health answers:

Have you tried Linehan’s “Skills Training for Borderline Personality Disorder” workbook? I used exercises from this during graduate training in an outpatient mental health clinic.

A couple of years ago, I was at a conference on community mental health that talked about client/consumer-based programs that were pretty much primarily run by the clients themselves. I don’t know the severity level of your population, but I would try to get the clients to support each other as best I could, and research client- or consumer-based programs and their efficacy levels. I thinking that that clients will respond to encouragement from their peers more than they will respond to encouragement from their therapists.

In regards to delusions and hallucinations, based on my experience, the best way to intervene is to 1) enter their reality and never invalidate it 2) empathize with the feeling
3) based on their past history, try to interpret accordingly and 4) if you confront them, confront them on the effects of their thinking – not that their thinking is wrong – e.g. How is their thinking making their life better or worse, and is there a better, safer, more workable alternative?

Good luck.

health answers:

All MDs get some psychiatric training in med school and residency. They can diagnose, but if they are responsible, they will refer anything but the most apparent to a psychiatrist. Even the most apparent should be referred in my opinion, but that’s not the way insurance works so it’s not the way they work.

PS – psychiatrists are MDs. They have advanced specialization in psychiatry. Psychologists have PhDs, can test, and diagnose, but cannot prescribe med in most states. If the illness requires medication, the psychologist refers to a psychiatrist who will still do her/his own evaluation and diagnosis before prescribing meds. And… Any competent psychiatrist will require a check up (usually by your regular doctor) and basic blood work before finalizing a diagnosis.

health answers:

Your experiences could be just because you are fourteen and this is something that you will grow through and out of…

But my first piece of advice? Do not listen to the online testing. At one time I was experiencing some “severe” depression and such, and decided that the online testing for different mental illnesses could help me figure out what was wrong with me, so that way I could speak to a doctor about it. I first considered hereditary options. I took one for Manic Depression as both of my parents suffer from this. I took one for OCD as my father and grandmother suffer from this. I took one for Schizophrenia as my aunt and other grandmother suffer from this.

Guess what? Apparently I am suffering from all of them. So I shrugged and went back to my day to day life and let the depression fade away…

I would suggest, instead of self diagnosing through online testing which is as unsafe as bare-backing a five dollar hooker (I couldn’t resist the Daybreaker’s – vampire movie quote), you should book an appointment with your doctor and see what your problem is. It can be completely confidential, if you do not want your parents to know. This could be part of how you are reacting to the changes that occur in puberty and it could be a medical problem. That is why there are doctors, so check with one.

Mental illnesses, when left untreated, will get worse. Definitely. Believe me. I witnessed such with my aunt. And she ended up getting sectioned.

I hope you get the help you need.

health answers:

A social worker has a master’s degree. A psychologist has a doctorate in psychology. A physician who specializes in mental health is a psychiatrist and, in addition to medical school, has several years of specialized training.

The prescribing ability depends on the state. In many cases, however, the social worker or psychologist refers the patient to a psychiatrist for prescriptions, if needed, but does therapy themselves. Social workers usually concentrate on how your problems affect your ability to function in society. (It varies a lot though). Generally they do more short term treatment focused on functioning. They are not usually ones to treat very serious mental illnesses.

For more serious problems, a psychologist is more appropriate as they also focus on the mental processes. A psychiatrist is best if it’s a chemical disorder or the most serious of mental illnesses, such as severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia.

Can’t advise you as to which you should see without knowing what problems you think you have. Start with seeing your regular medical doctor and demand they he or she give you enough time to discuss your concerns and symptoms in depth. Then go from there…