[calibas]

I have a theory. Antipsychotic medications just need to make the person more "manageable" to be considered effective. It doesn't need to eliminate the psychosis directly, it could just make the person more sedated, and it would appear to be "working" properly.

[cududa]

That's not really your own theory, that's like, the specific goal of psychiatric treatment? You can't "cure" schizophrenia or bipolar, the goal is to manage it.

My dad developed severe mental illness later in life, destroyed his life, and never found a regiment that worked for him before his death (undiagnosed congenital heart condition is what ended up getting him).

I think anyone who has schizophrenia or bipolar (and their loved ones), would happily take medically "managed" psychosis over the hell of unmanaged psychosis

[calibas]

You're mixing up managing a disease and managing a person. Managing (treating) mental illness is not simply about making the person more manageable for others.

There's drugs that reduce or eliminate hallucinations for many schizophrenics, so it's something you can treat (except in unfortunate situations like your dad or my uncle). There's a big difference between a medication that actually removes the symptoms over one that sedates a person, they're not the same and one is obviously preferable.

There hasn't been enough concern about how the drugs work, or why they often cause serious side-effects like tardive dyskinesia. It's simply enough that the person becomes manageable for others.

These drugs have been around for a long time and only now is someone investigating deeply into how they actually work.

[throw18376]

this is unfortunately part of how they are used, especially in inpatient settings with way too high doses.

but also, if you've had a conversation with someone in active psychosis, vs. on the right dose of medication, there is a really incredible distinction in the clarity of their thinking and speaking -- night and day sometimes. so the drugs do work at genuinely treating some of the problems. and good psychiatrists do look carefully for this kind of improvement.