Are people with mental illness qualified to treat those with mental illness?

[BluMac81]

A question I pose to you all. Are those people who HAVE mental illness better/worse qualified in performing a career where they TREAT the mentally ill?

Granted there is an aspect of empathy here, and if that position be something like a psychiatrist, for example, I would agree that it would be best for that psychiatrist to have HAD experienced mentall illness personally, but are currently cured of it when they have reached their practice. There is definitely a beneficial aspect of being more empathetic with the patients, having experienced mental illness yourself.

So I guess my question is two-fold:
1. Is a person more or less qualified to perform a career role treating the mentally ill, if that person is also mentally ill (while practicing the career)?
2. Is a person more or less qualified to perform a career role treating the mentally ill, if that person has had mental illness in their past but is now cured?

The reason I bring this up... is because mastery of the brain is the goal and passion of my life. I believe that knowledge about the brain holds the answers to nearly everything in life. Because what is life but an individuals subjective perception? And what is perception but (arguably) a certain 'wiring' of the brain, and the behavior of neurotransmitters in that particular individual.

To this end long ago I decided neuroscience was to be my career of choice. Even after years of training in electronics in the military, and then a few more years doing electronics as a civilian (I find electronics boring). I ENJOY reading and learning about the brain and discovering how it influences behavior and cognition.

Because of this, back in February this year, I started my degree, its a degree in Biology with a human biology emphasis, and I plan on going to a graduate school afterwards (Univ of CO Boulder) to take on their behavioral and/or cognitive neuroscience programs. It's a long, long, expensive road but I believe that doing what you are passionate about and what you enjoy in life as a career is extremely important, given the fact that we are mortal and, as many know, time flies by.

What I want to do, is get to the level where I can help people, who experience mental illness. But I would of course much rather focus on the neurobiological aspects of mental illness than something like getting into the psycology field in general.

I think that there is so much yet to be discovered in neuroscience, so much that could help people suffering from mental illness who DONT NEED to be suffering this way. I want to discover ways to offically diagnose people with certain mental disorders using technological things such as brain scans/probes/xrays. I want to be able to allow psychiatrists to tailor their antidepressant drug perscriptions to their patients, as opposed to the hit or miss method currently used. I want to know, for each passing moment in an individual, how and if a certain neurophysiological pattern in their brain reflects their current state, namely, how they "feel". There's so much to be discovered, and I want more than anything to be a part of it.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate any and all feedback and responses to these qeuries

-Matt Macagno

 

[Mari]

Re: Are those having mental illness qualified to be treaters of those with mental ill

H! That sounds like a topic for a thesis and I will not even attempt to answer. I will say that I recently attended a meeting where the key note speaker explained some of her work in neuroscience and it was absolutely fascinating. It certainly sounds like a career worth pursuing. :goodluck::study: Mari

 

[ladylore]

Re: Are those having mental illness qualified to be treaters of those with mental ill

Love the question Blu.

The agency I sought treatment for addiction - all the staff at the centre have themselves gone through counselling at some point in their lives.

Its also the reason I got into the violence prevention field - mainly because of my backgroud.

I would say its great if someone wants to pursue a career in the psychology, mental health field. What I have found is that everyone has their stuff. It really doesn't matter if someone has a mental illness in their background or not. And their stuff may come up at times while they are working in the mental health field (countertransference).

What would be most important is that person interested in the field to do a ton of work on him/herself before venturing into this kind of field. Having a great support system and supervision I think are key.

Anyways - I few thoughts

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Re: Are those having mental illness qualified to be treaters of those with mental ill

A therapist who is actively "mentally ill" to the point where it might impact negatively on his/her ability to benefit clients would be expected to take leave from work until such time as s/he is able to resume full duties. This is required for regulated health professions.

 

[BluMac81]

Re: Are those having mental illness qualified to be treaters of those with mental ill

A therapist who is actively "mentally ill" to the point where it might impact negatively on his/her ability to benefit clients would be expected to take leave from work until such time as s/he is able to resume full duties. This is required for regulated health professions.

Hmm, makes total sense, the mental health of someone who potentially has the lives of their patients in their hands is deifnitely vital.

Makes me wonder, now that I am narrowing down what I really want to do with my degrees and what career I am aiming at.

On one hand there is the behavioral neuroscience research spectrum (focusing on finding new and better neurobiological cures / help for mental illness. Most likely for the researchers mental health wouldn't be as much of a factor here.

And on the other hand is clinical psychiatry / psycology. Which of course would be more 'hands-on' when dealing with psychiatric disorders. Though I have always thought.... me being a psycologist? Hard to say how I would perform. I am great at one-one conversations, I've always had this nack for 'getting in the other person's shoes', probably due to my over-sensitized state of mind. But, psycologist.... arguably one of the most difficult medical fields in my opinion. You are basically trying to change the way a person thinks, and often they don't tell you all of what they are thinking to begin with. So I can imagine there is some level of frustration in psycologists in treating patients over and over again with no progress.

There's also the psychiatrist position... that of course would take the whole med school route, and phew is that ever expensive and time consuming. And for what? To perscribe what ever pills are on the market tailored to the specific patient in this 'hit or miss' method (specifically for antidepressants). Though granted there are some 'hits' and I'm sure what makes it all worthwhile is seeing a patient essentially cured from a perscription you've given them.

So I don't know about those two, I think I would rather stick to the BN research side of things, and somehow add in pyschiatric pharmacology to such behavioral neuroscience research work.

Sorry I'm just thinking out loud. Mainly because a deadline/crossroads in college is coming where I need to declare a major, and up until now I have wanted to do the Biology (human biology focus) BS degree, but now the possibility of a degree in psycology, pre-med, or pharmacology is thrown in there. What would you guys reccomend? Thoughts?

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Re: Are those having mental illness qualified to be treaters of those with mental ill

If you have an anxiety disorder or vulnerability to depression and those conditions are under control, that shouldn't prevent you from practising as a therapist. It may even help.

 

[Retired]

that of course would take the whole med school route, and phew is that ever expensive and time consuming. And for what? To perscribe what ever pills are on the market tailored to the specific patient in this 'hit or miss' method (specifically for antidepressants).

I feel your perception of psychiatry would need some further investigation to help broaden your understanding of this medical specialty. Treatment strategies are not whimsical, but are based on scientific and clinical experience.

From a layman's viewpoint, some treatments may appear to be hit and miss, because in some instances, some trial and error is needed to find the right compound tailored for each individual.

This is not all that unusual in medicine, as not all people respond to each compound in the same way.

I would propose that if psychiatry might be a career option for you that you visit and spend time with people in the specialty to gain a better understanding of the true science of this fascinating medical specialty.

Psychiatry has come a long way in the last fifty years!

My own career was closely connected to psychiatry, which gave me an opportunity to learn and to admire the skills and knowledge of these dedicated physicians first hand.

 

[lallieth]

I would think that a therapist that has/had mental illness,IE depression and anxiety,and has been treated,would make an excellent therapist.As his/her patients would be able to benefit from the therapist's own experiences in dealing with a disorder.

My own dr(not therapist) had anxiety disorder as a college student and I was able to benefit from his knowledge and understanding of the disorder