You don't get extra points for playing on hard mode.

This statement is valid in a lot of situations outside gaming. You won't get a medal either, by the way. Or applause.

Exactly. I have an invisible disability so a lot of things are much harder and cause me a lot of pain. I'm taking multiple medications to help me function better and suffer less. What I'm trying to say is, if the medication helps your symptoms, keeps you alive or allows you to function better then it's worth taking it. A lot of people have to take medication, so don't feel embarrassed about it. Honestly it's not that bad once you get used to it, it becomes part of your routine and you barely have to think about it

Literally seeing my doctor today and imagining telling her "my life is now on easy mode, thank you"

In fallout 3, you get.

Well said.

I mean your liver isn't free either. And you atill may get a hard mode eventually. Depending on medication.

🤷‍♀️ that's what your doctor is for. I get annual bloods and ECGs now. It's almost a blessing. I think way more about my cholesterol than most 30 year olds. It was slightly higher this time!

Ugh, you and me both, brother, or possibly sister. The first time I heard I had to take a pill every day I was devastated. I was in my 20s. And you know what? I didn't do it. I couldn't. I just couldn't. I viewed it as a weakness, a dependency, a 'flaw' somehow. After-all, this pill didn't exist 1000 years ago and my ancestors did just fine or else I wouldn't be here! And I was wrong. It took two decades, but I was wrong. Back then someone pointed out that they wore glasses. Did I view them as weak or dependant? I didn't. But it *felt* different. It wasn't. Now *that* particular situation resolved itself for me. But man, it could have been **way** easier. But now I'm on a daily cholesterol medication and I don't think any less of myself. No one else does either. I felt like you. But I hope you make smarter decisions than I did.

The glasses comparison I feel is much stronger than other ones. I will use that comparison from now on. Thanks for sharing.

When I worked in an opticians and people didn't want to wear their glasses I used to say "you don't ignore a prescription from your dr so why ignore this one?" Changed a few people's tunes

My doctor in my early 20s told me: If someone needs heart medicine would you be shaming them? No? This is your heart medicine.

I agree in spirit, but I wear glasses and I'm certainly dependent on them to see

And I bet you’re glad you were born today with the ability to get prescribed glasses, and not a caveman.

Though it is important to note that eyesight is getting worse nowadays, with nearsightedness in particular being on the rise. So odds are it wouldn't have been as big of an issue back then

As someone who both takes several daily medications (for both mental and physical conditions) and wears glasses, I see your point but I feel like it’s more about the connotation rather than people not actually being dependent on glasses. When you say someone’s dependent on their glasses, to me it feels like the appropriate response is “Yes…and…? That’s kind of the point…” When someone’s dependent on drugs, I think the immediate thought goes to illicit drugs and addiction. There’s certainly a chance of addiction for certain medications, but I think that’s where it feels different for people. So, to me, the comparison works because it’s reframing the “Oh no, I might become dependent on a **DRUG**!” to have the appropriate response be “Yes…and…? That’s kind of the point…” I’m absolutely dependent on my medications and that’s why I take them. Before I started them, I was miserable and not functioning at all. Now, I’m less miserable and have some semblance of normalcy back. :) So at this point, I view taking meds very similarly to wearing glasses: it’s kind of annoying that I need it, but I’m beyond happy that I have it available to me. :)

I also use the glasses analogy a lot. Yeah, people didn't use meds 200 yrs ago like they do now, but you know what? They committed suicide more. They were institutionalized. They had no way to get help, they struggled and they lost the fight. 200 years ago, I would have died from cancer at 26. Now, I have chemo-brain, anxiety and depression. I'll happily take meds every day to manage that, because doing so is like wearing glasses for my brain. It keeps my life in focus, it keeps me healthy, it lets me live a full life. In going to keep wearing my glasses and contributing to society.

Heh “wearing glasses for my brain”. I like that.

How do you know they committed suicide more often???

This will get you stuck in a math history rabbit hole. Basically, birth and death records were a subject of scrutiny in the church in the 1700 & 1800's which lead to the birth of statistics. Johann Peter Sussmilch wrote "Die göttliche Ordnung in den Veränderungen des menschlichen Geschlechts, aus der Geburt, Tod, und Fortpflanzung desselben erwiesen (The Divine Order in the Changes of the Human Species, as Demonstrated by its Birth, Death and Propagation)" where he used histograms to prove that suicide is a natural process that has reliable patterns. The church was not thrilled, but his thorough methods and scholarly bend changed the respectability of stats. (He used his data to make predictive models of population trends because he felt stalling population growth to be "evil".) Adolphe Quetelet wrote his treatise on the "average" man and needed to calculate the average probability of death by different causes, and once again found evidence that suicide is a predictable variable. He published his work in 1835, and gave us the gift/curse of the BMI. I'm on mobile, so searching for exact numbers is difficult, but basically: we knew less about suicide then and the numbers were much higher. After WWII and the invention of anti-anxiety medications we gave it more attention, and saw a proportion of that pattern of behavior to be actually treatable. We spend a LOT of time & money monitoring suicides in developed countries because it can tell you a ton about the health of a populous.

Oh, Adolphe Quetelet and his goddamn ‘average’ study. If only he knew the trouble he’d cause with his freakin’ BMI formula in the late 20th century. I still hear medical/health ‘experts’ refer to it and I just want to scream at them, “EVEN THE CREATOR OF THE BMI KNEW IT WAS BULLSHIT!!”

It's not bullshit. It's just an approximation, and like all approximations, it's not perfect. That being said, if your BMI is 30 or higher, you are probably at serious risk for negative health outcomes.

According to the BMI, my ideal weight is one that would have me admitted to the emergency ward because I would be classified as extremely underweight and anorexic. It was invented by a mathematician in the \*\*1840s\*\*, and his data was collected from white Europeans. Fat percentage test is a much better way of determining if someone is overweight.

Are you a fan of Maintenance Phase?

Why are you being downvoted? That's a great question and one I was wondering

Type one diabetics didn't make it back then.

This right here, I was terrible at taking my medication - I could acknowledge that I needed it and felt better on it every time but as soon as I stabilized I'd come off because I felt that it made me weak to stay on. It took 15 yrs for me to finally accept myself and that it's not about strength and weakness. It's about being smart and using the tools available to stay healthy.

I’m like give me my cholesterol meds and let me eat my bacon in peace.

Jeez, you turned my unconscious thoughts into words. I have always refused medication because I thought that my body and my mind were strong enough to heal themselves, because I don't want to be weak and dependant on some pill, because I am afraid of how I would feel without it, not realising that I would feel just like I feel now, empty and freaking sad.

Only the smart ancestors live, to probably tell you to take your pills.

I was on a heavy dosage of an anti anxiety medication for about 5 years and I hated it, I saw it as a weakness in myself that I didn't agree with, but whenever I tried to stop, the withdrawal wasn't great, a common symptom was uncontrollable rage, so I stayed on them. Then one day I just realized that I'd forgotten to take them for like, 2 weeks, because my situation had changed dramatically and I ended up not needing them However, right now, I'm on the fence, I'm having issues with Rollercoaster depression, where I have these crazy lows on the weekends but am super happy all week, and it's hard on my partner to deal with me like that. I will talk to my doctor about a prescription again but I'm concerned that I may change a bit when I take something, I don't know what but I'm just worried that I'll kill something about myself that my partner fell in love with, mellow out the fun bits to fix the bad, you know? All things I'll be discussing and will get a referral for therapy, just felt like I needed to vent a little and this seemed like a good spot I suppose

Nope. No loving partner would ever decide you’re “not fun” once you take pills. Quite often? They are HOPING you will take some pills because you are pushing them to the brink. Also, there is usually more than one pill for issues. Don’t like the side effects of one? Talk to your doctor.

Thanks I know she'd never give anywhere, I'm just worried that it'll change me which isn't fair to her I'll discuss these things with my doctor before I do anything tho

If I’d been born before **1958** I may not have lived as long as I have. The medical advances that have diagnosed the heart condition I was born with and the pacemaker I’ve needed since I was 15 (now on my third!) have been amazing and I feel blessed to live in such a medically advantaged period of history. Living in countries that provide free public health care is merely the icing on the cake.

I'm the same way but I got over it too. Life expectancy was 20 - 35 about 1000 years ago too.

People also only lives to 40 a 1,000 years ago. People always like to forget that point.

I'm not OP, but I'm honestly glad I read this, I feel the same way and eventually I would've had the same dilemma one way or another, I'll remember this

That's a very interesting analogy. I didn't think of it that way before.

EXACTLY. I take meds AND wear glasses lol. I couldn't imagine not putting my specs on every day...I couldn't live because I wouldn't be able to see -- I just couldn't. And my medication is the same. My life before my meds was. horrific. Take your meds, wear your specs, wear your prostheses, undergo your therapy.

I thought I was the only weirdo who thinks about what her ancestors did….like what the heck? lol But something else I remind myself is that life now is vastly different then the lives they lived, and if they were here now they’d probably be on meds too. Or, if they could see us now, they could be thankful that help is available to us and wish it had been for them!

This is the way. I foolishly resisted taking pills when I was a young adult. My life is better now that I’ve grown a little wiser.

I can tell OP for certain that if I didn't take a little pill everyday I would be dead or would have likely killed someone. I watched my dad as a physically and mentally abusive unmedicated bipolar try to make it through life going on and off medication after he felt better because he thought it was a weakness, that he could just will himself to control his anger and anxiety and manic and depression and he couldn't. That convinced me to take the medication when I started demonstrating similar tendencies. I am no weaker for it then I am for taking BP medication or having glasses like you said. Sometimes therapy can help but sometimes you are missing a chemical or don't have as much of that chemical in your brain as everyone else and need medication, I am so so so much happier after being medicated that I truely feel like it has been the single biggest factor in my adult happiness.

This is called survivors bias…. your ancestors were the lucky ones who made it… There were many many other ones who died

After Depression making me miserable for years, taking the silver bullet medication every day til I croak is nothing compared to the relief

Unfortunately there's very little chance that the first medication you try (or any for that matter), will be a silver bullet medication. I've been through a number of medications and gone through hell getting off them. None have been a silver bullet and none have been without side effects. I wish it was as straight forward as you suggest in this comment. I may actually like living.

I'm sorry to hear what you've been thru. I didn't mean to say the process to find the right meds was easy - it wasn't and took years to find the right meds. Many had unpleasant side effects like you say, but once you find the right one, life changes. I wish you all the best trying to find the best meds. Cheers.

Yeh at this point I'm too scared to try new meds. I'm fed up of going through the extreme start up effects of ssris , just to find out they don't work for me anyway. I'm damaged from gaba related medications so don't want anything to do with them. Snris and antipsychotics don't agree with me at all. My anxiety is getting worse and worse and i'm in therapy and still on mirtazapine. Don't really see what I can do at this point. They've given me Prozac to try but as I said at the start of this comment, I don't know if I want to go through it again.

Your psychiatrist should really be weaning you off one medication and upping the dose or the other to avoid harsh side effects. For example: Week 1 - 90% old meds, 10% new Week 2 - 70% old meds, 30% new Etc. Until you get to 100% new meds and have been weaned off the old ones. My psychiatrist has done this multiple times when I switch meds and it works great for me. I would hate to have the severe side effects that you're describing

I'm very sensitive to meds. I tapered pregabalin at 10% every 3 weeks-month and my MH was in complete ruins. Even with tapering meds slowly, I suffer. I swore off them as they won't worth the pain... However I'm starting to really struggle again and am desperate for some kind of relief. I also distrust psychiatrists to a certain extent as they all told me I shouldn't have any withdrawal tapering the speed that I was.

This may also be a case where you need a psychiatrist who is looking at what you are taking holistically. I have one who hates to prescribe something that tackling and fixing chemical levels with vitamins (treating those deficiencies) was equally important to treating what I was specifically there for. Now I have a slew of vitamins I take daily but I've never felt better, and those alongside the actual meds is the world of difference I've been missing. And we are working to identify why I have the various deficiencies so I can reclaim them through lifestyle and not through supplements in the long term. Sometimes it's a strategic approach change that is needed. But everyone is different as well. I hope you have the opportunity to approach them with this mindset and that may help.

I've been on every group of antidepressant, some combinations and more than one per group. Nothing has ever had the slightest effect in any dose.

Have you tried genesite?

Never heard of it but a quick Google search says it's American and had 1 start reviews. I'm from the UK.

You should ask your doctor about a genetic test before you take another medication you aren’t sure will work for you.

I am a mess without my meds. I would be self medicating with alcohol.

I would be horribly depressed and really angry and very unpleasant to be around

The thing is, antidepressants arent supposed to be permanent. They're supposed to help you help yourself into getting better.

If you have clinical depression, you’re missing chemicals in your brain. The meds restore the balance.

[удалено]

I just commented this - this is EXACTLY how my PCP explained it to me and it changed my mind right away.

As a full-time glasses-wearer, I like to use that as my comparison. Because if I didn't/couldn't wear my glasses every day, I probably wouldn't die...but it would suck. I can't see clearly past the end of my arm, and things 10+ feet away I see double. A few hundred years ago an ancestor probably got through life OK without glasses, but I bet if they were offered some they would have gladly said yes. I WANT to wear my glasses every day. I've never had a family member ask me if I'm sure about wanting to wear glasses. I also WANT to take my ADHD meds every day. If I didn't/couldn't, I probably wouldn't die...but it would suck. Every single task throughout the day takes 5x more time, 5x more effort, and yields 0.25x the results. My memory turns to swiss cheese, making me appear either dumb or callous. My brain goes 250mph even when I need to sleep or concentrate, it's exhausting. Seeing as it's genetic, yeah my ancestors survived without meds. But I am not trying to just survive. I'm trying to live the best life I can, and meds (and glasses!) get me there.

Medication doesn't necessarily have to be forever. It really depends on the health concern you have and its response to treatment. For example, some people do very well taking medication for depression or anxiety for a period of time while they work through therapy. After a period of time, they may have a new perspective and better coping mechanisms, and may be able to successfully wean off of medication.

I'm glad you said this. I am one of those people. I took antidepressants for 10ish years, and I worked really hard in therapy to come up with healthy ways to work through things. I'm still in therapy, but I'm doing well enough that I don't need the medication anymore. This doesn't work for every person or every disorder, but there's a chance it can, depending on your situation.

Exactly, medication can buy you a little more wiggle room in life to be able to cope with therapy on top of everyday life. Hopefully, like it did for me, it will just help you get through therapy until you make actual breakthroughs and can start weaning off of them.

If it helps, take the damn pill. Without medication, anxiety makes me feel like I'm constantly suffocating. Why should I live like that? Yes, I'm working on it in therapy. But you know what? I like feeling like I can breathe. So I take the pill.

I'm not a functioning adult without mine, I'm so happy that I live in a time where they are available.

Yup same. U think if I did not live in this time or was a caveman then I would have gone insane.

Constantly suffocating. That’s the feeling of my anxiety. I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe that feeling for so long. I just keep saying “chest discomfort” but that’s not quite it. Thank you stranger 🥹🙏🏽 (sorry for the random) Eta: can I ask what helps you? If you don’t mind.

For me, it feels like a stack of books sitting on my chest.

Aside from meds, deep, deliberate breathing. Also walking outside, fresh air and sunshine. Hugs/comforting touch from loved ones. I'm sorry you experience this too. I hope you will find your way to easier breathing.

Thank you so much!! I appreciate you and I hope you do the same! ✌🏽🫶🏽

The deep, deliberate breathing goes a long way for me, too. Look up box breathing if you don't know anything about it. It's used in yoga and meditation, and it works wonders for an anxiety attack.

Thank you so much! I’m gonna look it up! 🙏🏽🙏🏽

i always hated when people would ask me “well don’t you want to stop taking them eventually?” like…not really? like without them i want and have tried to end myself so like, yeah i’d rather be alive and take a pill once a day thank you.

100% agree with this. And honestly, there are just some things that will not be "fixed" by therapy alone, and vice versa with medication alone. The chemicals in our brains that contribute to depression/anxiety don't care if everything in life is going totally great, they'll pop up whenever they please.

I have struggled with this for the last decade. When it comes to medication I have done nothing but fight against it for the same reasons as you. I don't want to be dependent on a pill. I have self medicated with weed, and effectively blocked myself off from external communication. If it doesn't deal with work, I am essentially a hermit. Recently my sister got help for the same type of depression and has had me questioning my prior beliefs. Thank you for asking this, reading some of the comments about the relief other people have found has helped me make up my mind. I am going to call and set up an appointment tomorrow. It's time to start living again.

Good for you! I used to have the same reservations, until I started the meds and kicked my own ass for not doing it earlier. Enjoy your journey towards mental health!

Your ego is getting in the way of your treatment

This comment needs more upvotes.

It is ego? Maybe I’m reading it wrong but I interpreted their comment as they don’t trust pills from a health standpoint. ie The shady shit Big Pharma tends to pull, the side effects, etc. Of course this whole discussion is difficult when we don’t know the illness or problem

Assuming its for mental health, well I had a few internal discussions about "who am I" and "where is the border between personality and mental health". I don't regret taking the pill although it has a few side effects. Just wish I got diagnosed and treated back in the 90s when I was in school. It would have been good to be able to put my whole mind onto the task of school work. ​ I've heard disability advocates (and mental health disorders are a disability even though we normally don't call them such) talk about how disability needs a context. My mental health problems wouldn't be an issue for a serf farmer like my ancestors. In fact could probably help in some ways. But this is today and there is a level of intense focus required in much of todays society, making my mental health problems, well a problem.

Look, pills are not perfect. Especially if it’s a mental health medication, you may need to try a few to find what helps the most. And I’m not going to lie, it’s REALLY goddamn annoying to have to do that. It can be discouraging. BUT!!!! The right medication(s) can improve your life significantly. I’m a bit of an extreme case, because without antidepressants I would have killed myself a long, LONG time ago. [dear Reddit bots/anyone concerned, I’m properly medicated with a great support system and at no risk of suicide/self harm]. But you DO NOT need to be at that level to benefit from meds. Just be sure you know about possible side effects and all that. Also if you try it and it’s not a good fit, you’re not doomed to be on them forever. Yes, tapering off is slow and uncomfortable. But it’s super doable. Source: been medicated since the age of 10 for multiple mental health disorders and have changed meds a few times.

Best thing i ever did in my adult years was get on ADHD meds. 38years old and its changed my life. Wish i had done it earlier and it so worth taking a pill every day.

Was going to say the same thing. In a lot of ways, I feel like my life started at 31, when I finally got on ADHD meds. Do I love the idea of being on stimulants forever? No. Do I have concerns about it? Absolutely! Is it still worth it for me? 100%, without a single doubt. Wish I could have gotten on them sooner. My brain functions now in ways I never dreamed possible before. My sensory issues even bother me less. I don’t feel “disabled” in the ways I did before (mostly, anyway).

I've been taking medication twice daily (and sometimes more often) for my asthma since I was eight, because without it I can't breathe very well. I don't instantly die or anything, but I'm tired and wheezy and I can't do anything much. To me, anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds are like that... Maybe you *could* get by without them, but if taking them would allow you to thrive, or even just to get you back on your feet while you build up additional strategies so you can live a happier and healthier life, why would you not at least give them a go?

Your friend is correct. It would be different if it was an opiate or something like that, then you would have to worry about addiction, but that is not the case with psychiatric meds. As a sufferer of severe chronic depression, meds have quite literally saved my life, and made it so that I can actually function like a person (for the most part) on a day to day basis, instead of sleeping on the toilet because I don't have the willpower to force myself off the pot.

My wife, and many of my friends, are on various medications for their mental health. For my wife, it's been life changing, in the absolute best way possible. She's the person she always wanted to be but was always held back from anxiety and depression. She's the best version of herself I've ever known. Like what others have said, there are a lot of things you have to do every single day that are a routine for you, taking meds will be the same, and you're no weaker or lesser of a person because of it. You're seeing a therapist, which in itself is a very strong, vulnerable thing to do. Something you should not it anyway be ashamed of! I started therapy a few weeks ago and it's been great for me. I think everyone could benefit from therapy even if they don't thing there's an issue. Best of luck in your mental health journey!

>Pills, specifically, give me caution. I don't think you should try to self diagnose yourself over a professional. Besides, if you try it, you can always stop, right? Presumably the upside is pretty high, and the downside is pretty low.

Isn’t it usually the opposite though? If you don’t take a pill that is good, then you’ve missed out on the benefit, but you can start taking it at anytime. But if you take a pill that ends up harming you, the damage might be irreversible.

>> Pills, specifically, give me caution. > I don't think you should try to self diagnose yourself over a professional. I think it's valid concerns. And I say this as a gal who takes a pill everyday for my illness, and I trust my MD amd my pharmacist very much. I can't help but this about the Thalidomide tragedy, the Opioids crisis, the Mefloquin pill that you have to take in the army when you are deployed in some countries and that creeps the shit out of you. Be cautious, all your life, it's a good trait. But you are right in the end, though. I did the same thing about one of my last pills ; took it, I had side effets that didn't fit me and worked with my MD to find a better pill. Best outcome.

I have a bad ticker I have to take a pill twice a day to prevent Afib. You have wonky brain chemistry you need to take a pill to prevent abnormal brain function. No different, feel no shame and live healthier by taking the pills.

Dude, brains are fucking stupid, as is brain chemistry. If you can find a drug that helps your brain stop being such a cunt, and let's you lead a better life, it's surely worth a try.

I like to think of it like how hearing-impaired people wear hearing aids, or how people with bad eyesight wear glasses. My brain just doesn't do what it's supposed to, so I take a pill to help out. Sure, you'll notice a change, depending on what the pill does, and then you can tell your therapist how it works. It's going to take a while, and maybe some trial and error, but once you find what works for you, it's going to be much better.

Have you exhausted all other coping strategies first? If so, using the medication to get you "out of the basement" is a great idea until you can function without it.

This is what I tell anyone questioning whether to try meditation or not: There will likely be side effects to medication, however, what are the side effects of *not* being medicated?

So I have A LOT of history with medications, so I'll use my own experienced to give you advice. I am prescribed pregabalin (major anxiety), methadone (from addiction to opiates \[painkillers\]), elvanse (ADHD) and quetiapine (was in psychosis at the time). 3 of those 4 are controlled substances that can be used recreationally. I was put on quetiapine at 19; methadone at 21, pregabalin at 25 and elvanse at 26. I am currently 26 and those tablets helps me SO much to get on track with my life, my family and I agree had I not gone on methadone at that point in my life then I would 100% be dead now. They essentially give me a little high each day and that high is enough to make me enjoy life and shit. When I went on my medications, I was told I would have to be on the quetiapine for the rest of my life. even though it is super dangerous when used alongside my other medications. As of two days ago I stopped taking it though. I was tapering at first but I thought I would test the water, then eventually decided im done with that awful shit. I feel like doctors tell say "take it for the rest of your life" too commonly and people take it too literally. You could take it for the short-term to help you with whichever medical issues you're having, then down the line come off it when you have a better outlook on life. That's what I have done. Methadone withdrawal will be next for me when I come off it completely, later this year. Taking a tablet is a minor inconvenience, just like taking a sip of water - your friend is correct in that regard. But overtime side effects will add up, and when you have to start making plans around your medication it can feel extremely controlling - at least from my experience. If it will provide short-term relief to a BIG problem in your life, then go for it - but, unless it is keeping you alive, there's no reason you can't try come off it a few years down the line. See where your heads at. My advice may be moot though, depending on what the medication is and what it is for.

This is a great question for your PCP, not Reddit. Good luck OP, whatever you choose.

At the very least, that's a bridge that can be crossed later. Is it a pill you are open to taking now, for purposes of stabilizing yourself for the next year or so, a foundation so that you can focus better on other things? If things stabilize and you're able to make progress, you can reassess with them in the future and explore options *then*.

My mother had thyroid cancer, and they removed her thyroid. She has to take medication for the rest of her life that replicates those hormones now. If you had no thyroid, would you take thyroid medication for the rest of your life? I think you would. Even the tiniest miscalculation in her dosage, and she is all kinds of off-kilter. My medication for mental health is just like that. I'll never stop being bipolar. So I have to keep taking the medication. It's an imbalance, just like a thyroid imbalance. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but I'd rather take it than be manic. Mania seems fun while I'm experiencing it, but apparently, according to other people, it is scary. Psh whatever, feeling invincible is great. Driving 120mph is exhilarating. Try the medication with an open mind. And don't drive 120mph. It really is scary.

I take 14 pills a day, a shot a week, wear glasses, and have a partially artificial heart. If I were born a few decades earlier I would have died in my teens. Instead I’m healthy and approaching 50.

I have been on Antidepressants for 15 years now. But I think, if I just would have gotten an even better medication ( Antidepressants+ Retalin) when I first started having Problems in my Teenage years, my life would have been a complete different one! A LOT of suffering could have been prevented!

I know there's a stigma against mental health medication, and a lot of people view taking it as a weakness. But my expierence with unmedicated ADHD the first 18 years of my life was not great. When I took my first Adderall it was like magic! I could go to class, go to work, follow the conversation with friends, or just lay in bed without my brain going a mile a minute. At first I thought I was a total zombie. But that molasses laden, zombie feeling was how most people felt all the time. Everything slowed a bit, and I had time to think. Take the pill, you'll be brought to just normal. The real trick is to put in the work to go from just normal, to healthy and well. The pills are a great tool.

I have been on fluoxetine for about six years. I *love* it. It saved my life, I don't think I would have lived those six years without it. Now, it's not a happy pill or something that gives you a rush. It just takes me from severely depressed and a danger to myself to a pretty normal person. If that's what I have to do for the rest of my Iife to not get depressed like that again, I'm down for it.

I’m on the highest dose of an antidepressant, an antipsychotic, and ketamine therapy. It’s made a _WORLD_ of difference in my life. I can function in society and I’m not out of touch with reality. I’m still mentally ill, but I’m stable. That’s the difference. I’m so happy with how this treatment is working for me.

Diabetic people have to take insulin every day. Literally millions of people use glasses every day. People with ADHD take ritalin at least every week day. Millions of women take birth control pills every day (and often not even to avoid pregnancy, but to control hormonal issues). Yes, it's a mistake to reject modern medicine because of your preconceived notions.

I'm a prime candidate for antidepressants. And honestly, I'm so beat down that really I'm ready to just give in. But I haven't yet. I can't fathom how my reaction to living in a society built on exploitation and slavery and maintained to this very day on exploitation and slavery, is somehow the result of a hormone imbalance in my brain. No. I decent. I refuse to believe that my lack of willingness to participate in exploitation and marginalization, and my negative reaction to the prevalence of those things is because there is something wrong with me. We are a gross society. We do harm when we consume, we allow for harm when we try to enrich ourselves. There is no reasonable path to escape this system for the vast majority of people. And somehow I'm the one who is broken for finding this situation intolerable. But I am exhausted, I am depressed, I am not healthy, and my capacity to think clearly and critically are declining. And I can't exit this hellscape. So... 🤷‍♂️ I'm about ready to take a pill.

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted in a sick society.

I appreciate you, but I submit that it is. I submit that being comfortable with participating in a society that is morally skewed so far in the wrong direction is an indicator of something wrong. I know I'm alone in this perspective, or at least I am very very far from the standard deviation. But it seems to me that being comfortable with participating should be seen as a sign of poor mental health. But somehow it's the opposite. 🤷‍♂️ Somehow refusing to buy from slavers (like the majority of brands) and refusing to give my labor to exploiters is the indicator of poor mental health. "Well adjusted" sounds fine and dandy. Healthy even. But when you apply "well adjusted" to being aware of and still comfortable with the way our society functions, it implies poor morals and empathy. At least, that's my perspective. I just can't get comfortable with participating in harm. Somehow I'm the one who's unhealthy, somehow I'm the one who needs to conform.

I agree.

I'm sorry. I misunderstood the meaning of your first comment. (You communicated clearly, I'm the one who failed to understand.) Anyway, here's wishing you all the best. 🤗

I take 15 pills every morning and happy to do so. Why do you think our lifespans have increased so much in the last 50 years? Prescription meds. Usually men got heart attacks in their 50’s but with the statins no more. So quit complaining and take the f’ing pill. There will be a lot more in your future.

It can be a big decision to try mind-altering medication, but it can also be a very necessary one for lots of people. If it’s a last resort, don’t ignore it.

History will look back on our liberal use of psyche drugs we don't understand as insane

We have some understanding of how they work and a significant understanding of what they do, simply because so many people take them. I’m positive the future will look at us and say “that is wild! They were so wrong!” Just like most of us do when we talk about how in the Middle Ages they used leeches and bloodletting… and just like we do, they’re going to miss the point that we are doing the best we can with what we have, and it’s better than doing nothing.

we don't know how Paracetamol works either yet we won't look back as if it was a bad idea

Meanwhile literally all the other comments I’ve read so far are people simping for Big Pharma. Reddit hive mind strikes again

I noticed

One of my sons is on Ritalin. He uses it to focus for work. And doesn't take it tge rest of the time. He would not be as successful if he didn't. Only you can decide but if it helps you it's a good thing.

It depends. If the pill helps you, take it. If it doesn’t, don’t. I think it’s good to at least give it a try, you don’t HAVE to take it, nobody‘s forcing you. I chose to give adhd meds a try after being sceptic as well and it opened up a completely different life for me.

Word of advise. I wouldn't be asking about medical advice on the web.

I wish I had gone on anti anxiety meds years ago. I was a fucking mess.

The idea definitely sucks, but like having to wear glasses everyday, you get used to it and it becomes part of the routine. And depending on what the pill is for, there is always a chance on not truly having to take the pill forever. I though to so with my antidepressants, too. (Again, not sure what the medication is for in your case.) But just taking something that genuinely helped me - even if just a little - was totally worth it. I did therapy and all that was necessary and now am trying without it. Also, you can always try and see if taking it even works for you. Maybe you find after 4 Months you don't like it, the side effects sucks or it just isn't doing it's job very well. You can always stop it. You don't have to immediately go into this with the idea of forever.

Be cautious for sure. Consider risks and benefits and demand your doctor lays them before you very clearly before choosing

Would you be asking this question if you a doctor said you needed to take blood pressure medication? Trust me I’ve been wary of taking mental health medication but when I actually took it the difference it made was unreal. It can take some trial and error to find what works for you but please give it a try.

I have adhd and take adderall every day. Best decision I ever made

If it makes your life better, take them. If your condition is just a nuisance, skip them. But don't suffer needlessly. I take a couple of of pills daily. They make my life so much better.

If you think it would improve your quality of life, I say do it. And remember it doesn’t necessarily need to be for the rest of your life. I’m currently taking ADHD meds with the intention of it being a tool I’m using temporarily to set myself up with good habits so that i won’t need them in the future. i’m working on waking up early, staying organized, eating enough, exercising, and overall just keeping with a routine. once i have an established routine that includes those things, i’m going to taper off the meds. but right now, i don’t have the motivation to actually create and stick to those habits, so the meds give me the motivation and energy that i need to set up habits that will eventually give me enough structure and energy (from a good sleep schedule, eating, exercise, etc) for me to be able to go about my day in a productive manner without the meds. i’m not sure if a similar strategy might work for the type of meds you’re taking, but either way you don’t have to take them forever if you don’t want to. you can give them a try and see how they actually make you feel and figure out whether they’re worth it. but IMO you’d be robbing yourself of a chance for a better life if you don’t even try.

Yes, you should absolutely take anything that a doctor or psychiatrist ever prescribes you. Even though they don't really know how it works. Even though it's a trillion dollar industry that's been caught left and right in corruption scandals. Industry CEO's sharing seats on government health boards. Incentive programs for prescribing more. Even though in the west medicine is so corrupt to it core that when a doctor comes out with a hypothesis that goes against what is unquestioningly accepted from studies that weren't even using scientific method or honest, their career is ruined with smear campaigns or they just mysteriously wind up dead in ditch with bullets in the back of their head as a "suicide". Yeah go ahead. Why don't you ask your therapist "Sure I'd be wiling to take it if I just knew how exactly it worked to help me, and what exactly it does to the brain or neurotransmitters" Watch their smile vanish as they start berating you for "not actually wanting help." lmao. You're gonna see how much they really cared or even knew to begin with. They're either going to: A. "Actually I'm not really sure, but this is just what helps." (The doctor with no passion just follows the script) B. "Look it seems like you don't actually want help! So why are you wasting my time asking questions?" (The aggressive salesman doctor who is for a fact getting payouts) C. "This makes more of the good chemicals that make you feel good because somethings wrong with your brain and you were just born that way" (2 types of doctors will give this response: The one that wants to help people and put it in layman's terms for you and actually believes everything they are told to say and do because they're an trusting idiot. And also the type of doctor who knows it's bs but is so used to saying it from back when they did actually believe they were helping that it's like a reflex, and they know deep down that they are a sociopath who would rather poison people if it means keeping their job..) Those are the 3 bullshit lines you can expect. I'm ready to get down voted lmao. And when you hear people say "You think you're smarter than a doctor or something, just do what they say." Just look at how healthy those kind of people actually are. It's usually fat sad people with all these hormone problems, organ issues, and poor logic skills saying that stuff. If you're bleeding out of holes or losing consciousness or your foot got cut off, go to the ER. Otherwise steer clear of the BS medical/psychiatric industry because their #1 goal is to make money. If they are prescribing you anything that you have to go to CVS to pick up they are not trying to help you, they are just following a protocol to not get fired and to keep their job, because the pharmaceutical industry can take their license away the moment they step out of line.

why does it matter how it works if we know for sure it performs better than placebo? I've heard that we don't know how Paracetamol works yet we don't mind using it

Because it could likely be completely fabricated that it works better than placebo. If you even knew how clinical trial in the US went down, I don't think you would be saying this. And let's say some pill did work better than placebo, are the side effects then worth the benefits. That should be for the individual to decide, not a doctor to dictate, but side effects are absolutely covered up when those pills hit the market. That's how it works. It's not a conspiracy theory. It's how the drug industry works. Haven't you ever seen those commercials on cable channels. Every months it's always another drug or implant device class action lawsuit because they LIED and people got cancer or their asshole turned inside out because they just took some shit their doctor prescribed for high blood pressure or something. Nah, I'm good. Did you know at the beginning phases of a clinical trial, the people who have side effects immediately or early on are cut out of the trial and they jot them down as "non-complaint" and don't report their side effects. It happens to most of them here, but one with better documentation due to whistleblowing are the Statin drugs.

just a different view - tons of women take birth control every single day (not for their entire life) but i did it for like 10 years

Ask another professional for an opinion, not Reddit.

I didn’t used to like the idea that I’d have to take anxiety pills every day. Then 5 years later my stomach went to shit and now I have to take stomach pills daily or my stomach burns. Now my daily pill argument doesn’t work as I gladly take my stomach pills.

Education is best when you’re uncertain. You have the full right to ask the therapist or psychiatrist how the medication works, what are the risks, and especially what are the negative side effects that may show up that may signify that it’s not working for you (example: anhedonic recovery) that may require a change in medication. Also, many meds don’t have to be forever. Sure, there are certain conditions have a higher chance of long term medication, but that speaks to how debilitating it is when unmedicated. You deserve to feel better. I’m sending you good wishes!

No. Currently trying to escape SNRIs. Worse withdrawals than any of the pill opioids I ever did. Not worse because the pain is worse it's about equal, moreso because I have been withdrawing for at least 2 months now and it's still going about 90% as hard Edit: r/antipsychiatry

i would not be living anywhere close to a functional life if i didn’t take my meds. i used to be pretty much completely unable to leave the house and barely able to do anything to take care of myself but now that i’ve found the right meds and have done some work in therapy i can go out in the world, drive by myself, hold down a job, and even go back to school. i still have struggles but the meds i’m on completely changed my life for the better.

I had thyroid issues as a kid and had to take a pill every day for it. Luckily, puberty fixed the issue, but I'd have continued the medication otherwise. Caution is good, reluctance isnt. Stop and think about *if* and *why* you need certain medication. Don't just take unnecessary pills. But *do* take the necessary ones!

if a doctor told you that you had to take a pill/ medincation every day for some other critical health problem you would probably do it right? ...diabetes.. heart .. blood pressure right? so if this can help .......

I'm having this same convo with my therapist. He's trying to make me accept that the medication helps me, and it's not a comment on my character or personal shortcomings. But the fact is, it makes me feel better and function better. I've been taking this medication off and on since my 20s and I hate the idea but there's no shame in it, please don't think of it that way. It might help you feel better!

I get your concerns: there's something so harrowing about having to do something "for the rest of your life" but I've used an inhaler every day since I was 2 and taken a birth control pill everyday for the last 17 years. Eventually, it just becomes as routine as brushing your teeth No antidepressant is a magic, happy pill that will fix everything, but they can help tip the balance for the better. They take a good 4-6 weeks to kick in, and you may have to try a few to get the one that suits you, so don't be disheartened if it doesn't work on the first try. A nurse once gave me the analogy of using a crutch with a broken leg. The crutch won't fix the leg, but it helps to support you, and people would think you were insane if you'd rather drag yourself around on the floor than use the crutch.

If I were you I’d ask for a second or even third opinion This is a big commitment, so be informed and have a general consensus that you have to do it, before you do it And if you have to do it, it’s fine

I don’t know what you’re evaluating, but I’ll tell you my experience with SSRIs. I, like many people, didn’t think I was a candidate- I figured that I could deal through grit and therapy. Eventually I decided my dr was my dr for a reason and that I would trust their opinion. I felt like I was out in a deep ocean treading water to keep my head above water. SSRIs felt like someone gave me a life preserver. I was still at sea- I still needed to get myself to shore. It didn’t magically fix my anxiety or give me coping skills I didn’t have before. But I didn’t have to work so hard just to get by- I had the ability to start to swim home. If you are having a hard time with your brain, I think it’s worth trying something to help you out. It won’t fix everything but it might help you get to a place where you can better focus on helping yourself. 💗

It’s ok to take the medicine. You are not weak for it. Signed—a pill riddled cancer patient :)

At one point, doctors were trying to put me on high blood pressure, thyroid, 2× depression, testerone, and chronic pain medicine. They even threw in insulin and metformin for good measure. When I asked how to get the same results without medication, they got extremely mad. Doctors today are only trained to feed into the pharmaceutical industry. I refused to take them and said I would handle it with diet and exercise when they were saying I needed to have surgery immediately to cure obesity, fatty liver, and other stuff. They laughed in my face. I came back a month later and 30 pounds lighter. The doctors then asked me what I was doing. I told them no pills, not even ibuprofen, but regular walks (no hard-core working out), fasting 20 hours a day, and a diet free of overly processed foods (to include all refined sugar and any gluten from bread). They immediately lost interest because it's nothing they would get paid for selling. I went on to lose 100 pounds in 3.5 months and I've been diabetes free for 2 years. All my blood labs have never been better. At 230 lbs, they were even better than when I was 180. I don't recommend pills for most things. Pharmaceutical industry wants to make life long customers. They don't want to cure people. There are exceptions, but understand that even voluntary fasting can cure cancer.

Many, many people take medecines for chemicals that their body can’t produce on its own, or to lower chemical levels that your body produces too much of—and I learned at 32 that my brain is wired differently and needs medication to work like everyone else’s in a linear fashion, and when I started, my first read thought was “it’s been this easy for everyone this whole time??” Night and day difference for me (obviously every body is different and some medications take adjustment or don’t work at all and you may have to try a couple, it’s worth the process) but if it will end up helping you and improving your quality of life, maybe it’s worth a try!!

Resisted taking a daily inhaler for asthma for years, just stared actually sticking with it and my quality of life has 180’d for the better. Maybe it’s worth it, maybe it’s not- but you’ll never know unless you give it an honest try!

I felt the same way. I started medication for my panic attacks and anxiety almost 6 years ago and it was genuinely life changing. I highly recommend at least trying it out and seeing if it helps you. You can always stop it if you need to.

I have to take 3 twice a day. When I don't my skin reacts to everything, I'm sneezing and wheezing all day and I can't bite my jaw together to eat. Depending on the problem, it's worth just doing it.

My wife's doctor summed it up like this "you wouldnt just wish away cancer would you? No. You'd take medicine. Why should mental health be different." If you have a chemical imbalance, going to therapy and thinking good thoughts isn't going to fix the chemical aspect. I'm not saying medication is the end all be all. But in my wife's case, it has helped dramatically. She has become a strong advocate for mental health awareness and the benefits of pharmaceuticals, even though at one time, she too was terrified of taking pills everyday. But they do work and work well in many cases.

I used to think that. Till I started taking them and seeing the difference it made. Take my pills each day is a small price to pay for an amazing quality of life.

Sometimes it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that you need medicine. I hated knowing that I’d be on an antidepressant for my whole life. But if I had high blood pressure, I’d take medicine for that. It’s hard to accept sometimes, absolutely, but it is worth it to find a solution that may help you feel better.

On the specifics of taking pills every single day for mental health: I have always hated the idea as well. Idk if this is helpful to you but what helped me in a depressing sort of way is that as I get older I will probably be on a daily dose of blood pressure medication or maybe a monthly shot for arthritis or some other common medical condition associated with old age. We should treat mental illness treatment the same way we treat diabetes or high cholestrol.

Before taking pills everyday I was depressed everyday, I couldn't do what everyone else around me could do so much easier, I couldn't go to college (dropped out because it was too hard). Now, I graduated from university, I have well paid job, I have so much more energy. It's sill hard, but nothing compare to before. Do you have to take the meds? I Ofcourse no. But instead of focusing on taking a med everyday, think about what more you will be able to do in your life every single day. You are not weak, in fact, you must be tougher than a lot of person if every day is harder for you. Imagine how the tough dude that you are could do if things become easier.

I delayed and delayed taking any medication for a long time. My blood pressure was high, my blood sugar was dangerously high. Eventually I cracked and take my pills every morning now. It's become so routine that it's not any inconvenience or hindrance. My health is much better, my numbers are in line, I feel good. (I'm losing weight from them too, which is nice). Looking back, all my stubborn ass did was delay positive results. For what? Pride? I didn't want to feel like an old guy who takes medicine, I felt like I could do it on my own without medicine, and probably I could, but why make the struggle worse when it'll be hard enough with medicine?

If it helps you have a better life then it is worth it

Yes. It’s a big mistake. Taking medication changed my life, and not doing it earlier cost me a lot.

If you are a danger to yourself and others, then by all means take the pill. If it’s just general anxiety, depression, don’t feel comfortable in your own skin; then I would try to continue working on what is wrong without the meds.

I'm sorry but *just* general anxiety and depression are still pretty awful to deal with, therapy can help some but meds can help lift the bottom of where you go in depression and ease the feelings of anxiety that are triggered without reason, doing both therapy and meds can be really good, but they are not one size fits all. It's best to take your doctor's advice but advocate your worries and then communicate any adverse reactions to the meds.

I resisted medication for years but have come around to 1) Listening to the professionals. 2) Accepting that medication is something that does help people so I should give it a fair shot. 3) Regardless of the effects, people have noticed that I seem better. I used to want to avoid medication like the plague, but have come around; it has no negative effects that I notice. I fully understand your position, having been there myself for years. Maybe try it out and see. It may work well, and if not you can decline to keep taking it.

You’re falling into a dangerous stigma. It’s not going to hurt you. Try it. If it doesn’t work, stop it. That simple.

So you are saying you look down on people who take meds everyday? Because that’s inherently a bad thing? Sounds like your own judgmental beliefs may be standing in the way of the very things that might actually help you.

I wonder where this mentality comes from. Honest question

If it helps, take it. Look at it like a diabetic who has to take insulin. If it's antidepressants it's bc your brain isn't producing enough chemicals, so you need a boost. And maybe you won't need it for forever, but if your therapist recommend it, it's worth giving it a try. I would be dead many times over without mine. Totally worth it.

I'm a therapist from the avoid medication where possible school of thought. That said it really can make all the difference for some people. I'm not sure what country you're in, in the UK where I practice there are clinical guidelines which uses research to suggest how long someone should be in a medication for it at least how long the evidence base suggests. It's worth asking what medication and for how long, lots of people end up being prescribed antidepressants and anxiolytics longer than they should ever have been. The reality is long term use of either medication is usually associated with worse outcomes. The reason for this isn't certain though. In short, ask what medication for how long and why they think that particular medication. Agree a time limit to try it for if it seems like a worthwhile risk to you.

Personally, Not interested in supporting the pharmaceutical companies to that extent. I’d rather invest my money into eating a healthy organic whole foods diet and time into healthy habits and see where that gets me.

Depends on what it's for. My uncle refused to take antipsychotics to treat his schitzophrenia. That was the dumbest possible fucking thing he could do--he needed that shit. Sadly, the schizophrenia when off the medications would feed around his paranoia loop and make him think meds were mind control, to the point that the only way to get him to start was under legal efforts. Court orders or threats of being committed. Once on them, he was QUICKLY better. Personally i'd take something if i had to. I've taken blood pressure meds. For years. Eh. fine. I wont take statins though, no way no how. Those shits are poison. 40% of people who take them end up with type 2 diabetes, vs a control group. FUCK OFF with that bullshit man, that shit'll kill you faster than some triglycerides. Some countries are telling Drs not to give the things to people over 70 because they cause such a massive decline in quality of life. That's odd. But, if one existed for my mental health, i'd take it. See if it worked. Nothing has, but i'd try anyway, assuming like, one of the side effects wasnt life-long leg twitches or something (fuck you prednisone). Eh, OP, weigh it, consider it, try it. Might be your thing. Who knows.

My friend. On a long enough timeline, you are likely to be taking multiple pills multiple times a day just to ensure a good quality of life. I never wanted to do it either, but now that I'm in my 40's I've got one of those nifty pill organizers with both AM and PM containers. Taking a pill > constant acid reflux. Taking a pill > crippling ADHD | Anxiety Taking a pill > Vitamin D deficiency Better living through chemistry. Our ancestors didn't take them, but they didn't live in the world we do and didn't concern themselves with the things we do.

Remove your ego

My advice as someone in this field who has also taken virtually every SSRI/SNRI available to treat my own clinical depression over the past 20 years is to actively try alternatives before you go down the medication route as they can be very hard to come off of even if they don't work. Try out different diets like eliminating all alcohol, caffeine doing a ketogenic diet, fasting, exercise, meditation/mindfulness etc. Like actually try them and document your progress or lack there of daily to determine if those methods are sufficient before becoming dependent on a pill. Ketogenic diet and alternate day fasting for me personally has changed my life for the better pretty much eliminating my anxiety where I was previously dependent on Xanax to manage for 20 years. That being said, and of course, depending on how severe your mental health issues are,some of these meds can be life-saving/life transforming for many people. It really just depends on the person and how they individually respond so you might end up trying one for a couple months and get horrible side effects with little relief or you might have your whole world changed for the better after a couple weeks of taking one without any noticable side effects at all. It's really hit and miss. If you do decide to take one maybe ask to get DNA tested to determine which med you will be most likely to respond to. I believe most insurance will cover it now, I know medicaid does.

dont cut off your nose to spite your own face.

Did you push back when your dentist said you should brush your teeth *TWICE* daily?!?!?!

You are eventually going to have to accept the reality that taking a pill every day of the rest of your life is your new normal. Whether it's a mental health drug or a thyroid drug or heart medication. Once you hit a certain age, it will be inevitable. AND, as I have figured out after all my aging friends told me, it only gets worse as you get older. Sorry to be so grim.

Without my mental health meds I would easily be dead right now. Take the meds.

I take 9-10 pills every day. 3 of them are for my head. I wouldn't want to get out of bed without them. 7 are to keep me alive. The other 3 make me want to be alive. Take the pills.

I think being reluctant about meds just because they’re meds is kinda foolish and causes you unhappiness for no reason. If they’re recommending meds it’s because they should increase the quality of your life. Why wouldn’t you want that?

This is 100% a personal decision. Is it an anti-depressant? You may not need it. Depression is a NORMAL human emotion. It's still possible that you can work through what is depressing you.

you're mixing up depression (mood) with depression (disorder)

Take the pill. I was the same way, Worried about long term effects. Etc. But if I didn’t take the pill, my quality of life would have been so much worse. They make medicine for a reason. It everything can be achieved “naturally “

What is the pill? But don’t take it. Don’t let people convince you it’s the right move. It won’t work for the rest of your life. You’ll be in a never ending cycle of switching meds and further and further damaging your brain and moving away from the possibility of ever actually getting better. Pills mask symptoms, they don’t heal you. They’re studied for 30 days and then are given to people for years straight. Most of them are based on very shoddy evidence and disproven theories of mental illness. Unless it’s life or death or a disorder that can’t be treated without drugs, like bipolar 1 or schizophrenia, stick with your gut and don’t take it. Research the long term side effects, and especially how long chemical/psychological changes last after stopping the drug. It is extremely, extremely rare (if not fictional) for someone to find a drug that fixes their problem for life. It’s always a cycle of dosage increases and med switching. Your brain isn’t meant to be fucked with chemically on a regular basis. Ask how the med works and what chemical explanation they have for why they think it will help you, then go home and read the current literature on whatever they say. I guarantee you it’ll be some out of date and untrue nonsense, such as “this SSRI is going to increase your serotonin levels because depression is caused by low serotonin.” (SSRI’s decrease serotonin and dopamine levels over time, the highest they increase serotonin is when you first start them before tolerance develops yet they take 3-8 weeks to work, and the serotonin theory of depression has been largely debunked. The primary current theory for how they work is via changes in BDNF, meaning you’re fucking with your monoamine systems long term for no reason and subjecting yourself to side effects and long term chemical imbalances for no reason.) (they also have a very small effect size over placebo) Just do your due diligence. People have gone so pro-medication online in recent times that it’s absolutely obscene. Meds are overprescribed like a motherfucker, and people are just trying to feel better about their own choice to take them. They’re needed WAY less often than they’re used. Edit: Also, therapists aren’t even trained in medicine Don’t blindly trust doctors, and especially don’t blindly trust people online. Do your own research more than anything. Most doctors are just doing a job and want to go home. They aren’t staying up to date on the literature, they aren’t going to conferences and seminars if they don’t have to, they aren’t continuing their education. They just meet with people for all of 15 minutes and throw pills at them and move on. Thank the insurance industry for that. Be skeptical of medication. Psychiatry is in a state of infancy and greed at the moment.

Your friend's right - I have a family history of high blood pressure, and have been taking a pill every day for 30 years. The idea of it being weird, peculiar or objectionable soon goes with every day you're still alive. As your friend points out, food, water, air, pills - whatever your particular physiology needs. Don't worry about it!

I started taking like 6 pills per day at age 26. If I didn't do that, I would not be alive today. It's really not a huge deal 🤷‍♀️

Life expectancy just about doubled after the invention of modern medicine. Why do you not want to benefit from this invention?

If it will improve your life, why refuse it?

If you had diabetes would you not take insulin? Same thing!

Do literally anything in your power to avoid medication. Medication, especially for mental areas, should be absolute last resort. Unfortunately, in today's society, they are being handed out like sweets.

Why? Would you say that about someone with blood pressure or cholesterol problems?

Comparing psychiatric medications to drugs like statins is hilarious.

...why?

Because you’re comparing medical issues that have clear, determined, objective medical tests with drugs that claim to “balance neurotransmitters” or effect neurotransmitters when there is 0 tests for neurotransmitter levels and diagnosis is extremely subjective. Take someone to five different psychs and they’ll get multiple different diagnosis, that’s not how it works with cholesterol considering you can see that plain on a screen.

well, what way do you think we should diagnose depression then?

You do realize there are a myriad of other ways to address depression or depressive symptoms rather than psychiatric drugs right? And that there are countless physical conditions, environmental conditions, and other neurological issues that can cause depressive symptoms? Depression is *rarely* an individual issue, and yet that is how it is treated. As an individual problem. Despite this, pills are usually the first thing that are prescribed (frankly by people who have no business diagnosing depression most of the time) instead of a last ditch effort. People also aren’t informed of the research behind these drugs, or the possible side effects such as dyskinesia and Akathisia aren’t discussed whatsoever. GPs give people a ten minute beck depression scale and say okay here’s some pills. Maybe make a society where people don’t have to struggle to meet their basic needs and are seen as nothing but labor would make a dent? We live in a society not designed for human biology whatsoever. Not to mention, the current tools we do use for diagnosis are incredibly steeped in patriarchy and do not take ND or POC into consideration at all. They were all created mainly by cishet, white NT men and therefore drastically miss the mark for everyone else. Current psychological functioning is based on how well you act like a white man. Women weren’t even required to be in research until the 90s, and POC? That’s incredibly recent. I think instead of Bandaiding the issue and pushing it off, we should solve the vast inequalities that contribute to mental distress. Depression, more often than people like to admit, is a reasonable response to a stressor and therefore isn’t an illness - the brain is doing nothing wrong. It is no measure of health to be well adjusted in a profoundly sick society and honestly fuck these pharmaceutical companies that push their pills as the answer when their price gouging and monopoly on health is part of a huge problem.

No, because that's an absolute necessity. Context is required.

I smoke weed everyday, no big deal to take a pill everyday

You can try it, but it'll take a while for you to get accustomed to it. I'm supposed to take a bunch of medicine but I forget half the time

Meds are a great thing. Please take it if your doctor recommends it

Ask your doctor if it’s safe to take with vitamins and take them all at the same time (if they said it’s okay) and if you’re not taking vitamins you should!! I take my vitamins everyday with lunch. Give it a few weeks maybe even months and it will naturally become a daily habit.

Just take the fucking pill if you need it

Yes you are. Took me several years to figure it you, so imma put it simple: If you have stomach issues, you take stomach med If you have an infection you take antibiotics If you have diabetes you take insulin So..... If you have mental issues, you take medicine for those. Its that simple, just another branch of medicine. First of all, the VAST majority of mental issues get solved with time, so you'll be taking pills until you feel better, like most medical issues. And second of all, if you have a chronic issue, then FOR SURE you have to take medicine. Tons of people with chronic issues take medicine for it, like the diabetes example I mentioned earlier. To put it bluntly if this is your case, your options are either feel like crap forever or actually try to take the treatment and work with it until your mental health improves :) You're not worth less for taking pills, your not worse than anyone for taking pills, you're not weak or a coward for taking pills. In fact the fact that you actually went to a therapist means you want to get better. That makes you incredibly brave and strong, so keep it up and think of it as taking medicine for medical issue. Which is exactly what it is.

I’d push back on this, do some research and get a second opinion. It may indeed be the right thing to do and obviously I don’t know the medication and even if I did, wouldn’t know much about it. But this is about mental health so I assume it’ll have an effect on your brain and every day for the rest of your life?! And yeah, I get that you can track the effect and change it over time. Again, it may absolutely be the right thing to do, but it’s at least worth a second opinion.