Re: new psychiatric medications - it's not all bad
re. the 'new DSM' blather, every blade can be turned against oneself, 'tis true, but I guess psychiatry & psychiatric medications haven't played a significant part in your life because they haven't been necessary. You are lucky, and that let's you see and represent treatment for mental illness through the "over the cuckoo's nest" lens.
Mental illness is just another type of illness, pschiatrists are just specialist doctors, that's all it comes down to.
The former can be weird or scary, or even funny, for 'normal' people, the latter are just don't have much insight or treatment into those who with problems because, well, we *don't understand the brain*.
I repeat, you're lucky. If it wasn't for prozac I'd likely not be here. Believe me death would have been an improvement on what I had. But believe me again, prozac took away (the worst of) the utter hell I'd carried around for as long as I remember and swapped in some most interesting side effects. The unmanageably dangerous rage I could have done without, ditto the days when the anger would turn inwards and my head would be full of a dozen inarticulate howling voices - tough coping with that. But everything in the world became alive, even plants, even images (was that psychosis?) it like being in a spirit world, that was truly magical and I miss that hugely - except those days when so many of those things were in pain. Feeling the pain & greyness in everything around you. Not such good magic.
I was not well. I had never been well.
At least we're taking the very first steps towards less clumsy medication and I surely welcome our transparent & black & white paramecium pondering overlords with sparky little neurons lighting the way.
(If you'll excuse me I'll post AC. It's not that I have any problems with people knowing this, and anybody who's met me soon says "hmm, there's something odd with this one", and it's never troubled me or them, it's just a matter of not linking my handle back to my real identity).