Has anyone ever returned to sanity?

[u2rocksbaby]

Has there ever been a historically documented case in which a person was declared mentally insane was rehabilitated in some way to the point that they were subsequently able to live a normal life? Make no mistake, I don't ask from the standpoint of some analytical geek only interested in the science of it. I had an severe case of Asperger's throughout high school that I eventually learned to cope with it in my college years through intense efforts to socially interact with others as often as possible, and I want to know if something similar has ever happened with more severe disorders.

 

[Smithburg]

Happens all the time actually

 

[henkalv]

My father used to work at a institution for the mentally ill and he swears that electro shock helps tons of people every year get sane.

Dunno how it works exactly (I mean, zap healthy, wtf?), but he swears that it helps people. Not that it would remove asbergers though, seeing as it is not (or at least I hazard that it is not) caused by trauma

 

[Twilight_guy]

Every single medicated schizophrenic. In fact, there are lots of mental conditions that can be treated with medications and would otherwise leave the person mentally ill. Also, you don't "grow out" of Asperger's, (sorry, you can't rewire your brain) you learn to cope with it and deal with it.

 

[Vault101]

My father used to work at a institution for the mentally ill and he swears that electro shock helps tons of people every year get sane.

Dunno how it works exactly (I mean, zap healthy, wtf?), but he swears that it helps people. Not that it would remove asbergers though, seeing as it is not (or at least I hazard that it is not) caused by trauma

I think read somwhere (cracked.com actually..yeah..I know) that electro-shock therapy isnt like the movies and can actually be helpful rather than some sadistic torture

 

[henkalv]

My father used to work at a institution for the mentally ill and he swears that electro shock helps tons of people every year get sane.

Dunno how it works exactly (I mean, zap healthy, wtf?), but he swears that it helps people. Not that it would remove asbergers though, seeing as it is not (or at least I hazard that it is not) caused by trauma

I think read somwhere (cracked.com actually..yeah..I know) that electro-shock therapy isnt like the movies and can actually be helpful rather than some sadistic torture

I am not doubting that(after all, I got told so by an proffesional), but the idea that an electrical shock might bring peace of mind is an odd one anyway.

 

[Doitpow]

I saw this one episode of house where...
oh you meant really?
depends on definitions i suppose. Schizophrenics are mendicated into "sanity" all the time. People with severe depression get over it but it can always return. some people become more normalised but were they "crazy" at all before?

 

[HardkorSB]

Has there ever been a historically documented case in which a person was declared mentally insane was rehabilitated in some way to the point that they were subsequently able to live a normal life. Make no mistake, I don't ask from the standpoint of some analytical geek only interested in the science of it. I had an extremely severe case of Asperger's throughout high school that I eventually grew out of in my college years through intense efforts to socially interact with others as often as possible, and I want to know if something similar has ever happened with more severe disorders.

A mental illness is often just an imbalance of certain substances in the brain. You can adjust the level of the substances by taking medications created for that very purpose.
Aside from that, the brain is just another part of your body. Scientists who specialize in the brain can most likely fix it just like any other thing inside of you (it is a very delicate organ though). Plus, with medical science (and all science really) advancing all the time, it's becoming easier and cheaper.
When most people think "brain surgery", they think of some Frankenstein type experiments but a lot has happened over the last few decades.
The real question is, does the current social norm translate into sanity and could the "sane" person from after the treatment even be considered to be the same operson from before the treatment?

 

[Niflhel]

Every single medicated schizophrenic. In fact, there are lots of mental conditions that can be treated with medications and would otherwise leave the person mentally ill. Also, you don't "grow out" of Asperger's, (sorry, you can't rewire your brain) you learn to cope with it and deal with it.

This is not entirely correct.

With Schizophrenia, you divide the symptoms up in two groups - Positive symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, and negative symptoms, such as asociality and lack of motivation.

Positive symptoms generally responds well to medication, but this is not the case with the negative symptoms.

 

[Thepistolman1234]

How do you know what sanity is? you don't.

 

[Nyaoku]

I used to have a long history of sociopathic tendencies but I seemed to get out of it after I moved out.

 

[Esotera]

It sort of depends what the mental illness is. Asperger's is a bit more permanent than stuff like depression and psychosis. I definitely wouldn't call someone with Asperger's insane though, it's a mental disability, not something that stops you from being able to rationalise anything. And pretty much everyone has some form of disability when you look carefully, whether it's mental illness, physical, or just wearing glasses.

 

[Genericjim101]

TBH I'm 21 and still make stereotypical Asperger's judgements, and I'm inclined to believe my psychiatrist and medical journals when they say it;s a lifelong condition. Sure you can out different filters on your thoughts before you speak them, but to say you've grown out of it is kind of unbeleivable.

 

[spartan231490]

Depends on what they are diagnosed with. Something like schizophrenia, no. There is no cure and you don't really get over it. They can manage the worst of the symptoms with drugs though. Same with a lot of things actually, no cure, and if you ever go off your meds you end up crazy again, but as long as you keep on your meds you're fine. I don't think there are actually and "disorders" that can be cured, but I don't know much about that field. All I can say for sure is that I've never heard of one being "curable," for whatever that's worth.

 

[Guffe]

but the idea that an electrical shock might bring peace of mind is an odd one anyway.

Pikachu brings peace of mind to Ash all the time with electric shocks by winning him badges...
sry -.-

Yeah, happens all the time.
Science/medicine has evolved so much that we can cure loads of stuff nowadays, and I guess we'll continue to evolve medicine until there's nothing we can't cure.

 

[Reine Kuro]

.

 

[Something Amyss]

My father used to work at a institution for the mentally ill and he swears that electro shock helps tons of people every year get sane.

Dunno how it works exactly (I mean, zap healthy, wtf?), but he swears that it helps people. Not that it would remove asbergers though, seeing as it is not (or at least I hazard that it is not) caused by trauma

The funny thing is, even experts can't agree on why ECT works.

However, in real-world terms, ECT has a massive recidivism rate, so its usefulness is kinda dubious.

 

[BabySinclair]

Why would I want to be sane. I like being just over the line, keeps me from going crazy.

 

[u2rocksbaby]

I wrote a really long, eloquent reply.

But the forum ate it.

So I'm just going to summarise:

Please take no notice of OP.
He was misdiagnosed.
He was never autistic in the first place.
This doesn't happen.
You can't grow out of it.
Oh, and autism is not a form of insanity, so you have not "returned to sanity".
You overcome some simple social difficulties, I repeat, you were never autistic if you have now "grown out of it"

Congratufuckinglations, you just undid everything I've spent a year trying to get into people's heads in seconds.

Do some fucking research before you make a thread like this.

Mods, please, someone, lock this idiocy or I'll start a real fight.

This fucker is to Autism speaks what "ex-gays" are to the Catholic Church.

Wow. You are exactly the kind of person I hoped this topic would avoid. The number of misconceptions in your post is staggering. From your hate-riddled response to a curious inquiry about human psychology, you've managed to not only completely ignore AND misread the question, but insult my entire life because of some paragraph you no doubt read in a medical textbook.

Do you have ANY idea who I am? No, you do not. I'm not going to explain how I had Asperger's, doing so would only make you look even more like an insensitive, foul-mouthed fool than you already do. But when I say I "grew out of it", I mean just that, I grew and matured from that disorder because it made me have to work far harder than someone like you clearly ever did if you have such cynical beliefs in your mind and were willing to write a long, "eloquent" reply about it. Did you even read the other posters' comments? Did you think I was just asking about autism? Did I ever say I was insane? Do you seriously believe that if someone can live happily with autism then they couldn't possibly have it? These are all questions you that you clearly haven't thought through, so frankly, I'm glad no one had to suffer reading through your little "speech".

And I'm not even going to touch that religious flamebait that serves no purpose other than give your post some sort of illusion of validity, considering you provided absolutely no scientific evidence or personal experiences of your own to support your point. If you really are on some crusade to raise awareness of how autistic people are beyond helping, you should not only think of a better way to do it than condemning the very people who don't "fit" into your own personal definition of the disorder, but seriously consider what that says about your outlook on life in general.

 

[DYin01]

I wrote a really long, eloquent reply.

But the forum ate it.

So I'm just going to summarise:

Please take no notice of OP.
He was misdiagnosed.
He was never autistic in the first place.
This doesn't happen.
You can't grow out of it.
Oh, and autism is not a form of insanity, so you have not "returned to sanity".
You overcome some simple social difficulties, I repeat, you were never autistic if you have now "grown out of it"

Congratufuckinglations, you just undid everything I've spent a year trying to get into people's heads in seconds.

Do some fucking research before you make a thread like this.

Mods, please, someone, lock this idiocy or I'll start a real fight.

This fucker is to Autism speaks what "ex-gays" are to the Catholic Church.

-snip-

I don't think it's possible to 'grow out of' autism. It's a chronic disorder that -for as far as I'm aware- doesn't change. What does change is the way you deal with it. Yes, you can learn social interactions for example. You'll lack the 'instinct' behind it though, because that's something your disorder would prevent you from having.

The same goes for every other psychiatric disease. You don't ever completely get rid of something like schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder. You can however take medication and therapy that reduce the symptoms enough to be able to live your life normally. Regardless, the disease will be there.