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Personality
disorder an invalid "catch-all" label which damages women,
says clinical psychologist
June
7, 2007
by Angela Hussain
Borderline
personality disorder is an invalid "catch-all" label which
can further damage women who have suffered abuse, a clinical psychologist
has written in a new book.
In
a far-reaching attack on the validity of the borderline personality
disorder (BPD) diagnosis, Gillian Proctor criticises the "growing
prevalence of labeling women with BPD"
Proctor,
a clinical psychologist with North Bradford Primary Care Trust,
argues that the BPD diagnosis, which she says has "no excepted
cause", is often made on women who "fail to live up to
their gender role because they express anger and aggression, which
is unacceptable for women in this society."
Being
diagnosed with BPD is a "deeply stigmatising" experience
which can damage abused women, Proctor writes in a chapter of the
book, Beyond Fear and Control - Working with Young People who Self-Harm.
In
her chapter, published by psychminded.co.uk, Proctor cites research
finding that 88 per cent of women diagnosed with BPD had experienced
abuse, and 77 per cent sexual abuse.
Proctor
argues it is often such experiences which lie behind self-injury,
which can lead to a diagnosis of BPD.
Proctor,
who helped set up a service providing medical treatment for self-harm
patients in Bradford GP surgeries, concludes: "We need mental
health services to see sexual abuse as an issue that affects the
whole of society, and which needs a political and societal response.
Diagnosing women with borderline personality disorder achieves none
of this."
Read
for yourself:
Gillian Proctor's chapter: Disordered
Boundaries? A Critique of 'Borderline Personality Disorder' (pdf)
Beyond
Fear and Control - Working with Young People who Self-Harm.
.....
The
diagnosis saved me
Comment
by:
Fenella Lemonsky, expert by experience, the North London Hub, Mental
Health Research Network (MHRN), Imperial College, London
Date:
June 8, 2007
I have BPD and the diagnosis saved me. It meant I was able to go
and get good help. Being under the care of Professor Anthony Bateman,
a world expert on personality disorder meant I was able to move
from illness to wellness, free myself from self harm, destructive
behaviours and from being a damaged human being.I
was able to grow and become a nice person whom I respected and others
did too. Prior to this mainstream psychiatry rejected me as a manipulative
untreatable patient. How wrong they were.
Professor
Bateman's much respected evidence-based mentalization based treatment
was an effective treatment that worked wonders on me. I no longer
use crisis teams, or A&E. Nor am a "complete nightmare"
embroiled in a land of despair. I am now working as an expert by
experience, developing services for those with BPD.
Sadly however PD care (non forensic) is very patchy in the UK. It
is a postcode lottery. In areas where there is no specialist service
at all women are suffering as they cannot access specialist trauma
and other proven therapies like dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)
- which Dr Janet Feigenbaum, among others in the UK has shown does
work - and good back-up support.
I was at a recent MHRN conference and the Newham DBT project reported
a 70% reduction in those who self-harmed who managed to reduce their
destructive behaviour and hospital admissions,. This treatment that
was developed by Marsha Linehan specifically for BPD has an evidence
base.
MBT is now growing in popularity in terms of evidence and good clinical
practice.
I am not sure how much time Dr Proctor has spent working in a PD
specialist unit, but had I not had the Halliwick Unit in Haringey,
London, I would have died from multiple overdosing.
I had a very unhappy and difficult as well as dysfunctional childhood.
Until I reached the Halliwick Unit no one took me in with compassion,
care, respect and understanding and empowered me to achieve better
things.
I was encouraged to learn to trust and build healthier ways of coping
with very difficult situations when emotionally I felt very unwell
- ie dysregulated. The ups and downs were very painful and the hard
work in the therapy (partial hospitalisation) was at times scary
but I was working with a team of highly skilled and sensitive professionals
who never once made me feel bad or mad, but respected my pain. The
validation for me was a marker that enabled me to dig deep - work
hard at dealing with the torment and then coming out the other side
a much better Fenella.
I owe my life to Professor Bateman and his team. Which is why I
now work with the North London Hub of the Mental Health Research
Network and my local area which is growing in terms of PD specialist
work (I live in Barnet, London)
Prof Bateman told me once there will always be professionals who
attack the work of him and his PD specialist colleagues for various
reasons. What is important, though, is to remember the excellent
clinical outcomes, much improved functionality and the economic
impact of his approach,
Support groups like Borderline UK provide a lifeline to people who
otherwise have been let down badly by the NHS and have little support,
as well as for those want more in the middle of the night in torment.
I personally would like to see more skilling up of professionals
- including clinical psychologists - in how to work in an effective
way with BPD and which is evidence based.
References:
* Psychotherapy
for Borderline Personality Disorder: Mentalization based Treatment.
Anthony Bateman and Peter Fonagy, Oxford University Press. 2004
*
Bateman, A.W. & Fonagy, P. (1999) Effectiveness of partial hospitalisation
in the treatment of borderline personality disorder: a randomised
controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry. 156:1563-1569.
.....
BPD
has been used to invalidate testimonies of childhood abuse
Comment
by:
Louise Pembroke, mental health activist, London
Date:
June 9, 2007
My
medical student friend's lectures on self-harm consisted of being
told that most people who self-harm have BPD, do it because their
boyfriend has left them, and are generally horrible people with
no hope. Little
wonder why women fear this gender-biased diagnosis because those
who get saddled with it are subject to considerable discrimination.
Judith
Herman, professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard University Medical
School, says BPD is little more than a "sophisticated insult",
and some service users view it as one of the worst diagnoses to
receive because it feels like total invalidation.
There
is no clear evidence to support a specific clinical intervention
for self-harm - pharmacological or psychological - though you wouldn’t
think this given the way small dialectical behaviour therapy trials
are claimed as 'evidence based'.
Some
mental health nurses undertaking training in dialectical behaviour
therapy [an alleged treatment of choice for people who self-harm
- though I don't see people begging for it] have been told that
less self-harm and taking better care of oneself does not constitute
progress. The underlying theme here is total cessation of self-harm
as the real measure of success. That’s all very well. But
if the function of a person's self-harm is to avert suicide, cessation
might not be their immediate goal.
Then
there's the "regulation" of emotions. What is that? Psychological
immodium?! I've yet to meet someone who actually possesses fully-regulated
emotions.
BPD
has also been used to invalidate testimonies of childhood abuse,
with claims of exaggeration, of the seeking out of sexual or physical
victimisation. A woman with a BPD label has little credibility by
virtue of her diagnosis.
Services
are generally dismissive of people labeled as such and can even
withdraw services. There's a whole industry emerging around self-harm
and it's this; self-harm = BPD = DBT. That's as reductionist as
hearing voices = schizophrenia = antipsychotics. BPD and schizophrenia
represent the very worst of psychiatric categorisation and treatment.
The Campaign to Abolish the Schizophrenia Label is working to get
schizophrenia dropped [Japan has dropped it]. I would love to see
a campaign to get BPD dropped as a diagnostic category. As an activist
who self-harms I'm angry at the overwhelming damage I've seen this
label inflict on women's lives. It's nasty, we don't need it and
I want to see people free of it.
.....
Self
harm needs addressing with compassion
Comment
by:
Fenella Lemonsky, expert by experience, the North London Hub, Mental
Health Research Network (MHRN), Imperial College, London
Date:
June 10, 2007
Thank
you Louise. In fact something I forgot to point out in my reply
was that in the PD awareness training I run I point out that self
harm does not equal BPD nor does BPD equal self harm. Self harm
is only one aspect of BPD and it is very important that people don't
label women with BPD just because they self harm.
I
appreciate your comments -after all, when women and men have had
very difficult invalidating experiences of the psychiatric system
they will take alternative views. As I said - until I reached a
specialist service I was invalidated. I am one of the fortunate
few who got very good treatment.
I
don't see reduction in self harm as the be-all-and-end-all - as
that is just one aspect of someone's difficulties in managing their
emotional distress. However, when I stopped self harming I was able
to start to think about how may I start moving forwards in my life.
Self harm does not equate failure either - I know plenty who self
harm and have lots to offer and who do good work in the service
user movement.
There's
nothing wrong with dysregulation. But when it disrupts day-to-day
functioning ongoing in a severe way then it needs addressing in
a compassionate way. We all get highs and lows - that is part of
life. However, the emotional impact of extreme mood swings on a
daily basis is very distressing and I am grateful that I no longer
have to experience that - and I don't take medication either!
......
Whose
"specialist services" are they?
Comment
by:
Louise Pembroke, mental health activist, London
Date:
June 12, 2007
Some
medical students are being taught that self-harm equals BPD.This
means that many more people will not get compassionate assistance.
Fenella, the problem is when people go to a psychiatrist and speak
of self-harm, they can end up with an immediate BPD assessment,
not a general assessment. The line of questioning is clearly going
through 1-9 of the BPD diagnostic criteria. Medical schools is where
we need to change hearts and minds. It is the only diagnostic category
which marks out self-harm as part of the symptomotology, therefore
self-harm becomes its hallmark.
It's
a circular argument. I've seen people attract that diagnosis when
only truly fitting one criteria - self-harm. This is clinical shoddiness
at the very least.
I don't think we need any diagnostic labels. We can describe human
distress in plain English. I describe myself as a voice-hearer -
that's descriptive, not diagnostic and dictates nothing of an explanatory
framework.
I
think services should be needs-led, not diagnosis-led which they
are, across the board, whatever your tag.
The
sorts of things that people say they find helpful haven't changed
much over the years. But, when comparing user/survivor wish lists
to service wish lists, there isn't much overlap. I'm glad you have
received decent support, but the overall reality is 'take this or
xxxx off' and not everyone wants what is on offer. That's what really
needs addressing. It's all very well service providers building
up a 'specialist' service of what they want to offer and view as
appropriate to a diagnostic category, but most of these specialist
services have not developed out of service users' desires.
P.S.
I find the BPD websites by "those who care about someone who
has BPD" deeply depressing. If I was given that label and then
did an internet search and looked at those sites I would feel suicidal.
They regurgitate psychiatric criteria and stereotypes and seem like
an exercise in character assassination.
The
sites by and for people labeled as such again don't fill me with
enthusiasm when compared to other single issue groups which seek
to explore all explanations and strategies.
I
would love to see a strong survivor movement of people labeled as
BPD as we have seen within hearing voices and self-harm. I know
the label and services will suit some people and that's fine by
me, I'm not suggesting everyone should think my way, but I'm worried
about all those for whom it does not.
.....
Appropriate
treatment is liberating
Comment
by:
Marion Janner, director, Bright
mental health charity
Date:
June 12, 2007
The discussion between Fenella and Louise partly reflects treatment
experiences. Louise’s tenacious, eloquent campaigning makes
a vital contribution to national understanding of not just ineffective
but punitive and damaging treatment by some mental health professionals
and services. Parallel to this, Fenella energetically promotes the
possibility and therapeutic value of appropriate treatment for people
with BPD.
There
are clearly social and medical penalties in ‘being diagnosed’.
But there are, or can be, invaluable benefits. Despite being treated
in a personality disorder (PD) unit, and because my psychiatrist/therapist
didn’t label me, it took me months before I finally twigged
that what had felt like an incoherent mess of symptoms and behaviours
did add up to a PD.
I
was really lucky that it happened in this order, as by then I was
able to welcome the discovery, rather than reject it and the treatment
that comes with the condition. It meant that I could now find out
about what can cause borderline personality disorder, how my treatment
(mentalisation-based therapy) works and also start to feel comfortable
about identifying as someone with BPD. I can also build relationships
with others with BPD, based on a certain amount of shared experience
of not just the symptoms but also daily strategies for containing
and then reducing these.
Both
Louise and Fenella are powerful role models for me. Louise in challenging
and reforming the system. And Fenella in harnessing the value in
those services which are supportive, non-judgmental and healing.
Fenella and I are exceptionally fortunate to be treated in a specialist
service for people with BPD. I can’t respond to most of Louise’s
points about DBT as I haven’t had this. But she’s certainly
right that self-harming doesn’t equal BPD. BPD doesn’t
equal DBT, any more than crying doesn’t equal depression and
depression doesn’t equal CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy).
Mentalisation-based therapy has a much lower profile than it should,
as it is an evidence-based treatment whose effectiveness is perfectly
illustrated by Fenella’s ability to choose to stop self-harming
and to come off medication. (I’m not quite there, but am inspired
by what’s possible.)
There’s
an important feminist debate about whether the BPD diagnosis is
just another way of pathologising women. My view is that the focus
needs to be on why it is that women convert our distress into paradoxically
self-destructive coping mechanisms. Recognising the causation, cluster
of possible symptoms and above all being able to access appropriate
treatment are the ‘rewards’ for the diagnosis. And appropriate
treatment is liberating, freeing women up to get on with productive,
trauma-free (or at least reduced) lives.
Intriguingly,
there’s a recent report about transference-focused
therapy for BPD. It seems to work for some people, but personally
I’d rather spend my weekly therapy session talking about reducing
the impact of my BPD on my work and life than plunging into endless
exploration of what I think my therapist’s choice of tie means
for our relationship.
....
The 'unacceptable'
costs of the BPD diagnosis
Comment
by:
Louise Pembroke, mental health activist, London
Date:
June 12, 2007
Appropriate
treatment? Well both of you refer to one service - one consultant
whose work I am aware of. But, I'm sure you are aware that your
experiences are not common. People deemed to be PD can often find
themselves with little or no service, and with little choice over
what they receive. It's only liberating if you want it and if you
subscribe to that model, but what about those who don't?
Do
the 'rewards' of the label outweigh the penalties? Not if you're
being stitched in A&E with no anaesthetic.Not, if anything you
say is viewed with suspicion because you're viewed as one of those
manipulative 'borderlines'. We have to consider the unacceptable
cost to others.
Just
as I accept someone saying 'I have schizophrenia and need my Olanzepine
and are happy with it', I can't ignore the far greater number of
people who seek a different response, wish to find their own explanatory
framework and strategies for living and not be sentenced to life
on antipsychotics.
There
is an important feminist debate here regarding the pathologising
of women's distress, and self-harm can be understood socially, environmentally,
culturally and politically. It can be understood in terms of life
experience, gender expectations, and what are socially-acceptable
expressions of distress. Men's self-harm is not pathologised in
quite the same way as women's. BPD is inherently sexist just as
hysteria was, just as being gay was pathologised, just as psychiatry
remains inherently racist.
.....
Better
be 'borderline' and offered talking therapy than 'bipolar' and offered
pills.
Comment
by:
Fenella Lemonsky, expert by experience, the North London Hub, Mental
Health Research Network (MHRN), Imperial College, London
Date:
June 12, 2007
Thank
you Marion and Louise. Yes Marion, we are both fortunate to be treated
in a great unit. A good role model......I should say that I have
periods where I take antidepressants due to experiencing chronic
pain and how that affects me. So I am not medication free. I witness
service users who are given frightening amounts of high medication
doses for mood swings without any psychological approach and are
judged on for self-harming in a very negative fashion.
The other point I need to make to Louise is actually the Halliwick
service is unique as it is needs-led rather than professionals deciding
everything. Many years ago there was a change of structure to the
follow-up programme for service users after leaving the day unit.
The new programme was criticised by service users for losing the
individual sessions component. This was reinstated. Dr Bateman is
always open to suggestions about what works or what doesn't, or
where something has been misunderstood.
Diagnosis is more than a tick box. It is a very skilled piece of
work. However, sadly, how many service users get an extensive interview
with a skilled psychiatrist who is warm, kind and non judgmental
and very experienced?
All service users appreciate being offered a choice of approaches,
not a one-size-fits-all approach. I don't believe DBT, MBT, CBT
etc etc is appropriate for everyone. I believe some may want to
work creatively, some dynamically, some in groups, some in individual
work. My issue is actually about lack of choice overall. If all
those who have BPD as a diagnosis were treated better with decent
care, compassion, warmth and respect (and with an engaging of two
minds rather than patient versus doctor) in the way that I have
been treated then that would be great.
Louise, I think an issue around self harm itself is that the physical
healthcare risks are far too great to ignore. Yet how they are approached
leaves much to be desired. Women in the mainstream attend more GP
appointments than men. I agree wholeheartedly about discrimination
in A&E and other units, and I myself made many formal complaints
about how I was treated.
The difficulty is that, whatever you call BPD, the distress will
manifest in many ways. I would sooner be called borderline and offered
a talking therapy than bipolar and offered pills. I am very aware
of the lack of good treatment and compassion to most. That is why
I work very hard to shift organisational culture that is unhelpful.
But heck, it is very hard and as women we have to fight for those
less able and abused for the right to be treated as intelligent
human beings ..... I would welcome the chance to work with you on
the issue of a BPD survivor movement being developed.
This has been a very useful discussion.
.....
I can not
support the validity of BPD
Comment
by:
Louise Pembroke, mental health activist, London
Date:
June 15, 2007
A
diagnosis [any] doesn't in itself help us make sense of our experiences
nor teach us how to cope.
Making
sense and coping occurs as a result of hope, belief in us by others,
acceptance, trial and error, many people helping us along our way
(friends, family, professionals, charity workers, even strangers),
being creative, developing a passion in life, paid/unpaid work,
learning. The list is endless.
For
those with experience of trauma (in the widest sense of the word),
post-traumatic stress might be a better tag, but I don't think this
is about which label is better. I want us all to be able to define
ourselves and most people don't choose a diagnosis. People are given
their diagnosis with typically no negotiation. Now if you're happy
with that, fine, but if you're not, then it's a sentence.
I
just think we can do better.
Regarding
a specific BPD campaign, I could only work towards questioning it
in education and would support a CASL (Campaign To Abolish The Schizophrenia
Label) type of campaign to get it dropped. I could not work towards
supporting the validity of it.
I
agree the physical healthcare risks cannot be ignored - that's why
some of us have spent a lot of time working on those specific areas
such as advocacy in A&E, support and training for healthcare
staff, and harm-minimisation and self-management materials. Here,
we have common ground.
Survivors/activists
and professionals have differences and areas of common ground, and
we can always work on the common ground and respect the differences.
.....
Five
treatment choices? In psychiatry this is inconceivable
Comment by:
Fenella Lemonsky, expert by experience, the North London Hub, Mental
Health Research Network (MHRN), Imperial College, London
Date:
June 17, 2007
Louise, you state "friends, family, professionals, charity
workers, even strangers". I had no friends or family or professionals
I could engage with at all as I had no one I could trust. All my
relationships had broken down and I was extremely mistrustful. This
is a common BPD scenario that many seem to lack understanding of
(professionals, charity workers, family etc). This is why those
with the diagnosis do better in specialist services as they are
more geared up to sensitivity about social exclusion and isolation
and family breakdown (although PD is not unique to family breakdown
in mental health)
Many
service users in the UK have carers, friends and families around
them. Many of those with BPD don't as the relationships with some
of their families have broken down for various reasons. One of the
most common reasons is conflict and difficult relationships including
physical, sexual or emotional abuse. This renders those with BPD
so distrustful or fearful that learning to trust anyone again takes
hard work and a long time.
Until
I reached a specialist service I was so distrustful, had been abandoned
and invalidated by not only professionals but by a Jewish charity
who treated me as if I had no brain and I was treated inappropriately
by well-meaning health professionals and family who had no clue.
This is why those with BPD do better in specialist services as they
are geared up to sensitivity and have an in-depth knowledge around
working with people who have had early difficult experiences and
who find holding a relationship and engaging with anyone so painful
and difficult.
Sadly,
still in 2007 despite the good work of PD specialists nationally
which help those in distress get back into healthier and happier
times (The McLean Hospital study by Mary Zanarini MD et al in America
over 10 years was very encouraging but had some flaws in it as no
single approach was the "star" and it was contentious
as it sent the wrong message to commissioners - this being that
maybe people didn't need specialist help as they got better anyway.....to
the latest paper in the American Journal of Psychiatry showing how
useful good-structured CBT can help.........to the other studies
showing that MBT helps people manage better and move on......) the
rest of the psychiatric profession insists on burying its head in
the sand and pretending it is not true and push pills.
So
no wonder those given the diagnosis are so damn negative. I would
be if all I was offered was some pills and a bit of therapy. However
I had a good approach without pills. For me it was therapy, creative
work, hope and encouragement to see the world as not such a bad
place and not having medication to dull my difficult thoughts. Instead
I was encouraged to think how I could manage my thoughts better.
I
still have no idea how it is many psychiatrists on £100k a
year of precious NHS money can be allowed to get away with how they
don't hear what service users need and pretend they do hear......I
went to see a gynaecologist and he offered me five choices of treatment.
They were all explained all in depth. He said 'go away, take your
time, ask questions, and phone me when you have decided or want
a chat through things again'. How amazing and open minded. Yet
in psychiatry this would be inconceivable. Many women need good
therapy of their choice with a woman therapist. How many get it?
I in fact wanted a male therapist as the idea of a woman therapist
being a mother figure when I had murderous thoughts towards my mother
was inconceivable. This has been respected.
Post-traumatic
stress is another contentious label. We need gender-sensitive services
with choice - well informed choice from a wide range of sources.
.....
"Attention
seeking" - no laughing matter
Comment from:
Cat Perrill, service user and former mental health worker, Manchester
Date:
June 18, 2007
As a voluntary sector worker, I once attended a steering group headed
by the local mental health trust to discuss the "new and innovative"
BPD service they were initiating. Within ten minutes I had been
alienated by every single person in the room. I was laughed at when
I tried to protest that service users were being referred to as
"attention seeking" when discussing their "needs".
It was openly discussed that "BPDs" were at the bottom
of everyone's list of favourite service users, and jokes were made
about the best way to pass someone onto a colleague. There was also
the assumption made that this new "service" would negate
the need for the (successful) self harm service currently being
facilitated by my own agency - the premise being that self harmers
would be referred to the BPD service anyway.
"Motivational interviewing" was put in the minutes to
cover the time spent laughing about how to "get them off their
backsides and do something for themselves for once"...
Need I go on? It's horrific that service providers would discuss
people this way - instant dismissal of the person as an individual
because they have three little letters in their notes. This was
within a trust which, on the whole, is reasonably open-minded and
"caring". For example, they offer a wide range of user-led
services and complementary therapies, and (usually) work in very
close partnership with Mind and Rethink.
While many people refuse to accept BPD as a diagnosis, others find
it a relief and comfort to give a name to what they are experiencing.
I would always advocate what the individual wanted, but while service
providers laugh behind people's backs and put them at the bottom
of their lists, what hope have we got for improvement?
.....
Every trust
should run training days in PD awareness
Comment by:
Fenella Lemonsky, expert by experience, the North London Hub, Mental
Health Research Network (MHRN), Imperial College, London
Date:
June 20, 2007
Thank
you Cat. Sadly this is a common experience. However still very distressing
for you to experience. This is why those service users who are fortunate
enough to get access to specialist PD services may well fare better
as the staff in the specialist service genuinely care and there
is no dishonesty or bad feeling but a genuine commitment to helping
people with BPD achieve a better standard of living in terms of
quality of life.
It is important to remember that not all borderlines are extremely
debilitated by illness - in fact many borderlines have a full life
without ever entering the psychiatric system. BPD is treatable.
Those
who mock it or have disregard are ignorant and need good clinical
supervision and training. They should be getting this as otherwise
they are at high risk of a SUI (serious untowards incident), but
also fundamentally breaching their duty of care and human rights,
under the Human Rights Act ,Article 8.3, whereby people have a right
to dignity and respect.
It
is those who have BPD where it affects functionality in some way
who need good treatment and good attitude.
The key theme is education.
Every
mental health trust should be running training days for all clinical
staff in each sector in basic PD awareness led by PD specialists
or staff skilled up in PD management and providing skilled supervision
and support.
As for those who dispute diagnosis - that is their right. However,
it will not change their difficulties in terms of how their distress
manifests itself.
.....
I would never
refer to someone as 'borderline'
Comment
by:
Louise Pembroke, mental health activist, London
Date:
June 20, 2007
Disputing [any] diagnosis can change how we experience distress
and how we manage it - that is clear from the hearing voices movement.
Some of those who have rejected their schizophrenia tag have been
transformed by that rejection alone. When people view themselves
as a mere victim of their biology/brain chemistry I believe it does
impact on how distress manifests.
I perceive a similar process in those who have rejected BPD because
they stop viewing all emotions/actions as this or that aspect of
BPD, and stop pathologising their personality.
As I stated earlier, we can agree to differ and work on the common
ground, but specialist PD services and training for health workers
has to include all positions and approaches, not just the BPD+DBT
et al frame of reference. Otherwise those who don't want it will
be failed.
I respect your right to subscribe to being 'borderline' although
I view you as a person, as Fenella, before your label. I would never
refer to you as 'borderline' as I would never refer to anyone by
their diagnostic label. You are a person first
.....
Again, it's
about choice
Comment by:
Fenella Lemonsky, expert by experience, the North London Hub, Mental
Health Research Network (MHRN), Imperial College, London
Date:
June 27, 2007
Louise, actually I hold my hands up and apologise - as I should
have written those who are affected by BPD, not "borderlines"
as I was writing at a very late hour. However, I agree that I am
a person not a label and I view myself as a woman of many parts
not just my difficult bits.
The
schizophrenia label issue that distresses me the most is how orientated
the psychiatry mainstream movement is to medication. Prof Peter
Tyrer's new groundbreaking work on changing the environment not
the person, Nidotherapy, is proof that if you do that, many may
well manage without medication or hospital admission ever again.
The PD training, yes, I agree has to be very broad and not a single
factor cures all. The training we, as a strategy group, provide
in Barnet introduces generic mental health staff to all aspects
of care including crisis management through a humanitarian approach
rather than how-the-system-deals-with it approach. So we explain
all choices that should be on offer, all types of therapy. However,
sadly only a few choices are available. I still would like to see
a choice for service users - not just 'you have this or this and
tough'. If you live in Haringey you can access a service that will
offer you a choice of talking treatments, day service, groups, 1
to 1, different 1 to 1 and creative approaches....this is what every
locality should have.
Medication should be an option not shoved at you like you are some
criminal and told 'take it or else'. I never had medication thrown
at me. In fact, when I wanted anti-depressants I was strongly discouraged
from taking them.
I think we each find a way of managing in our own way. If you are
interested in finding out more about Nidotherapy then contact Sandra,
the Hub co-ordinator at the North London Hub, Imperial College office
on 020 7386 1237 and she can send you further information or email
her on s.o'sullivan@imperial.ac.uk
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