PhD/PsyD C&P article

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erg923

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http://www.jaapl.org/content/24/1/27.full.pdf

I have this as assigned reading for students. Have others read this? This is controversial, obviously. And of course, lending a temporary helping hand to those in distress is consistent with my values and faith. But, C&P is pretty out of control, in case you didn't know. The more we think of ourselves as disabled, the more disabled we are likely to become as well. Don't even get me started on the "Caregiver program" either...

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http://www.jaapl.org/content/24/1/27.full.pdf

I have this as assigned reading for students. Have others read this? This is controversial, obviously. And of course, lending a temporary helping hand to those in distress is consistent with my values and faith. But, C&P is pretty out of control, in case you didn't know. The more we think of ourselves as disabled, the more disabled we are likely to become as well. Don't even get me started on the "Caregiver program" either...

I'll read it later, but I agree with you. I have a very good friend who was diagnosed with social anxiety years back, and he told me that he got quite a bit better after he was diagnosed because he could finally put a finger on what he had. He's on disability for it. And I get how having clarity on your issue can give you some relief.But I told him exactly what you said there...I can understand how it would make you feel better to get clarity, but it's important that you don't become that thing, and start to identify yourself as "that dude with social anxiety".

In my group of friends many of us have some sort of mental health concern. I have struggled with some mental health stuff as well. I'm a refugee who experienced child as a war, and I also had an alcoholic father. I use to have horrible panic attacks (still do sometimes) and anxiety. But I have tried to make every effort to address it, and I don't in any way feel defeated. In fact, I see tons of resources out there for me.

Life can seem like a battle sometimes, but you can choose to be a victim, or you can choose to create an arsenal for yourself of tools you can use to fight it. (whether that be medication, therapy, having some sort of consistency in your life, etc)

What bothers me are the people that say "I'll deal with this by myself". If you honestly feel that you can deal with it yourself, I don't think you have a real problem. But these are teh same people that are on disability and they get benefits. Furthemore, if they do actually have issues, but they choose to not address it, it is sad because there are options out there.
 
Veterans are "entitled" to benefits, legally. That's not BS.

But the conflation of PTSD, depression, anxiety with "disability,"especially for life, is indeed counter-therapeutic from a clinical treatment perspective.
 
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Veterans are "entitled" to benefits, legally. That's not BS.

But the conflation of PTSD, depression, anxiety with "disability,"especially for life, is indeed, countertherapuetic from a clinical treatment perspective.

I know that medical reviews do occur for people on disability, but I do feel people should be required to attend regular meetings with their doctor (couple times a month), to see if there is adherence to treatment, etc There needs to be constant documentation.

At the end of the day, we have no of way of knowing if patients are actually taking their meds or just pretending to lol

There does have to be some accountability.
 
I think requiring ongoing treatment when there has been no criminal act is slippery slope with civil liberties and is likely be a waste/miss allocation of healthcare resources.
 
I think requiring ongoing treatment when there has been no criminal act is slippery slope with civil liberties and is likely be a waste/miss allocation of healthcare resources.

I'm liberal as they come..but from my personal experience, most people suffering mental illness do not follow their treatment plans. Should they be getting benefits for pretending to do so?
 
Well, its not a liberal or conservative issue, really. Successful (psychological) treatment cannot exist in adversarial environment/context. The patient has to be working harder than you. Outpatient court ordered treatment is, generally, not as effective as voluntarily treatment. That's pretty well replicated. The VA healthcare system in particular is not in a position at this time to dedicate staff/healthcare resources to treatment that is not likely to be effective.
 
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What bothers me are the people that say "I'll deal with this by myself". If you honestly feel that you can deal with it yourself, I don't think you have a real problem. But these are teh same people that are on disability and they get benefits. Furthemore, if they do actually have issues, but they choose to not address it, it is sad because there are options out there.

I think a lot of people who say, "I'll deal with this myself" are not necessarily on benefits. I think they are in denial that they have a problem and need medication and/or therapy. It's not that they don't have problems. It can be scary addressing a mental health issue, especially if you don't even know what is wrong with you.

Well, its not a liberal or conservative issue, really. Successful (psychological) treatment cannot exist in adversarial environment/context. The patient has to be working harder than you. Outpatient court ordered treatment is, generally, not as effective as voluntarily treatment. That's pretty well replicated.

Definitely agree with this (especially working in forensics). If a person is not motivated to change, it's usually not going to happen.
 
Well, its not a liberal or conservative issue, really. Successful (psychological) treatment cannot exist in adversarial environment/context. The patient has to be working harder than you. Outpatient court ordered treatment is, generally, not as effective as voluntarily treatment. That's pretty well replicated. The VA healthcare system in particular is not in a position at this time to dedicate staff/healthcare resources to treatment that is not likely to be effective.
I meant that conservatives (at least in American politics) are the ones that usually ask for tougher laws when it comes to getting benefits of any sorts (welfare, disability, etc)
 
I think a lot of people who say, "I'll deal with this myself" are not necessarily on benefits. I think they are in denial that they have a problem and need medication and/or therapy. It's not that they don't have problems. It can be scary addressing a mental health issue, especially if you don't even know what is wrong with you.

No, I'm not denying that. I think those people deserve support, and can absolutley be in denial about their condition. I'm just saying that specifically for the purpose of obtaining benefits, I think there needs to be a level of proof/accountability, that they are taking advantage of therapy/meds, and doing what they can.
 
The Rorschach is the only way to definitively determine disability, obviously.
 
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Interesting article... It reminds me of an article that I read on the "insanity" defense as a hindrance to treatment progression within the forensic system. I like their suggestions in the article, and hope things move in that direction.
 
The federal disability system is just as problematic or maybe even more so. I often can't get my patients appropriate treatments or services that they need unless they are disabled but sometimes the semi-skilled or unskilled job they have is the one thing that helps them to feel like a functioning human being. In the metric of disability, if they can work, then they are not disabled, ergo - they get nothing. Meanwhile, unemployed substance abusers with specious or dubious mental disorders are overloading the system and trying to get more and more meds and justifying all behaviors with "I just need to get on the right meds". What is amazing is how many professionals buy into it. "I'm not going to go out drinking with my buddies anymore because I am on the right meds now." Usually seen in the ER a couple of nights later after telling the police that they want to die because they violated again. Most of these people do come from disadvantaged backgrounds and learned how to live in those environments. I don't completely blame them or even the system, I just seriously question the current approach.
Gotta get to bed, I'm on call too and a bit tired in more ways than one.
 
Yup - lots of screwy things about these systems (in and outside the VA). My experience has been that many/most people USING these systems are equally frustrated by these issues that prevent them from taking steps towards independence without losing the benefits they need if/when the process does not go perfectly.

I'm doing some forensic work on internship and its really highlighted to me how our judicial system works much the same way. No wonder recidivism rates are so high. Even if we were to assume "rehabilitation" doesn't work (which I'm by no means convinced is necessarily true), some people certainly change of their own volition. Good luck to them making it work though - I'm not sure I could design a better system to encourage future crime! If only all politicians were required to take behavior modification...
 
Interesting article, but is there anything more recent?
 
188392"]Interesting article, but is there anything more recent?[/QUOTE]

Probably. But I'm not really interested in educating my students on the current state of C&P, I just want them to think and realize how two systems within the same healthcare organization likely work against each other. It's usually pretty eye opening for doey eyed grad students.
 
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