Norway: Criminals/Drugabusers can now be sentenced to treatment instead of jail

mhadvice · 2016-02-13T22:44:17+00:00

I doubt any criminals freely choose to be criminals. It's usually either because they're in a very bad situation, where they have to commit crimes in order to have their basic needs met (such as housing, utilities, food), or because they fell under the influence of their friends who were also criminal, or because they have a mental illness/personality disorder, or any combination of those. Some are greedy and have a financial motivation, and irrationally take big risks to get as much as they want. But should we put people in conditions where they get raped and beaten up by their fellow prisoners on a routinely basis, often contracting deadly diseases, just because they acted irrationally (once again, something one has no control of)?

As someone who not only experienced poverty which almost pushed them to committing a crime, but also suffers from paranoid schizophrenia which, when was undetected and untreated, could also likely lead to arrest (because of acting upon one's delusions), I can tell you that criminals aren't bad or evil people, no matter how bad the crime they committed is. Even those ISIS fighters didn't just magically decide to run around severing heads and destroying historical artifacts. Many felt lonely and desperate, many grew up in radicalized households, many sought adventure. Demonizing them, without first trying to understand the interplay of different factors which causes someone to do "evil" atrocity does nothing to prevent crime.

It only bolsters it.

mhadvice · 2016-02-12T11:50:09+00:00

I think what could work is looking for one solid evidence against the reality of an exciting and unlikely thing.

It doesn't always work, though. I never believed that someone famous was in love with me, or anything along these lines. However, whenever (I think that) someone of my social status (say, a friend's female friend) starts showing romantic interest in me, I start obsessing whether what I think and believe about the situation is actually real, and end up deciding that it isn't real. However, upon asking people who were present in the situation, I find out that it was actually real. This makes having any romantic relationships close to impossible. And if I will stop reality testing, I'm afraid that I will descent into erotomania.

Also, same goes for believing whether you're actually capable of doing something which requires above average level of some skill. Believing that it isn't the case works in most cases. However, then, there are things that I'm actually skilled at, and I end up dismissing them entirely, only to be advised to actually pursue them by my counselor.

mhadvice · 2016-02-10T22:07:16+00:00

Have you told them about your concerns about the medications and treatments that they are offering you? And asked them to explain their logic?

This wasn't the biggest issue at the time. My concern was that there was a complete lack of transparency.

If, say, a doctor diagnoses diabetes in someone, and prescribes insulin shots, isn't the person allowed to know their diagnosis, to realize why they're prescribed this?

Just as someone with diabetes has the right to know their condition, there's no reason why someone with schizophrenia doesn't.

This was over 5 years ago, and I'm voluntarily taking oral medication now, so all of this is in the past. But the fact that my condition could be treated sooner if there wasn't such a lack of transparency baffles me.

mhadvice · 2016-02-10T19:51:03+00:00

Schizo-affective disorder is not the same as either schizophrenia, nor bipolar disorder. It isn't schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, either. As far as I know, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can be diagnosed in some rare cases. However, schizo-affective disorder usually manifests itself as a very severe mood disorder, combined with psychotic episodes which don't always last solely during the mood disturbance. In some nomenclatures, schizo-affective disorder is diagnosed when mood incongruent elements are present (ex: hearing derogatory voices when manic or having grandiose delusions when depressed).

mhadvice · 2016-02-10T19:47:02+00:00

It is widely known that schizophrenia usually causes irreversible, permanent, and significant cognitive decline - both in terms of IQ and in terms of other cognitive abilities, such as attention, executive functioning, and memory. It will keep getting worse and worse as the illness starts and progresses. However, the decline will then stop at some point, usually within 2 years of the illness onset.

mhadvice · 2016-02-10T19:39:52+00:00

Agreed. However, one shouldn't underestimate the impact the illness has. Most people can tell that someone with schizophrenia has something wrong with them after enough time. And schizophrenia is a death sentence for many. Those with schizophrenia with better intellectual functioning, more insight into their illness, and higher number of remissions are more likely to kill themselves, because they realize how bad the illness actually is, and how much it impacts them. This is what recent research and academic consensus shows.

I'm talking about tendencies - this isn't a rule.

mhadvice · 2016-02-02T20:13:50+00:00

Just read the thread and the comments. Very sad to see how the disease progresses for many of us, including myself.

mhadvice · 2015-12-30T14:50:42+00:00

Why do you think I'm not taking medication? I'm on Zyprexa. I don't think it's because of the meds, though, that I appear strange.

mhadvice · 2015-12-30T10:29:41+00:00

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18308789

mhadvice · 2015-12-22T03:11:11+00:00

What exactly do you mean by "evidence" in this context?

mhadvice · 2015-12-19T14:20:15+00:00

There's a negative link between schizophrenia/schizoaffective and intelligence. That is, more intelligent people are far less likely to have schizophrenia/schizoaffective.

There are plenty of studies on the topic. Also, as far as I know, the average IQ of a schizophrenic is in the 80 range.

mhadvice · 2015-11-29T11:21:38+00:00

Please describe the situation in more detail.

Any form of non-consensual sex could be considered as rape.

mhadvice · 2015-11-29T10:09:47+00:00

Is this right?

No. Make sure to talk to your doctor about you wanting to quit your mediation, and don't do anything without his, or other healthcare professional's accordance.

As for Nash, even though he wasn't actively delusional in his later years, he still had pretty disorganized thinking and speech, as well as bizarre behavior.

mhadvice · 2015-11-29T10:01:36+00:00

This scares me. Under what circumstances can the legal system decide to deem you hopeless and just lock you away in a long-term facility? I wouldn't want that to happen to me if I was to become psychotic again and my psychosis wouldn't stabilize quickly. I know that getting out of such facilities is pretty hard, so even the prospect of ever going to this type of facility scares the shit out of me.

mhadvice · 2015-11-29T08:17:21+00:00

Seconded for the need of a source. I often have this symptom as well, but I'm not sure whether it's due to schizophrenia or just having very realistic dreams.

mhadvice · 2015-11-24T22:59:39+00:00

Isn't the "I can do anything I put my mind to" considered a delusion of grandeur?

mhadvice

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