The Doctor Who Hears Voices

[Lilith1980]

Hi all,

Did anyone see this last night?

It followed a psychologist called Rufus who believes that schizophrenia should not be treated with medication but instead, confront the voices to make more sense of where they are coming from, in an attempt to "cure" the condition.

Apparently he had schizophrenia when he was younger and now he is ok.

He was trying to help a trainee doctor who had been suspended because she told her employer about feeling depressed. I cant remember if she told them about the voices/suicidal feelings because I think they may have sectioned her if she had mentioned them - that's what was said anyway.

The girl was played by an actress in the film.

She heard voices telling her to kill herself. Then after a while she heard voices telling her to kill other people (her parents). Rufus thought this was a "breakthrough" because at least the voice wasn't telling her to kill herself anymore.

It seemed that a lot of the girl's trauma had come from the death of her brother when she was young. I think he was only 15 and had a heart attack whilst playing football. The voice itself seemed to be that of a boy who used to bully her at school.

The documentary charted the girl's progress. She ended up being allowed back into working at the hospital but only because in her assessment interview, she lied about hearing voices - she said she didnt hear any, when she still was hearing them.

The documentary maker met up with her once she had started back to work and she was still hearing voices but she did seem more positive and they didnt seem to be bothering her so much.

What did people think about this? Did they think the psychologist was right to encourage the girl not to take medication even though she was quite dillusional at some points in the film? Does her having voices in her head make her an incompetant doctor? Does it make her a danger to patients?

I wasn't personally sure about the psychologist's methods, even though I do not think medication can solve most mental health problems. Maybe I do not know enough about schizophrenia to pass comment.

Would be interested to hear if anyone else saw this and what they thought.....:)

Jo xxxxx

[louwilliams]

I watched it and thought it was really good. I do not have any experience with schizophrenia so I cant comment on his practises but would be interested to see him work in other mental health fields (depression, anxiety etc)

I agreed with some of the things he said and disagreed with other bits. I thought that it was in her best interests to tell them at the interview that she WAS TAKING her medication, when she wasnt-but saying that............how would you feel if it was YOUR GP? would you feel comfortable? would you deem a doctor "competent" if they admitted to hearing voices? i think its just a double edged sword but i'm glad I watched it and am all for programmes that bring mental health issues to the public more

Lou xxxxx

[Oceanblue]

I'll get back to you on this. I haven't time to write my comments just now.

It's a pretty good documentary.

I've been through similar circumstances although I didn't have exactly the same voices. I've experienced episodes of a manic psychotic stage, and depressive psychotic stage. I have Bi-polar Disorder.

If anybody has missed it, you can catch it on the Channel 4 Website.

[Franz]

I saw a bit of this programme. I didn't realise the doctor was played by an actress. At the time, I wasn't that impressed by the psychologist as I thought his manner wasn't very sympathetic or persuasive, but then if he was recreating the scenes it was probably just that he wasn't a particularly good actor.

I've heard other therapists argue against drugs as treatment for schizophrenia, and part of me is sceptical, as surely there is a genetic component to it? On the other hand I don't know very much about it. Andrew Austin has an interesting site in which he seems to argue that schizophrenia is largely environmentally induced - not sure I agree but it's food for thought: http://www.23nlpeople.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-treatment.html

[Oceanblue]

Hi there,

I thought this was a brilliant programme. I told a close friend about it, as she has always wanted to understand my illness and what happened whilst I was in hospital afew years back. I watched this with my bf, he told me I was actually much worse than that (great ! :scared15: ), but it was more intense, because it lasted for a shorter amount of time, a couple of months or so.

It kind of freaked me out at first, because it brought back some haunting memories of my time with Bi-Polar Disorder. This is what Ruth has, not Schizophrenia, it was Rufus the Psychologist who had Schizophrenia. Although different, they can be very similar when somebody is either going through a Manic or Depressive Episode in Bi-polar.

Franics - You made me laugh when you mentioned that you thought Rufus (The Psychologist) didn't appear to be sympathetic. In my experience, i've found that many Psychologist's are like this lol.

I could totally understand what Rufus was trying to do, as the delusions I was suffering from felt as if it was some sort of journey for my brain to work through to come back Sane. (If this makes sense). One thing I remember is walking around the hospital reading the picture sticker signs eg,.. No sharps in the bin, the green fire escape sign etc,.. apparently I thought they were some sort of code that I needed to decode in a way to get through the illness and be discharged from hospital. I also thought that not all the patients were actually patients in hospital, but workers to try and spy on those who tried to figure a way out in fooling the system of their progress in getting better/a quicker way out. I thought there was some sort of conspiracy against me.
There was much more, only I won't talk about it just yet,.. as I'm still trying to come to terms with what happened myself.

To try and keep this post short. I believe the medication free method CAN work, BUT only for certain people. People who are able to think in the most positive way. I do however, feel that they could be playing with fire, it's a huge risk to take.

As for doctor Ruth still suffering with delusional thoughts/hearing voices etc,.. and treating patients herself, well,... I feel this would be ok so long as her progress is still being monitored by Rufus, and only if it was not going to be an ongoing problem, and that the voices etc,.. were to dimish over a short period of time.

[Bill]

I must admit I missed this programme so I can't really comment.

However, my wife suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and has done from before I met her nearly 18 years ago. One of her brothers also suffers from paranoia and the other had an episode of manic depression. Her mother and grandfather have also suffered psychological problems so in my wifes case I believe it's probably genetic laying dormant, needing a trauma for it to surface.

One thing I know for certain which my wife would agree with is that if she stopped her medication she would be in hospital again because she'd be thinking everyone is out to harm her including myself and family. She would be unable to recognise anyone.

I think there are different types of schizophrenia affecting people to different degrees. 1% of schizophrenics are a danger to others but 99% are more afraid of others.

My wifes type is also complex because when she's ill, there is nothing I can say that would help her think in a rational way. It's like a mind with crossed wires that only she can understand. It's only after the episode passes that she can explain what she was thinking.

A few examples of the things she'd say....how should I think? Should I be feeling happy/sad? Why didn't you say something when that person swore at me? Should I think in the conservative or labour way? Should I think like my aunt? Are you who you say you are? Are you another man? Are you a murderer? Are you a policeman? The boiler is talking to me. The Tv/Radio/people outside are having a go at me. Are you and the waiter conspiring against me?

Sometimes just a word or a look from someone can trigger an episode thinking someone's intending harming her or having a go at her.

These episodes would last ages with a bombardment of questions and attacks and she'd follow me everywhere so I couldn't escape. I could only wait until the episode passed.

I think if someone is harmless and they're just hearing voices then maybe it works but in my experience if it wasn't for medication there are no words that anyone can say to help her.

It's only through medication that she is now much better than she used to be.

Also, schizophrenia is irrational thinking and the sufferer often thinks what they're thinking or hearing is "real" and "true" which is what my wife would often say...."but it's true"! There's No way of making her realise it was irrational.

Anxiety though, we know what we're thinking is irrational and realise that so there's a big difference between anxiety and schizophrenia.

There would be no point in trying to help her rationalise what she's thinking because I tried so often in the past without getting anywhere other than making myself ill with anxiety.:hugs: