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Opinions of sertraline

ageingpartyfiend said:
wouldn't call it almost universally great given that 40% of your shrinks have been shockingly dismissive - close to a 50/50 split
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If you take the number of interactions into account that percentage becomes much more heavily biased - at least subjectively.
 
ageingpartyfiend said:
I'd love to have a full psychiatric evaluation tbh, just out of curiosity (don't get me started about 'diagnosis')
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Apologies, but I just could not resist replying, despite you asking not to get you started on diagnosis.

The chances are relatively high that you might have undiagnosed ADHD and / or Autism.

Dunno if either of them ring as possiblities.

I'm not suggesting you come across in any way as either of those things btw, and apologies if any offense was caused as none was intended, its just mainly seeing as Generation X, which I assume you're also part of, went through our schooling whilst such conditions were considered 1 in 10,000 rarities, and were virtually unheard of, outside of specialist circles.

And there's so many 50 something, 60 something, and older males, and especially females, who remain undiagnosed, while the true prevalence rates are estimated to be around 1 in 33. It's nothing new, these conditions have always been there, at those rates. They've just not been picked up in earlier generations. There's no new "Autism Epidemic" as ill informed idiots like Trump and RFK would try to make out.

I've found it very helpful to get diagnosed, at least everything makes complete sense now, looking from the inside out.

Autism still has such huge social stigma though that I've only told my very closest immediate family, and various online communities.

ADHD doesnt have anywhere near as much social stigma. Most social circles would probably 'be cool with it' imo, But it's still a death knell for most employment prospects if most employers ever knew about either condition.

In theory, and in employment law, there's meant to be reasonable accommodations to be inclusive of diversity in the workplace. Tbh, such language would previously have had me snorting derisively at such a string of apparent PC words and terminology. It actually means something to me now though.

But it does not yet exist in reality, in most workplaces and cultures around the world. I think we're decades away, if it will ever happen at all. The direction things are going, it seems to me, these utopias will just get further and further away from being reality.

Still the diagnosis are helpful for making sense of things, as I say, and the usefulness of that cannot be overstated. The waiting lists for ADHD evaluations on the NHS are dreadful atm, 5 years or more is a commonly stated figure. It can be a couple of years for Autism too.
 
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Bleaney said:
Apologies, but I just could not resist replying, despite you asking not to get you started on diagnosis.

The chances are relatively high that you might have undiagnosed ADHD and / or Autism.

Dunno if either of them ring as possiblities.

I'm not suggesting you come across in any way as either of those things btw, and apologies if any offense was caused as none was intended, its just mainly seeing as Generation X, which I assume you're also part of, went through our schooling whilst such conditions were considered 1 in 10,000 rarities, and were virtually unheard of, outside of specialist circles.

And there's so many 50 something, 60 something, and older males, and especially females, who remain undiagnosed, while the true prevalence rates are estimated to be around 1 in 33. It's nothing new, these conditions have always been there, at those rates. They've just not been picked up in earlier generations. There's no new "Autism Epidemic" as ill informed idiots like Trump and RFK would try to make out.

I've found it very helpful to get diagnosed, at least everything makes complete sense now, looking from the inside out.

Autism still has such huge social stigma though that I've only told my very closest immediate family, and various online communities.

ADHD doesnt have anywhere near as much social stigma. Most social circles would probably 'be cool with it' imo, But it's still a death knell for most employment prospects if most employers ever knew about either condition.

In theory, and in employment law, there's meant to be reasonable accommodations to be inclusive of diversity in the workplace. Tbh, such language would previously have had me snorting derisively at such a string of apparent PC words and terminology. It actually means something to me now though.

But it does not yet exist in reality, in most workplaces and cultures around the world. I think we're decades away, if it will ever happen at all. The direction things are going, it seems to me, these utopias will just get further and further away from being reality.

Still the diagnosis are helpful for making sense of things, as I say, and the usefulness of that cannot be overstated. The waiting lists for ADHD evaluations on the NHS are dreadful atm, 5 years or more is a commonly stated figure. It can be a couple of years for Autism too.
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It's all good mate - I'm 100% the actual epitome of adhd, proper massively life-affecting adhd which, unhelpfully, wasn't realised until I was touching 50. Employers are well aware - it's totally obvious and I was actually originally diagnosed at work. If I had been at school 30 years later than I was it would have picked up immediately...as I say...obvious. As a diagnostic assessor once told me "Mr Fiend...you don't have adhd. You are adhd"

Not in any way autistic, almost the direct opposite, which I know is unusual when considering neurodivergence as a whole (most people show clear traits of most of the neroD 'conditions'). So our Dr. friend here is way off but I get why he made the assumption. He should know better than to assume though, given his profession. Tssssk;)
 
Bleaney said:
Me? Online, is the only place I can "unmask" and just be me, and trot out all the stuff I've learned.

I probably get my tone wrong quite often for the setting and community too, being far too formal and stilted, but sometimes precision in language is important.
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I'm a major tone-noticer, and can honestly say that I have noticed "wrong tone" from you on precisely zero occasions
 
So what's the issue with 'diagnosis' as you put it in an earlier post? Questioned - quite rightly - by @Bleaney.

Genuinely intrigued. It seems like you embrace your own diagnosis, so what's the problem with others?
 
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ageingpartyfiend said:
It's all good mate - I'm 100% the actual epitome of adhd, proper massively life-affecting adhd which, unhelpfully, wasn't realised until I was touching 50. Employers are well aware - it's totally obvious and I was actually originally diagnosed at work. If I had been at school 30 years later than I was it would have picked up immediately...as I say...obvious. As a diagnostic assessor once told me "Mr Fiend...you don't have adhd. You are adhd"
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Wow, that's quite an achievement, I guess. :ROFLMAO:

I got told that I have "moderate ADHD" by my psych. He's very experienced so I don't doubt his assessment, it just feels a lot more than moderate quite often though. I really would not have been happy if he'd said i have "mild" ADHD. There's nothing mild about all the difficulties I've experienced with trying to manage my jobs and my domestic situation.

I guess my Autism counterbalances the ADHD to some extent, and vice versa.

Not in any way autistic, almost the direct opposite, which I know is unusual when considering neurodivergence as a whole (most people show clear traits of most of the neroD 'conditions')
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This is where things get very complicated, but also very interesting imho. In many ways Autism and ADHD are the opposite of each other, and the inner experience of having both conditions often results in inner conflict, or inner chaos. Being pulled in different directions. It can be very stressful and so frustrating! Having a preference for order and systems etc, but being totally unable to sustain them, or even initiate them at all, in many cases, for example. Many other similar examples, along similar lines.

It wasn't until the latest DSM that it was even considered possible to have both diagnoses! So that's only in the last 10 years or so. There's so much catching up to be done by researchers, but Autism is way down at the bottom of anyone's priorities it seems to me.

I've read the opinion that having both conditions is not so much having Autism plus ADHD, but it's more like the dual diagnosis is it's own condition, diagnosis, or "thing" in itself, rather than having Autism plus ADHD as 2 separable bolt on pieces. They can not be separated when you have both! They are so much part of each other! I fully feel this and subscribe 100%. It's impossible to tell where one condition ends and the other begins. It's not just overlapping symptoms, although that is a large part of it.

ADHD is kind of a symptom of Autism, in many ways.

Weirdly, about 70% of Autistic people also have ADHD. But 'only' around 30% of ADHD folk also have Autism.

The main way I experience my AuDHD is that I feel that the ADHD is denying me many of any potential positives that my Autism could have given me otherwise.

Being orderly, systematic, organised, etc are obviously all very advantageous life skills. I can only manage these attributes when a subject becomes extremely interesting or important to me. And there's no telling if that interest will be all over in about 5 minutes, or if it'll be something that keeps me interested for the long term.

I tend to need the anxiety or pressure of leaving things to the last minute and later in order to be able to get things done.
 
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Perkins : Reborn said:
So what's the issue with 'diagnosis' as you put it in an earlier post? Questioned - quite rightly - by @Bleaney.

Genuinely intrigued. It seems like you embrace your own diagnosis, so what's the problem with others?
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I wasn't meaning to question, or sound like I was questioning APF's statement.

It was more like a cue to set me off, on one of my favourite pet subjects.
 
It's not a surprise that psychiatrists in the UK refused to use the DSM-4 or DSM-5 but still stick to the DSM-3R. It became obvious that pharmacutical companies were influencing the introduction of new diagnoses so they could sell more of their products. I don't know if it was alprazolam specifically but apparently when the DSM-4 arrived with new diagnoses AND new medications specificially indicated for those new diagnoses, it became apparent that something wasn't right.

"The will to label will always prevail over what's being labeled, usually at the expense of either truth or understanding."
— Boyd Rice

As far as I can tell, the few psychiatrists I know avoid providing a diagnoses because as @Bleaney correctly notes, people rarely if ever fit into a single neat box and that disorders can range from the slight to the life-destroying depending on severity. I suppose that is why we talk about 'Clusters' of disorders which as is usual for the NHS, are referred to as 'the mad, the bad and the sad'.

Thinking back, I seem to recall if medication was appropriate, they had to include a diagnosis in the patient's medical records but even then, copious notes would be provided so a GP had some idea of why medication was indicated.

From a totally different perspective, people I work with in the HR arena all push back on psychiatric diagnoses being responsible for addiction/physical dependence. I have no reason to doubt that the person who suffers from severe anxiety all of the time IS far mor likely to consume unprescribed sedatives, but it isn't an excuse for stealing things to buy pills. It isn't an excuse for ALL behaviors.

I think it interesting that the DSM at no point offers a diagnosis of 'eunoia'. That's just the fancy-pants word for a person in perfect mental health.

That illustrates that once a GP concludes that an illness is psychosomatic, it's difficult for the psychatrist to push back by essentially saying 'no it's not!'.

Wilson's disease is something I've only seen once and because it's rare and because no VISIBLE physical signs were present, the poor patient got bouced back and forth all the while getting worse until an optician finally noted the cardical symptom. To be fair, the patient did have dark brown eyes anyway, but it took a year. A year that patient will not get back.

As far as I'm concerned, @Bleaney is @Bleaney - a really nice guy.
 
Bleaney said:
Me? Online, is the only place I can "unmask" and just be me, and trot out all the stuff I've learned.

I probably get my tone wrong quite often for the setting and community too, being far too formal and stilted, but sometimes precision in language is important.
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Naw... not sometimes. Precision in language is always important (especially online).

And the reason that you know your shit as opposed to you know you're shit.

Yi'get me?
 
Perkins : Reborn said:
So what's the issue with 'diagnosis' as you put it in an earlier post? Questioned - quite rightly - by @Bleaney.

Genuinely intrigued. It seems like you embrace your own diagnosis, so what's the problem with others?
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No problem with others, any, neither . Real or imagined

My issue is I'm a little burntout discussing issues around the topic irl is all
 
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