Can mental illnesses be cured?

[Bruces]

?

 

[so tired or manic]

no.

there's ways to learn to live with it and work around it, but it will never be cured.

 

[TAW122]

I agree with @so tired or manic because I know of someone who I lived with Bipolar disorder and took meds to manage it. It has never gone away for her, but since it's under control, she is able to function in day to day life.

 

[esse_est_percipi]

It depends what illness and what you mean by 'cured'. You can definitely reduce symptoms and recover.

 

[Bruces]

Knowing there's no cure kind of seals my fate really

 

[KleinerWolf]

Knowing there's no cure kind of seals my fate really

How come?

 

[Brick In The Wall]

It depends what illness and what you mean by 'cured'. You can definitely reduce symptoms and recover.

I think this is probably the best answer so far. Sure minor ones can be cured, some of the more serious ones can only be managed.

 

[Deleted member 17949]

They can be managed but not cured from what I've seen. It's certainly possible to increase your quality of life to a point where life seems nice, but there will always be problems stemming from the mental issues and things you have to do to keep them manageable.

 

[Intheo]

There's no cure for life other than death.

 

[so tired or manic]

if it's depression caused by something like low vitamin d then you take some pills and you're back to good. depression caused by unbalanced hormones or a crappy thyroid take more work and monitoring, but can get to a good level, but will always have to be monitored. there's also seasonal affective disorder which is usually only worse in winter and they make special lights for it. if it's something like bipolar, chronic depression, schizophrenia and so on it's a matter of finding medication that works, which isn't always possible, but people have found ways that work for them.

 

[esse_est_percipi]

Knowing there's no cure kind of seals my fate really

No cure for what? What do you suffer from exactly?

 

[Deleted member 19654]

It depends on which mental illness. With depression there's been more research lately on mushrooms and psychedelics. While it's not a cure, it seems to be good at treating it so it gives me a little bit of hope. People who are already microdosing report that it helps them a lot

 

[esse_est_percipi]

It depends on which mental illness. With depression there's been more research lately on mushrooms and psychedelics. While it's not a cure, it seems to be good at treating it so it gives me a little bit of hope. People who are already microdosing report that it helps them a lot

Be careful with mushrooms and psychedelics. They can cause bad trips and lead to psychosis if you are in an already bad psychological state.

 

[iDieUDie80]

Speaking to my OCD, no. But exposure therapy is typically successful in treating it.

 

[cantgetoutofbed]

How come?

I think it depends on how severe it is. Lots of comorbidity is also an issue. Some people don't get better.

 

[everydayiloveyou]

It depends. Some people respond well to a little CBT or a couple of rounds of SSRIs. Other people only need a change in environment or circumstance.

If you have insight and you're cooperative with your mental health team, I think most people can reasonably expect to reach a point where their mental illness isn't completely debilitating. But if your condition is persistent and severe, it gets less and less likely that you can reach that baseline level of recovery. I think most mental health professionals would agree with that. Even the law agrees, which is why you can claim disability for having mental illness. If professionals widely considered mental illnesses curable, then the world would be working a lot differently than it is now.

 

[Moonomyth]

Not yet.

 

[XYZ]

No. I live with mental illness, always have always will.

 

[Blackjack999999]

As other have said it can't be cured in the truest sense. However therapy and medication can bring it down to the point were you can manage it.

 

[Life sucks]

Depending on the illness, however, no matter whats the cure, the effects remain within the body. The damage of severe depression is irreversible and its not a simple chemical issue. Anhedonia on the other hand is about the direct lack of chemicals but the brain reward system is damaged also and it could be manageable but there is no complete cure. The problem isn't simply chemicals, its a big combination of genetics and environmental factors.

 

[Nymph]

Personally I don't think so, it can just be managed but that's not going every well for me. I hate my terrible mental health, I wish I could be happy like some other people, just be careless, free and have a positive outlook on life. I feel like I'm an extreme realist and see things for how they truly, which is-terrible and that makes me wanna ctb. That's a way to cure it I guess-death

 

[Belit667]

I've been tortured with clinical depression and personality disordes for 20 years now. Tried lots of meds, no success.

 

[Worthless_nobody]

It all depends on the person and their circumstances but in my experience no...none of my mental illnesses can be cured. Meds do nothing but give side effects (I have been sevely depressed for years and anti depressants were completely useless and caused me permeant anhedonia). Therapy is expensive and in effective. If my circumstances could change then the symptoms if my mental issues could be aliviated and I would delay ctb but I know there is cure for my issues.

 

[Mitokondrium]

I would say it can be improved. I used to be severely depressed, insomniac and very suicidal. Now, due to some medication / therapy / meditation and the fact that I managed to turn my life around a certain reasonable amount, I feel much better. I still have depression and I am suicidal sometimes, so it can not be cured totally, but I would say my life is much better than it used to be.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

If you believe it's an illness, then no, never.
What is illness? Being other than what you want to be? Being different to the consensus? Maybe...
You are who you are, same as all of us. The ultimate, and most difficult wisdom is coming to understand and accept that, without prejudice. Most can't do it.
If you let others define that, then you will always be on the back foot.
I no longer look for cure, nor even a treatment. I try and accept the reality of who I am in a world that has moved on, and figure out how to live with it.
This is hard, maybe impossible. But that is reality. And it's more realistic than expecting endless pharmaceuticals to somehow 'correct' who I am.
Having said that, I'm an alcoholic whose just had a bottle of wine so wtf do I know?

 

[LittleJem]

Be careful with mushrooms and psychedelics. They can cause bad trips and lead to psychosis if you are in an already bad psychological state.

microdosing is pretty safe best of my knowlege
even with microdosing, it's a long-term treatment, rather than a cure.
I wish I could say yes to this question, but I don't believe so. Mine is much better thanks to LSD, but I still have it. Just at a quieter level. Tired.

 

[Chupacabra 44]

For myself personally I perceive remission or cured as basically semantics. I know with certainty from endless research that there are people online who through aggressive dietary strategies have been able to remove themselves from all psychiatric medications.

DM if interested I have knowledge in this field.

 

[Amumu]

Yes, of course. Even schizophrenia can disappear for some people.

 

[Bruces]

Yes, of course. Even schizophrenia can disappear for some people.

Does it?

 

[Sk1n1M1n]

No not in the some way as a cold, sio or broken, leg. I think of It as lowing diabetes chronic long term.