THIS.
Whatever floats your ocean liner, is what i say. Just don’t expect those of us who don’t want to take medication to listen to you when you try to bludgeon us with this opinion (particularly the “YOU NEED MEDICATION TO FIX IT” part). That’s not my opinion on the matter. It never will be.
So take all the meds you want. Just don’t pity me for not doing so, and i’ll do the same.
When I was in school (I have a Bachelor’s in Psych, which is just all the general stuff thrown at you) we went over a study that showed the best results were often a combination of medication and long-term therapy, in cases where medication was suggested. Since medication treats/alleviates symptoms, it helps therapy to begin working at the source with less stress on the individual.
The hope is usually to wean the client of both therapy and medication, though this is not always possible of either. Often a person must stay on medication, even if it is a lower dose, as not everything can be resolved through therapy (and not everything can be fixed, or requires, medication).
Also, as a side note, the reason there are so many types of depression medication, dosages and adjustments is that the brain is incredibly complicated, and we don’t know as much about it as we would like.
The only time I tell people they need meds is when it’s severely impacting the quality of their lives - my sister in law who would switch moods in seconds, get loud and violent, etc because of her BPD, but was absolutely normal when on meds.
I will say for me, personally, I hate it when people act like my meds are these awful things and I’m dependent on them and I should just be fine with therapy or on my own. I am miserable when I’m off of them. I don’t see myself ever being without, because I just get that bad. I sob uncontrollably, my chest hurts because my anxiety gets so bad, I literally cannot stop fixating on one thought (I will think about the same thing continuously for WEEKS). I tried therapy alone with two different people and I had no improvement.
I always recommend that people talk to a licensed psychologist first, but since I had such a remarkable and amazing change with meds, I tell my story to my friends as a sort of “meds are not bad! they can do great things!”
Actually I have no clue what my point is anymore. Sorry.
<insert rant here about people who judge me/my child when she’s on meds that so vastly improve her quality of life>
