I was going to reply to a comment on that entry, but I’m not a fan of writing novels in comments, so here’s the part of the comment that I’m responding to, and my reply:
As one of the people who needs to take a variety of medications every day for the rest of my life, I’m annoyed with the way you’ve written this entry. Have you ever needed to take medication such as anti-depressants? Or are you just talking out of your ass on this?
And here’s what I have to say:
As a matter of fact, yes, I have been prescribed anti-depressants. I was fortunate enough that my GP refused to refill my prescriptions without confirmation from my psychologist that I was also receiving cognitive therapy. If I hadn’t had that therapy, I’d probably still be on the drugs today. They definitely helped me get out of the general darkness and be open to finding a healthier way to live my life both physically and mentally. It’s quite true that some types of depression (not to mention other mental illnesses) require life-long medication in order to regulate them. It’s also very true that many types of depression, anxiety, stress etc. are just as – if not more – successfully treated by therapy.
There are still times when I get unbalanced and begin to spiral downward again. At those times, I visit my GP and get a short-term (usually a week) dose of the drug that works best for my situation, and it’s enough to get me over the hump so that I can put my cognitive skills to use to right myself again.
I’m not saying the drugs are bad – they’re great and have helped me and a number of people I know. I just think they’re prescribed too easily and not given out with the proper care and precaution.
It’s not like having a headache and taking tylenol to make the pain go away. Mental Illness is a much more complex issue, and I am a VERY FIRM believer that it can not and should not be treated with drugs alone.
Addiction too is a disease, and yet addics have to commit to a complete treatment program. They can’t just pick and choose which parts are easiest. I think someone who wants to battle mental illness (and honestly, nobody likes living with it – it’s just a matter of being stabilized enough to care about fighting, which is where the drugs come in) should be required to subscribe to a complete program of treatment.
And it’s not just depression. It’s an entire society bent on taking the “magic pill.” Try coming home every day to your near cathartic brother because he’s pumped full of ritalin. Eventually he started seeing a new doctor who cared enough to double check the diagnosis, and realized that the poor kid didn’t even have ADD – just some anxiety issues that he got over pretty quick with some therapy. Or my mom, who was prescribed Prozak because she was feeling down, with no suggestion of just “talking to someone” – and finding out that it conflicted with almost every other medication she was taking (all prescribed by the same GP), and made her dangerously ill.
Yes it’s a social issue where pills are cheaper than counselors. Yes it’s a problem that GPs are overworked and don’t always have the time to follow up with patients. I’m saying it’s a problem that needs to be fixed – but part of that is having the support and desire of those who are affected by the issues (those suffering depression and mental illness and their friends and families) to fight for that change.
Hi, after reading all the comments, I’d just like to say as a person who is in a shitty place right now – I am trying to help myself (as you can imagine Ive got nowhere) as the alternatives that everyone seems to find helpful don’t work for me. My doctor put me on anti-depressants, I was still stuck with the depression plus the extra bonus of turning into an aggressive freak! Turning to councelling, I walked into the room and another person me took over, completely lied to the councelor and said I was fine and ended the councelling. I havent done anything since, so, not everyone has an answer, you should all be glad at least one of them works for you.
Mel: I’d kind of think that this would be rather self explanatory. 🙂 Anyone who takes ANY drugs without discussing the full effects and experiences that they’ve seen in other people with a) their doctor, b) their pharmacist (doctors tend to know jack about medications — that’s the pharmacists job… my doctor is fantastic, but didn’t know that my anti-depressant mixes badly with my migraine pills) and c) their own research, is WAY too trusting for their own good. This is YOUR body, you take responsibility for it. Oh, and if anyone reading this DOESN’T agree, I’ve got this bridge I’d like to sell you…
Along those lines, remember that woman in texas who killed her kids? Maybe if she’d done her research and realized that it’s RIDICULOUSLY bad to mix MAOI’s with SSRI’s she wouldn’t have killed her kids. It’s a thought.
Saw this, and thought it appropriate to the discussion.
“And if you can find one person suffering from severe depression who can fight for ANY change, I’d be shocked.”
A person with severe depression who manages to get to a hospital or doctor to receive the controversial pills has already made the fighting move for change. Making that first step is arguably the hardest part of the road toward recovery.
That first fighting step should be supported with more than a jar of meds. That very well may be a flaw in the system – but my entire point is that the system needs to change, not that drugs are bad.
One thing you have to remember is that Person A’s experiences may or may not be even remotely relevant to Person B’s experiences. I used to see a psychiatrist. I was completely dissatisfied with her, and gave up — another problem with depression, as devon mentions, is that you’re already in a shitty place, and making an effort is that much harder.
There’s stigmatizing against people on drugs — I couldn’t count how many people have said, in essence “just get over it”. Right. I’ll get right on that. Or people who have insinuated that I’m weak minded because I’m on drugs.
In general, I just say “fuck ’em”. Don’t like the way I live my life? Conveniently, this isn’t anyones problem but mine.
So, I’ve been through cognitive therapy and find that, in general, I don’t respond well to it. I can talk and talk and talk until the cows come home, but I don’t actually open up. I don’t trust easily, and without trust, therapy doesn’t work very well.
I’ve read books on it, and while the concept is sound, it doesn’t always work.
So I gave up on my old psychiatrist, and am not very enamored with the concept of psychiatry in my particular instance. Even so, I attempted to get a new psychiatrist, but the waiting list for one that my doctor will refer to me is outrageous.
Psychologists aren’t covered by MSP and cost a fortune. Being a student doesn’t leave me with a lot of spare cash, but I make too much money to qualify for assistance.
That said, I’m still hoping to get one to help me get off the drugs. And it may be that I can’t get off of them right now, or ever. I don’t know. But to tell people off — even non-specifically — for being on drugs does *not* help the problem. It makes a lot of people feel even worse and have even less luck in getting back to where they can cope.
And if you can find one person suffering from severe depression who can fight for ANY change, I’d be shocked. In general, we’re a little too caught up in, oh, trying to get out of bed. It’s a self centered point of view, but you certainly can’t deal with the rest of the world if you can’t even deal with yourself.
Magic pills.. pfft. Apathy drugs is all antidepressant are. Or at least, mine are.
I also am 100% with you on this one, Jen. I’m the kind of person that will have a nap, a glass of water, and try almost anything to get rid of a headache before reaching for the Tylenol.
There is no one single pill that will make you happy, make the hurt stop, or cure whatever else is wrong with you. Most of the time (and mental illness is an obvious exception…most of the time) there is something you could’ve done/could do in your life to avoid having to ask for the pill in the first place. Eat right, get more sleep, exercise more, etc. You know what I’m sayin’. Stupid pill-pushing culture.
Thanks for the clarification, Peechie. I see where you’re coming from. And I do agree with you on most of your points, actually. More care *must* be taken when it comes to prescribing medication. In many cases, yes, it simply *isn’t* necessary. I don’t know about Canada as much, but in the US it’s definitely more common to have kids on medications that they don’t need, simply because Mommy and Daddy find it easier to deal with teenage angst when junior is doped to the gills. Many parents these days resent how hard they think they had it in those years, and just don’t know how to cope with it as a parent. But rather than learning how to deal with their kids, they’d rather medicate them into oblivion, since it’s easier than actually trying to work it out.
Humans are inherently lazy in today’s society. Hell, talk to people you know in your office, for instance. It’s frightening how many of them have never done manual labor, such as working on a farm, doing construction, carpentry, stuff like that. Many people of the last generation or two have gotten used to things being done for them to the extent that they simply don’t want to learn how to do them themselves.
But I digress. This is your journal, not mine. 🙂
i’m with you on this one, jen. having been on anti-depressants, and having gone through therapy, and having been on benzos, and having gone through more therapy… my life is INFINITELY better. without that last round of therapy, i would still be on drugs, still depressed, still suicidal, still terrified, still agoraphobic.
it’s really too bad that it’s such HARD WORK finding a good therapist.. you really have to make an *effort*, and that’s hard to do when you’re really down and/or screwed up.