The Anxiety Report

Children’s Mental Health Coalition Introduces Bill Of Rights For Families Living With Mental Illnesses

I was very interested in this article because when I think of the various agonies I put my family through as a teenager with serious problems.

“This Bill of Rights represents the standard of what families living with mental illnesses should expect from treatment,” said AACAP’s President, Robert Hendren, D.O. “Children do better when they receive consistent, tailored treatment. Few children receive any treatment and fewer still receive the sustained, quality care that they require.”

The fact that it is centered on children is helpful to parents, teacher, and baby sitters, but doesn’t do much for families living with someone with a variety of anxiety conditions and other possible mental illnesses. Living with an adult with anxiety disorders can be so challenging that it can end up in divorce. Just something worth thinking about, and perhaps someone will work out a Bill of Rights for the Family of Anxiety Patients.

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How Long Do I Have to Take This?

According to How long is anxiety medication needed?it all depends on what is being treated.

When I prescribe medication for a patient with a mental health problem, I’m frequently asked, “How long will I have to take this medication?” It’s a good question. But for someone with an anxiety disorder, the answer is particularly complex.

It’s one of the first questions I asked the first doctor who helped me; how long do I have to take this? He said pretty much what the last sentence of the quote says, except he added, “you’ll probably be on something the rest of your life.”

There are short term disorders where the medication can be stopped at a point where the patient feels ready to give it a go without the drugs. Dr. Kahn continues: “A specific phobia can be treated as needed, for example, just before getting on an airplane or giving a speech.”

But other anxiety disorders — for example, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder — commonly require ongoing treatment. Experience shows that when drug therapy is stopped, symptoms often recur. Only 25% of patients who stop taking antidepressants for anxiety have relief for two years or longer. Two studies found that one in four people with generalized anxiety disorder relapse within a month of going off medications. Similarly, most people with obsessive-compulsive disorder relapse within a month unless they either continue drug treatment indefinitely or undergo behavior therapy.

So for some of us, we’ll always be taking one drug or another. When you consider the return to anxiety attacks, or OCD symptoms, you realize that each day you will take your medications.

Isn’t it a small price to pay for the freedom from symptoms?

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Herschel Walker’s Battle with D.I.D. And Suicidal Thoughts: And My Own Struggle with Mental Illness

For those who do not know who Herschel Walker is check this page out. He has D.I.D. Dissociative Identity Disorder. In other words, multiple personalities.

Walker had several alternate personalities, known as alters. After retiring from the NFL, Walker dealt with memory loss, a symptom of D.I.D. Because other personalities are the ones taking action, he often cannot remember things he has said or done.

That is down right scary condition to have. I think someone of Walker’s fame and position in football history, to come out with this book at such a time is worthy of many kudos.

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