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Comment by fraudsyndrome | Hacker News Reader

Thanks for the reply

How can I, advocate on my friend's behalf against a Psychiatrist who has been working with him for years when I have no expertise in the field? Do I trust that his Psychiatrist has already thought the same thing?

Maybe I can leak some info to him (like those articles) so he can think for himself and talk to his Psychiatrist about it.

Technically he was doing better pre-ECT, but stress got to him and when comparing to when he had his episode (lasted a while before deciding on ECT), technically he's doing better post-ECT than during that phase.

I'll take a look at that thread, thanks

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You've been a passive observer for a long time. Psychiatrists usually see their patients for a few minutes when they're at their worst, and have no perspective on how the patient actually does on a day-to-day basis. They haven't observed the patient between 'episodes'. You can help fill in the gaps in the psychiatrist's profile of your friend.

> but stress got to him and when comparing to when he had his episode

Stress is the major factor in most of these conditions. My recent comment about the Quakers and their asylums [0] is relevant: most of their patients got better with nothing more than 4 meals a day and the expectation that they could recover if given appropriate support.

Malnourishment is the other major factor. My friend's involuntary treatment provider eventually did a genetic test that found she can't turn folic acid into folate. Getting supplemental folate has made a big difference for her misdiagnosed "mental" condition. B-vitamins... eggs... more coconut oil, less vegetable oil... fewer grains, more fruit (juice, apples, etc).

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19243417

My dad has (probably?) paranoid schizophrenia, and life stress was definitely a trigger for that.

I am skeptical of tcj_phx's advocacy of resistance to lithium. It's a very effective drug with horrific side effects, and it seems to have worked pre-ECT. It sounds like the psych involved is aware of the safe limits for lithium, as hitting the maximum safe dosage for one drug is usually what (in my experience) causes psychiatrists to start mixing different meds. (Which comes with its own problems, since as side effects multiply they get harder to understand.)

Yeah, I'll take it with a grain of salt but I'll still do more reading on it and maybe bring it up with him to see if his Psychiatrist has ever mentioned anything similar - just to the get thoughts going.

They gave me the heavy anti-psychosis meds too (I can't remember the name) and it did nothing for him either.. But yes, he's taking so much medication I can't imagine trying to map out all the potential side-effects of any combination.

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