[jc]

following on from a thread and mp3 link that nemesis posted...heres the mp3 link

http://www.savefile.com/filehost/files.php?fid=8150486

thanks to nemesis for this link,hope you dont mind me starting a new thread about this...

anyway ! i listened to this last night and it was very interesting but i got kind of worried when the woman called in an expert to answer some questions on symptoms etc....now anxiety and agrophobia are symptoms of 'fear of fearful feelings' i can relate to this as its only my weird sensations that keep me on high alert but what worried me was she asked the expert what is the difference between mental illness and anxiety/agrophobia...

his reply went something like this

'anxiety agrophobia and brief spells of unreality and detachment are an emotional illness,when someone is in a constant state of detachment and unreality then that is a mental illness'

so i guess(which scares me)we are all considered mentally ill,i for one feel detached all of the time and a bit spaced out

didnt fill me with hope i must admit

 

[Sojourner]

I experience DP/DR *only* within an anxiety attack. It is an intrinsic part of an anxiety attack for me.

I think the person who have his opinion is incorrect. He may have meant the difference between *psychological* illness and *organic* illness. There is no distinction that I know of that's made between emotional illness and mental illness. And there can be both psychological and organic illness present.

If you were in any danger of becoming psychotic, you would not object to your experiences of what's being called DP/DR. Psychotic people do not question what they are experiencing.

So, relax about that.

 

[bright23]

JC?
Does it really matter so much that this person made a verbal distinction between an "emotional" and a "mental" illness. Isn't this just semantics, doesn't this just make this guy sound smart, and sound like he's an expert? You think he's ever experienced DP?

You're currently having an "emotional" reaction to his clever definition. I think that rules out mental illness on your part.

peace

 

[jc]

i maybe think that hes talking about a complete break with reality where the person becomes delusional...well i hope so

 

[Sojourner]

Not all delusions make you psychotic. If you see things and hear things that aren't there, you're psychotic, but if you have the opinion that you're an ugly monster, you will be told that's a delusion, but you're still not psychotic (technically, that is).

 

[Guest]

Yep, agree with Sojourner. Delusions can be very very bad (very disturbing to the person) but MOST of the time they don't fall under the psychosis umbrella.

The difference is usually explained thus: in true psychosis, the person loses Reality Testing (across the board). There is a fragmentation of the person's ability to use their mental function.

In delusions (even severe ones) the person has what is called "state dependent loss of reality" - in one area they are delusionsal - ideas and thoughts that revolve around the same theme. So the breakdown of cognitive function is NOT widespread, and very few acquaintances of the person would even suspect the person was delusional.

Even FLORID (bizarre) delusions like the belief that one has been abducted by aliens can be segregated from the rest of mental function, so the person is "normal" in all other areas, but has a single theme or blind spot that logic can't touch.

And truth is, MOST EVERYone is delusional about something (or more than one something). But pathology is a matter of degree and of the "bizarre quotient" to what it is the person is believing.