It always amazes me now some people think it is "OK" to take antibiotics to treat tonsillitis, insulin to control diabetes etc, but the minute the brain is not functioning properly any available medications are all "bad". I am sooooo thankful for modern mental health medicines. Yes I experience some side effects I would rather not experience, but my depression is about 80% better than it was before I started taking the drugs. Love the video Dr Syl! Please keep doing them!!
@Dr Syl Hmmmm any suggestions on how to deal with the stigma of mental health? I am pretty open with most people about seeing a psychiatrist for anxiety and depression. I manage to respond to most negative comments etc but sometimes I am stumped as to how to reply.
Hey Dr. Syl! I really enjoy your videos and find them quite informative. You generally seem to show a lot of compassion for your clients and clients of mental healthcare in general, which is something that is needed quite acutely in this field. Actually, it's because of your usual efforts to be compassionate towards those with behavioral health challenges that I was shocked and hurt by your comment about "running around with a bloody baseball bat killing people." I have bipolar with psychotic features and neither my psychosis nor any other part of my illness has made me a danger to other people. That kind of comment is highly stigmatizing towards people with psychosis and other mental illnesses and perpetuates the harmful stereotype that people with mental illness are dangerous. It's true that sometimes some people are so ill that they become a danger to themselves or others, but they deserve respect and to be treated with kindness because that behavior is happening due to intense illness and suffering. The vast, vast majority of people with mental illness are not dangerous--in fact, we're more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators. Just wanted to leave this comment because you sound like you genuinely really care about the work you do and about helping people, and so, again, I'm just really shocked by this comment because it's so dissonant from how you normally talk about clients of mental healthcare.
I agree 100% with your comment. I know he means no harm by that comment but unfortunately alot of people hear this and become afraid of someone especially with schizoaffective disorder which I have. I'm more of a danger to myself than others. Some of the most gentle caring and loving people I have met have had a mental illness. I like him too but I also find it upsetting when he made that comment
“You walk around with a baseball bat tryna kill ppl” 😂😂😂😂 Dr.Syl said y’all haters gone stop coming for his profession!!! 😭The more you learn the more passionate you become and I’m loving it, indicative of a great psych ❤
I cracked up at that too, so good 😂 With medication, we keep the baseball bats inside of our homes👌😅 I agree, you can see how much Dr Syl cares about this field and about patients - it really is quite heart warming and makes me feel hopeful for the future of psychiatry, because even just a few doctors really caring makes a huge difference to so many lives 🤗🥰
As someone who used to take 11 medications for some extreme mental health issues I dont think it can be emphasized enough that saying side effects aren't that bad when compared to the alternative is a position of extreme privilege. Its very easy to say when looking at it from a cold calculating medical point of view but humans arent math equations. Were more than the sum of our parts. That minor side effect isnt so minor when youve lived with it 20 years or you have to then take two other medications just for the side effects. Then your life feels like it rotates around a bunch of pill bottles. You feel like you're walking the razors edge of sanity by helping your mental health but insanity by having your life, time and patience adhere so firmly to the bottles you get once a month. This is especially true with meds that need to be taken multiple times per day. The bottom line is that sometimes the only thing that makes a side effect minor is that you dont have to deal with it. Im on Ketamine therapy now and its replaced over half a dozen meds I used to take but it isnt available everywhere and can be cost prohibitive. I guess I wish doctors would stop classifying side effects as major, minor etc since that is determined by the person taking the meds. Instead say "these are the possible side effects, lets discuss how well you can tolerate them."
that's a great point re major/minor is in the eye of the beholder. There are somethings that are more life threatening than others but I take your point and will use it when discussing w patients. Thanks for your comment it is very insightful and thought provoking
@@DrSyl I'm a psych reg in the UK, I agree with everything you said. But a few thoughts I've been having recently... I wonder if we need to save SSRIs for true shutdown depression or OCD or persistent anxiety. Most 'depression' is usually psychosocial, PD or substance misuse. ICD11 states that most depression improves without treatment within 3-4 months. The sexual side effects make it quite wrong to prescribe in mild/moderate cases - in my opinion (unless you've exhausted all other options I guess). I feel like schizophrenia is a little different, and antipsychotics do improve QoL, but social interventions are still critical, and often non existent. Stimulants are amazing for everyone lol including those with ADHD (although I'm sure we've both noticed how many who seek this diagnosis are not significantly different to 'normals'). Lithium is probably one of the few drugs that seems to genuinely consistently work, but ofc the monitoring etc are a pain for patients. Mood stabilisers seem to help in bipolar, but rarely on their own. We're in a difficult position because our main USP over psychologists and social workers etc is prescribing medication, but in my experience decent social interventions/interactions are just as important in achieving long term functioning in the long term. But we have no sway over the social side. When we're on the wards seeing the seriously mentally unwell, all this thinking goes out the window, and we prescribe out of perceived necessity. But for those with less severity I think we do well to hesitate before prescribing.
Those are great points. I think many docs have good intentions however. Because they are weighing not just side effects but the consequences of untreated mental illness. The side effects suck yes and are valid problems. But…what about the “side effects” so to speak of untreated depression, bipolar, psychosis, etc? At some point it’s unfortunately a sacrifice that probably needs to be made because often untreated mental health can be disastrous and their first concern is making sure you “live” in whatever sense that may be. We all wish there were better meds including psychiatrists im sure. But for now we’re making do with what we can.
I can’t speak about any negative side effects from the meds I was testing out when I was younger (12 at the earliest) but there was never anything major. By 19 I had all my meds figured out with a few adjustments afterwards. I’ll be 32 in June and I know my brain is just wired differently and that I’ll most likely be on meds for the rest of my life. I’ve been actively going to many different mental health doctors since 10 and if they think I can live without one of my meds safely, I’m 100% willing to give it a try if all doctors agree. Medication can be a miracle- but there is some work involved outside of just taking it for it to truly be a miracle. 💜
Thank you for sharing. I'm in the process of starting/discussing medication for bp2 and I'm 29. I don't know why but your story has stifled some of the anxiety I've had.
Fantastic video 🙂 I love what you said about sleep being like it’s own performance enhancing drug - because it’s true! I didn’t appreciate that until I had 18 months of 0-3hrs of sleep a night (I definitely had the sleep deprivation crazy eyes🙈😅 IYKYK). I’d already been in psychotherapy fortnightly for nearly a year but my medical team at the time weren’t willing to give me anything for sleep (in short, I was told you have PTSD, just keep doing the therapy). Therapy helps (and I’m still seeing that psych every fortnight even now) but sleep wasn’t improving because I was in early stages of trauma therapy 🤷🏻♀️ Eventually I found a psychiatrist that was recommended to me by a friend and he changed my life. A bit of Quetiapine later and I sleep normal amounts now - I literally cannot fathom how I survived on so little sleep before (well… no choice lol but you know what I mean). The psychiatrist tried Lamotrigine later on as an addition for depression (SSRIs haven’t helped in the past), and it was helping… but then all of my hair started falling out (even my eyebrow hairs) 🙈😅 I stopped taking it because I like having hair haha but honestly? I’m so happy to be able to sleep that I’m okay with just taking Quetiapine, doing therapy, and working the rest out as I go. Yeah, feeling depressed sucks, but at least I sleep now and my overall anxiety is lower, so that alone makes me feel like I can handle the other stuff and work it out. Given all of that, I really appreciate your views on the benefits vs risks/side effects with medications and it’s great to have a full explanation about that and how lifestyle (diet and exercise) is factored into all of these processes too. Thank you for making such helpful content! 🙌🏻✨ PS: I keep meaning to mention that your plant is an absolute force to be reckoned with 😅😁🪴💚
thank you for your comment! good to hear you were finally listened to but it's a shame it took soo long. There is a culture of starting with psychologists then going to psychiatrists but I reckon you should do both at the same time and they should communicate with each other. This plant just won't stop growing hahaha one day I feel it will overtake the room!
Dr. Syl, thank you so much for just saying "it sucks, rights?" Because it does, and I don't think enough medical proffesions acknowledge how unfair it is.
I'm a rare patient. I'm on an extremely high dose of diazepam and have been for 10 years. No other drug worked and we decided the benefits outweighed the risks. To put this in perspective, I tried ECT before going onto benzodiazepines.
Side effects can rule our lives. I have to take two different medications to suppress one side effect i have from the antipsychotic i take. Please don't cause anymore stigma by saying phrases such as "going around with a baseball bat in hand". The facts are that we are more likely to hurt ourselves than to hurt other people. Please be more compassionate of us when we are unwell, we too are scared when we're unwell.
British medical journal_the illusion of evidence based medicine is a really good article to read to be more sceptical of drugs and big pharma. Pharmaceutical companies literally mark there own study's no independent double blinded study's on drug's in most circumstances. is the system broken?
The worst thing in “care” for mental health is being diagnosed as an “attention seeker”. It the worst diagnosis as those who should be helping don’t they make it worse by treating you like 💩, And There IS Nothing You Can Do About It! Nothing you say or do will change the treatment you receive. YOU have to live with it or have another doctor change your diagnosis who is not tainted by your “attention seeking” diagnosis. The second worst thing is being diagnosed with BPD. To a lot of people it’s the same thing and you get treated as such. If you want to be disbelieved and treaded like 💩 you let mental health professionals know you have BPD.
Long term use of anti psychotic medication has been implicated in increased risk of dementia. Probably because of the higher doses that are used in long term cases causes more brain shrinkage then normal and hippocampal degeneration.there should be more proper study's on long term use and cognition.
A nice informative video. But not everyone who does not take Medication “run around with a knife killing people”. That’s a extreme stigma, and if that’s what you have been taught at medical school, then no wonder why mental health system around the world seem to coerce patients to take medication (more than what the patient‘actually need)
Hey Dr Syl I was wondering if you would ever do a video about the difference between mental health care approaches and techniques in the US vs Australia. I have been in the mental health care side as a professional and patient for well over 25 years and can give you loads of info on the US side. Id even be willing to do it interview style if its more convenient. I watch docs from around the globe and when they make assertions as fact sometimes I think they forget that its a fact for your country or region and not universally true. I just think the contrast is interesting and would love to learn more about how they do things globally.
Until you witness the pain and alienation that people with severe mental health issues suffer as a direct result of their illness, I think it’s far too easy to denounce medication as a treatment. Such a view comes from a place of privilege in my opinion and disregards the reality of those with lived experience who would perhaps not even be alive today without the help of medications.
There are also people who have become suicidal due to taking psych meds. I personally was taking Pregabalin for nerve pain. But it's also given for anxiety disorders. It turned me mental. Manic, insomniac, agitated, very strange impulsive behaviours. Medication can be wonderful for some and not so for others I worked on pysch wards and in the community for 20 years before I became disabled and had to sadly give up work. There are definitely massive problems with meds but also can be life saving.
It always amazes me now some people think it is "OK" to take antibiotics to treat tonsillitis, insulin to control diabetes etc, but the minute the brain is not functioning properly any available medications are all "bad". I am sooooo thankful for modern mental health medicines. Yes I experience some side effects I would rather not experience, but my depression is about 80% better than it was before I started taking the drugs. Love the video Dr Syl! Please keep doing them!!
Thanks for this powerful comment. Videos coming out every week! What should I talk about next?
@Dr Syl Hmmmm any suggestions on how to deal with the stigma of mental health? I am pretty open with most people about seeing a psychiatrist for anxiety and depression. I manage to respond to most negative comments etc but sometimes I am stumped as to how to reply.
Mental disordere are not brain disorders folks
Hey Dr. Syl! I really enjoy your videos and find them quite informative. You generally seem to show a lot of compassion for your clients and clients of mental healthcare in general, which is something that is needed quite acutely in this field. Actually, it's because of your usual efforts to be compassionate towards those with behavioral health challenges that I was shocked and hurt by your comment about "running around with a bloody baseball bat killing people." I have bipolar with psychotic features and neither my psychosis nor any other part of my illness has made me a danger to other people. That kind of comment is highly stigmatizing towards people with psychosis and other mental illnesses and perpetuates the harmful stereotype that people with mental illness are dangerous. It's true that sometimes some people are so ill that they become a danger to themselves or others, but they deserve respect and to be treated with kindness because that behavior is happening due to intense illness and suffering. The vast, vast majority of people with mental illness are not dangerous--in fact, we're more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators. Just wanted to leave this comment because you sound like you genuinely really care about the work you do and about helping people, and so, again, I'm just really shocked by this comment because it's so dissonant from how you normally talk about clients of mental healthcare.
I agree 100% with your comment. I know he means no harm by that comment but unfortunately alot of people hear this and become afraid of someone especially with schizoaffective disorder which I have. I'm more of a danger to myself than others. Some of the most gentle caring and loving people I have met have had a mental illness. I like him too but I also find it upsetting when he made that comment
“You walk around with a baseball bat tryna kill ppl” 😂😂😂😂 Dr.Syl said y’all haters gone stop coming for his profession!!! 😭The more you learn the more passionate you become and I’m loving it, indicative of a great psych ❤
I cracked up at that too, so good 😂 With medication, we keep the baseball bats inside of our homes👌😅
I agree, you can see how much Dr Syl cares about this field and about patients - it really is quite heart warming and makes me feel hopeful for the future of psychiatry, because even just a few doctors really caring makes a huge difference to so many lives 🤗🥰
As someone who used to take 11 medications for some extreme mental health issues I dont think it can be emphasized enough that saying side effects aren't that bad when compared to the alternative is a position of extreme privilege. Its very easy to say when looking at it from a cold calculating medical point of view but humans arent math equations. Were more than the sum of our parts. That minor side effect isnt so minor when youve lived with it 20 years or you have to then take two other medications just for the side effects. Then your life feels like it rotates around a bunch of pill bottles. You feel like you're walking the razors edge of sanity by helping your mental health but insanity by having your life, time and patience adhere so firmly to the bottles you get once a month. This is especially true with meds that need to be taken multiple times per day. The bottom line is that sometimes the only thing that makes a side effect minor is that you dont have to deal with it. Im on Ketamine therapy now and its replaced over half a dozen meds I used to take but it isnt available everywhere and can be cost prohibitive. I guess I wish doctors would stop classifying side effects as major, minor etc since that is determined by the person taking the meds. Instead say "these are the possible side effects, lets discuss how well you can tolerate them."
that's a great point re major/minor is in the eye of the beholder. There are somethings that are more life threatening than others but I take your point and will use it when discussing w patients. Thanks for your comment it is very insightful and thought provoking
@@DrSyl I'm a psych reg in the UK, I agree with everything you said. But a few thoughts I've been having recently...
I wonder if we need to save SSRIs for true shutdown depression or OCD or persistent anxiety. Most 'depression' is usually psychosocial, PD or substance misuse. ICD11 states that most depression improves without treatment within 3-4 months. The sexual side effects make it quite wrong to prescribe in mild/moderate cases - in my opinion (unless you've exhausted all other options I guess).
I feel like schizophrenia is a little different, and antipsychotics do improve QoL, but social interventions are still critical, and often non existent.
Stimulants are amazing for everyone lol including those with ADHD (although I'm sure we've both noticed how many who seek this diagnosis are not significantly different to 'normals').
Lithium is probably one of the few drugs that seems to genuinely consistently work, but ofc the monitoring etc are a pain for patients. Mood stabilisers seem to help in bipolar, but rarely on their own.
We're in a difficult position because our main USP over psychologists and social workers etc is prescribing medication, but in my experience decent social interventions/interactions are just as important in achieving long term functioning in the long term. But we have no sway over the social side.
When we're on the wards seeing the seriously mentally unwell, all this thinking goes out the window, and we prescribe out of perceived necessity. But for those with less severity I think we do well to hesitate before prescribing.
Those are great points. I think many docs have good intentions however. Because they are weighing not just side effects but the consequences of untreated mental illness. The side effects suck yes and are valid problems. But…what about the “side effects” so to speak of untreated depression, bipolar, psychosis, etc? At some point it’s unfortunately a sacrifice that probably needs to be made because often untreated mental health can be disastrous and their first concern is making sure you “live” in whatever sense that may be. We all wish there were better meds including psychiatrists im sure. But for now we’re making do with what we can.
But yes. A doc should never downplay side effects. What’s a big deal to you is a big deal. That should at least be validated if nothing else.
I can’t speak about any negative side effects from the meds I was testing out when I was younger (12 at the earliest) but there was never anything major. By 19 I had all my meds figured out with a few adjustments afterwards. I’ll be 32 in June and I know my brain is just wired differently and that I’ll most likely be on meds for the rest of my life. I’ve been actively going to many different mental health doctors since 10 and if they think I can live without one of my meds safely, I’m 100% willing to give it a try if all doctors agree. Medication can be a miracle- but there is some work involved outside of just taking it for it to truly be a miracle. 💜
Thank you for sharing. I'm in the process of starting/discussing medication for bp2 and I'm 29. I don't know why but your story has stifled some of the anxiety I've had.
Fine tuning
Fantastic video 🙂
I love what you said about sleep being like it’s own performance enhancing drug - because it’s true! I didn’t appreciate that until I had 18 months of 0-3hrs of sleep a night (I definitely had the sleep deprivation crazy eyes🙈😅 IYKYK).
I’d already been in psychotherapy fortnightly for nearly a year but my medical team at the time weren’t willing to give me anything for sleep (in short, I was told you have PTSD, just keep doing the therapy). Therapy helps (and I’m still seeing that psych every fortnight even now) but sleep wasn’t improving because I was in early stages of trauma therapy 🤷🏻♀️
Eventually I found a psychiatrist that was recommended to me by a friend and he changed my life. A bit of Quetiapine later and I sleep normal amounts now - I literally cannot fathom how I survived on so little sleep before (well… no choice lol but you know what I mean). The psychiatrist tried Lamotrigine later on as an addition for depression (SSRIs haven’t helped in the past), and it was helping… but then all of my hair started falling out (even my eyebrow hairs) 🙈😅 I stopped taking it because I like having hair haha but honestly? I’m so happy to be able to sleep that I’m okay with just taking Quetiapine, doing therapy, and working the rest out as I go. Yeah, feeling depressed sucks, but at least I sleep now and my overall anxiety is lower, so that alone makes me feel like I can handle the other stuff and work it out.
Given all of that, I really appreciate your views on the benefits vs risks/side effects with medications and it’s great to have a full explanation about that and how lifestyle (diet and exercise) is factored into all of these processes too. Thank you for making such helpful content! 🙌🏻✨
PS: I keep meaning to mention that your plant is an absolute force to be reckoned with 😅😁🪴💚
thank you for your comment! good to hear you were finally listened to but it's a shame it took soo long. There is a culture of starting with psychologists then going to psychiatrists but I reckon you should do both at the same time and they should communicate with each other.
This plant just won't stop growing hahaha one day I feel it will overtake the room!
Dr. Syl, thank you so much for just saying "it sucks, rights?" Because it does, and I don't think enough medical proffesions acknowledge how unfair it is.
I'm a rare patient. I'm on an extremely high dose of diazepam and have been for 10 years. No other drug worked and we decided the benefits outweighed the risks. To put this in perspective, I tried ECT before going onto benzodiazepines.
Side effects can rule our lives. I have to take two different medications to suppress one side effect i have from the antipsychotic i take. Please don't cause anymore stigma by saying phrases such as "going around with a baseball bat in hand". The facts are that we are more likely to hurt ourselves than to hurt other people. Please be more compassionate of us when we are unwell, we too are scared when we're unwell.
British medical journal_the illusion of evidence based medicine is a really good article to read to be more sceptical of drugs and big pharma. Pharmaceutical companies literally mark there own study's no independent double blinded study's on drug's in most circumstances. is the system broken?
The worst thing in “care” for mental health is being diagnosed as an “attention seeker”.
It the worst diagnosis as those who should be helping don’t they make it worse by treating you like 💩, And There IS Nothing You Can Do About It! Nothing you say or do will change the treatment you receive. YOU have to live with it or have another doctor change your diagnosis who is not tainted by your “attention seeking” diagnosis.
The second worst thing is being diagnosed with BPD. To a lot of people it’s the same thing and you get treated as such. If you want to be disbelieved and treaded like 💩 you let mental health professionals know you have BPD.
Long term use of anti psychotic medication has been implicated in increased risk of dementia. Probably because of the higher doses that are used in long term cases causes more brain shrinkage then normal and hippocampal degeneration.there should be more proper study's on long term use and cognition.
Medications don't fix the condition, just try to control the condition.
A nice informative video.
But not everyone who does not take Medication “run around with a knife killing people”. That’s a extreme stigma, and if that’s what you have been taught at medical school, then no wonder why mental health system around the world seem to coerce patients to take medication (more than what the patient‘actually need)
What about talking it through and herbal teas etc
Hey cool glasses.
I do like those rims.
Hey Dr Syl I was wondering if you would ever do a video about the difference between mental health care approaches and techniques in the US vs Australia. I have been in the mental health care side as a professional and patient for well over 25 years and can give you loads of info on the US side. Id even be willing to do it interview style if its more convenient. I watch docs from around the globe and when they make assertions as fact sometimes I think they forget that its a fact for your country or region and not universally true. I just think the contrast is interesting and would love to learn more about how they do things globally.
Until you witness the pain and alienation that people with severe mental health issues suffer as a direct result of their illness, I think it’s far too easy to denounce medication as a treatment.
Such a view comes from a place of privilege in my opinion and disregards the reality of those with lived experience who would perhaps not even be alive today without the help of medications.
There are also people who have become suicidal due to taking psych meds.
I personally was taking Pregabalin for nerve pain. But it's also given for anxiety disorders.
It turned me mental. Manic, insomniac, agitated, very strange impulsive behaviours.
Medication can be wonderful for some and not so for others
I worked on pysch wards and in the community for 20 years before I became disabled and had to sadly give up work.
There are definitely massive problems with meds but also can be life saving.