist wrote: »

thoughts on stigmatisation in general, and specifically what are the most successful approaches to people who view themselves in such a fashion.

Stick to the subject in replies please! JC

Here's a review to start yous off:


Brenda Major and Laurie T. O’Brien, THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF STIGMA
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2005. 56:393–421


■ Abstract This chapter addresses the psychological effects of social stigma. Stigma directly affects the stigmatized via mechanisms of discrimination, expectancy confirmation, and automatic stereotype activation, and indirectly via threats to personal and social identity. We review and organize recent theory and empirical research within an identity threat model of stigma. This model posits that situational cues, collective rep- resentations of one’s stigma status, and personal beliefs and motives shape appraisals of the significance of stigma-relevant situations for well-being. Identity threat results when stigma-relevant stressors are appraised as potentially harmful to one’s social identity and as exceeding one’s coping resources. Identity threat creates involuntary stress responses and motivates attempts at threat reduction through coping strategies. Stress responses and coping efforts affect important outcomes such as self-esteem, academic achievement, and health. Identity threat perspectives help to explain the tremendous variability across people, groups, and situations in responses to stigma.

Ms.Odgeynist

Thaks JC,

I guess that's where I'm coming from.
If stigmatisation, like bullying, is not arbitrary, but rather serves a social function for the 'in group', then how far can psychotherapies take a client?
If the client is operating within the dominant parameters/schema of his/her desired group, then, is the only avenue open to the client the relinquishing of that group's membership, or, the destruction/betrayal of his/her previous identity.

Odysseus

Ms.Odgeynist wrote: »

then how far can psychotherapies take a client?

How far can a psychotherapy can take a person is a very subjective question, it is dependent on the person's condition, for example psychotherapy can help a person with a psychosis, but they will always have that condition, and it will manifest at varying points through-out their life. You also have the question of how well a person can engage in the process that is some form of talking therapy.

Some people can be so damaged by varying life experiences that in one way you may hit a point that may be "as good as it gets", once again this will be very subjective. Using the notion of a journey as a metaphor, it can be a very long journey or in some ways quite a short one. However, that short journey may be very significant for the person in question, and time wise it may take a long time to get there if you get my point.

Like I see some patients that may finish their treatment in a month or two, whereas others may take years, the longest I had a person in treatment with me is currently 9 years and it is still ongoing, so in a way it is a bit like how long is a piece of string, but also what particular type of string is it? That is even without the question of the modality of psychotherapy, for example some may not agree with treatments that go on for years, however, in my own experience those that are attending and engaging in such long term therapy are still getting benefit out of it, otherwise they would not be attending or I would be finishing the treatment.

So really to answer your question from my position it depends on the condition that they are attending for originally, how well suited they are to address that particular condition/issue, the ability for change in relation to that particular condition/issue, and the persons own psychological abilities to address the condition/issues. I hope that makes some sense.

JuliusCaesar

Individuals are more than the group identity.

Groups can work to de-stigmatise themselves - I'm black and I'm proud, homosexual people redefined themselves as gay or queer, etc.

But an individual need not see themselves as defined by one aspect of themselves. We all have a number of roles.


We deal with this all the time as having mental health issues, and attending psychiatric/psychological services carries a stigma by itself.