dcfi224, Thank you for your information, great insight of procedure of hospital applying medication about how they would check LVD if she was taking psychiatric medication. I have a couple of questions, which has puzzled me which I hope you can answer regarding LVD also it is personal matter regarding past Welfare Medical files in Australia. I am sticking to the thread topic on LVD as my questions due match to her situation.
It has been stated, in their opinon and IMO that LVD is faking her condition, if so taking the medication how much damage would it do to her mental health do more harm than good? Could it cause a actual mental condition. Thought in my mind is could this be the plan to avoid/delay court by doing. IMO.
Checking the blood for medication how long has this done? I am asking this as I was a formal state ward like other children who were on welfare in Queensland late 1970's, Australia were given medication by our Welfare Officers Myself and Siblings were made State Wards , (they were safe, thank heavens) the focus went on me from the 8 years until I was 12 years old my welfare officer handed over unlabelled medication for "my well being" every few months myself and other children like me would have our blood tested "the level and amount of medication in our blood, to adjust the medication by our blood results he claimed.
When you mention of how they would check LVD to make sure she would be taking the required medication, it brought up a memory which I had not yet questioned or investigated.
Regard to LVD harm in taking medication if she was faking would do harm, the memory of those years of myself taking the medication and doing cold turkey at 12 years old are still painful memories. From my records, I was stunned to find out what I was given, Welfare Officer had connection to Wilson Detention Hospital, in Brisbane so he and others were handed these out to children like candy. My Doctor was shocked to read at one time of the doses. At 12 years old I was lucky, a person questioned what was going on, sent me to hospital, welfare Officer lied through his teeth about it, he was not believed I was removed from his care. If LVD thinks (IMO) faking to avoid trial, may be the worst course she has decided to take, but dcfi224 can you give insight as I going by my experience which is outdated as it happened in the 1970's.
I’m so sorry to hear about your experience . I’d like to think that in today’s world, medications are being prescribed in an evidence-based manner, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. In such a high-profile case like this, I really really hope treatment guidelines are being followed closely.
“It has been stated, in their opinon and IMO that LVD is faking her condition, if so taking the medication how much damage would it do to her mental health do more harm than good? Could it cause a actual mental condition. Thought in my mind is could this be the plan to avoid/delay court by doing. IMO.”
IMO, it would depend on what they are giving her and how much. Do I think giving her (or most people) an antidepressant without underlying depression/anxiety/PTSD would be harmful? Probably not - a little serotonin boost could probably do most people some good. And the potential side effects are usually transient and not of major concern. (***I’m saying all of this as general statements, everyone responds differently to medications, and there is the potential for serious adverse effects***).
If they’re giving her an antipsychotic or mood stabilizer without an underlying condition, I would not anticipate any benefit (to LVD), and a high risk for side effects (sedation, weight gain/metabolic risks, cardiac risks, blood abnormalities, etc.). I’d expect her to be very sedated and potentially gain weight in the short-term, and potential for movement disorders, diabetes in the long-term. I wouldn’t anticipate these medications to cause another mental health condition, so to speak - but any significant change of chemicals in the brain is going to have some effect. I lean towards her having a personality disorder and unfortunately medication isn’t going to fix that. As you mentioned, it would do more harm than good.
We would expect to see improvement to symptoms fairly quickly with antipsychotics or mood stabilizers. She could make it her “plan” to fake it and get medicated (and make herself worse?), but if she’s not getting better, they’re not going to just keep prescribing the medication. They will try a different one, and then another one after that, but at some point lack of response to medication might be telling. I do not believe she is outsmarting anyone.
I hope that answers your question!