I have posted extensively about my experience with psychiatric drugs, it is not good.
I have also done a nauseating amount of research into this issues.
Psychiatric medications have their place in life threatening emergencies.
Unfortunately an entire industry has been created that develops and markets questionable magic bullets to suffering souls and those who care for them.
I have been a lab rat for big pharmaceutical companies to test and sell their products.
In June I was on seven different psych meds. Today I completing my titration off of all of them and the side effect meds are also being discontinued as I no longer need them.
In my opinion no one (except in an emergency) should be prescribed psychiatric medication until psychotherapy, nutrition and exercise along with stress reduction have been addressed.
Medication before lifestyle changes is malpractice!
My journey to wellness started with a book, “Brain Energy” written by the head of Psychiatry at Mass General.
Sadness, grief and anxiety are normal reactions to the broken world we live in. Medicating these feelings away simply insures they will rise up latter bigger and badder than before.
Eventually there is not enough medication ( legal or illegal) that will make them go away.
Everyone can find peace. Providers were supposed to point the way. Few know the path themselves.
It is my life I will no longer abdicate my agency over it
I hope you and everyone else finds the peace you deserve. Maybe we’ll all meet there one day.
@dfb @marilynb @poon and others here.
I have been on a mild depression medication for several years now, Celexa 10mg once a day. It keeps my valleys from becoming too deep, and those mountains too high. Fortunately I do not deal with the side effects that some people have with this medication. And, then there are the 10+ [yep, you read correctly!] other prescription meds that I work with to attempt a healthy as can be attained life, given end stage renal disease and incurable blood cancer concerns plus a couple of others.
Would I love fewer meds? Definitely. Do I grieve those days of no meds? Definitely. I am grateful to have a stellar medical team, who works together. Along with my nephrologist, oncologist, general practitioner, and therapist, I am part and parcel of that team. We work hard to keep me at as few meds as possible, and carefully vet each one. We as patients have a real interest in being our own best advocate, sometimes going against the flow.
Lifestyle changes can contribute to the well-being of physical, mental and emotional health. Sometimes we need a gentle push, using medications, in the right direction. And then, we need to understand when to back off those again. Just my humble opinion, your mileage mary vary....
Ginger