Mental illness is a group of serious mental illnesses with complex etiology, often caused by a combination of multiple factors, and generally requires long-term treatment. In the process of daily diagnosis and treatment, many people have many misconceptions about mental illness, so it is important to eliminate these misconceptions in order to improve the level of awareness and scientific quality of mental health, and enhance the awareness of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
One of the misconceptions
All people who suffer from mental illnesses do so because they have been stimulated.
In fact, many mental illnesses do not have obvious mental stimuli at the onset, and some do not have them at all. Some mental stimuli can only be considered as causative factors, and the root cause is the patient’s own cause, for example, some young students are criticized by their teachers and develop schizophrenia and bipolar disorder after failing exams.
Misconception No. 2
All people who suffer from mental illness are caused by being careful, introverted and uncommunicative.
Personality is one of the factors that predispose people to certain mental disorders, but it is not an important or the only factor. Personality is closely related to genetic quality, and people with poor personality have a significantly increased risk of illness.
Myth No. 3
Psychosis is a genetic disorder.
Modern genetic studies have concluded that the inheritance of psychiatric disorders is a polygenic inheritance, and that there is no necessary link between genes and disease onset.
Myth No. 4
After a mental illness is cured, you can stop taking medication.
With the development of science and technology, the types and dosage forms of drugs are constantly updated, bringing great convenience to patients in taking medication, such as daily-acting (once a day), weekly-acting (once a week or once every two weeks), long-acting (once every four weeks), tablets, orally disintegrating tablets, drops, injections , liquid, etc.
Myth No. 5
Anti-psychotic drugs are addictive, and dependence can form after taking them for a long time.
Various antipsychotic drugs and psychotropic drugs are not a concept at all, and the former will not become addictive when taken for a long time. Psychotropic drugs, including morphine, dulcolax and other painkillers, are addictive and cannot be used for a long time. Some sedative-hypnotic drugs such as Valium have very low addictive properties and will not cause any problems as long as they are taken under the guidance of a physician.
Myth No. 6
It’s a drug that has three toxins, and antipsychotic drugs are the same, long-term use will eat the brain, eat stupid.
The new antipsychotic drugs that are widely used in clinical practice today are approved by the government for clinical use only after rigorous animal and human trials and then phase III clinical trials have been conducted to prove their safety and effectiveness. A large number of clinical studies have proved that new antipsychotic drugs have fewer toxic side effects and do not cause substantial damage to the brain and various organs of the body.
Myth No. 7
Mental illness is a psychological disease mainly treated by psychological guidance, and medication is not important.
A large number of studies have confirmed that most psychiatric disorders have functional and structural changes in the brain and require medication or physical therapy to improve the structure and function. Except for some psychological disorders closely related to psychological factors that can be solved by psychotherapy alone, all others require medication, physical therapy, psychotherapy or a combination of the three.
Myth No. 8
Mental illness can be cured surgically.
So far there is no conclusive evidence that brain surgery can cure mental illness or replace medication; surgery itself has significant risks and sequelae. Surgery is strictly forbidden except for a very small number of patients who are self-injured, suicidal, assaulted, or harmed by others, and for whom drugs are completely ineffective.
Myth No. 9
Chinese medicine is more effective than Western medicine in treating mental illness, has no side effects, and treats both the symptoms and the root cause.
Chinese traditional medicine in many chronic diseases does have his unique, but in the field of mental illness Chinese medicine is dwarfed by the efficacy of Western medicine, many patients listen to small advertising lull, superstitious Chinese medicine, eat tonics, not only a waste of money, but also delayed the disease.
The nine misconceptions mentioned above are widespread in the general public, especially among patients themselves and their families exist for patient treatment, recovery, and healing can play a negative role.