Mental health

[CytochromeP450]

I think the big problem is that we, as a species and a society, use logic and reason as our primary means to communicate.

When someone has a mental/psych issue we have lost our only means to convince someone to behave as we want them to. What we fail to realize is that our reality is different from theirs.

Imagine someone trying to tell you that the computer right in front of you does not exist. This is the exactly what you are trying to do to someone who is schizophrenic when you say their paranoia and delusions are not real. The same is true when you are trying to tell a depressed person that life is good or a person having an anxiety attack that there is nothing to worry about. The body and the senses have deceived the mind.

We can no longer use our intellectual capacity to diagnose or our ability to intervene as our purpose. We must become unconditionally compassionate. I think this forces us to step out of our egos and realize we are weak and ill-equipped.

Compassion is a lot harder than problem solving.

[chbare]

Solid post mate. Mental illness is much like any other chronic disease. If we could see it for what it is, I believe many of us could better appreciate and understand these patients for the most part. Unfortunately, mental illness is hard to quantify and like you stated, attempting to confront a person with logic and reason may not work in some cases.

[the_negro_puppy]

We receive SOME mental health training as part of our Diploma program but its not really enough considering just how many patients either have acute mental health conditions are have mental health problems + their presenting condition. There has always been a stigma around mental health patients, with older Paramedics (and those potentially have not had a friend/family member suffer from mental health problems) not understanding their conditions.