Medication, is it really necessary?
Posted , 10 users are following.
I feel that too many people in our day and age depend on medication as a treatment to mask the symptoms of a much larger problem in their lives that has needed removal for a while but they keep holding on to. My belief in cause and effect says that depression and other symptoms relating to the mind (psychological), are induced by the environment in which one lives, essentially an effect of the cause. Am i wrong in my theory, or is medication that ruins the balance in the brain (side-effects), really the answer? I would think that a cure by attacking the problems at their environmental source, would be more enticing than masking it over with medication which only makes things worse.
On the same note, do people not realize the power of their mind?
3 likes, 12 replies
lucy1969 The_Lighthouse
Posted
It's a nice idea but in reality not everyone has the strength to exorcise the demons that haunt them. Some things are just to painful or impossible to overcome. Sometimes medication can balance out your emotions just enough so that you can get the most out of talking or psychological therapies.
I agree that medications seem to be handed out too lightly. Plus there can be side effects so you then need another medication to alleviate the side effects - it can be a vicious circle.
It's not black and white but rather an infinite number of shades of grey. Medications can sometimes help.
kelly55079 The_Lighthouse
Posted
I understand what your saying BUT some people need the medication. Some people can control it by exercise, healthy eating, yoga, journaling, etc.... so many other things. And then other people like my spouse refuse to do any of the above so he needs the medication to help calm and live stress-free. He still eats lots of processed foods and drinks pop. He does exercise some but very little. Just last week he decided to stop medication for whatever reason. Yes, it's his decision BUT he is back to his angry stress-full way of life. Very restless at night too so in this case medication would help. I just have to now figure out what I need to do with my life because I refuse to live in his world. I need peace and calmness, meaning if I want to read the paper all day I should be able to do this without questions and concerns from him on why I'm reading. Also, I just read something on aniexty and physical Illness. I believe constant worries is hard on the brain and nervous system. If one cannot be honest with themselves then they can expect major health concerns later on.. Not so sure I want to be with someone who doesn't care about mental facts.
The_Lighthouse kelly55079
Posted
Yes, stress and anxiety can be very taxing on the body simply because of the constant strain upon the adrenal glands as well as the heightened levels of cortisol. I took live with someone who has anxiety, and he takes 20mg Citalopram. Although i wish i could help wern him off of it, i feel that it may be much to late and he would suffer for quite a while before his brain can even begin the process of serotonin production. On the other hand, i could probably find a way to kickstart the process but that would require some research.
It's true how you say it, if they aren't willing to help themselves then what can we do? I like to shine a light on the ridiculousness of certain things and this causes people to rethink their preconceived notions about certain things or people or subjects. Usually i am successful, however, when it comes to medication, he feels he "needs" them; at this point I may be inclined to side with him on that feeling. Still, i won't give up on him and i will find information i need to help him and others i know/don't know, I just have to wait until the Universe gives me that information. All things come at times they are needed to come, no sooner, no later. If it does seem like it came late, usually there was an earlier introduction of that information, we just chose to ignore it.
I hope the best for you on your quest to find fulfillment in life, and in reality I hope the best for both of you. Remember that this is a time when you may be questioning your relationships, including your relationship with him. Do what you feel is best for your advancement as this is what the Lunar eclipse we will witness is all about, breaking old habits and starting new ones that will be more beneficial to our mind, body, and soul.
booboo40688 The_Lighthouse
Posted
I wish my psychiatrist toled me "you don't need medication to function"...I wish....but if I could choose medication or no medication I would go without...
The_Lighthouse booboo40688
Posted
That's a good outlook to have, and if you actually look at it, medications were only a more recent (within the 20th century). Medication prior to this was usually in the form of an herb, powder, tincture, or some other form of natural plant matter. And these administrations didn't lead to too many cases of side-effects; stomach aches or vomiting (if dose was too high) skin itritation if there was a certain compound one was allergic to, and so on. We saw a decline in the use of these after these pharmaceutical companies came onto the scene and started requiring people to take these addictive substances they call "treatments."
Yes if only psychiatrists could do that haha, but wishful thinking. The healthcare industry is looking to make money, and treatments would be make that possible.
ann55375 booboo40688
Posted
Since the anxiety arrived have been medicated, tried to get off but the nausea, nerves, etc all reappear. Tried, acupuncture, mindfulness, meditation, cbt therapy, yoga.
believe me, if there was a way to get rid of these meds and be normal again im first up for it
ann55375 booboo40688
Posted
if it was possible to return to how i was a couple of years ago i would grab it.
dont know why this has descended upon me, it came immediately after an op. I wonder if there was something in the anaesthetic that did something to the brain. Anyway cant shake it off, psych consult was called in and since then a merry go round of awful meds which have all made me worse and ive had to stop them. Maybe i just have to live like this, though its not much fun when you can hardly socialise with your family and friends. Seems i have develped avoidance disorder now. Fed up with psychs and their drugs. I am now trying to stop taking them after gp consult then see what next.
Aspinan The_Lighthouse
Posted
Lots of people need medication to give them the strength to take the next steps, I must admit I rely on medication when I have a relapse but I'm doing a CBT course which I hope will equip me better to deal with anxiety in the future.
Im told by my psychiatrist that I have a pre disposition to depression and anxiety so I used to take a maintenance dose abd was well for a number of years but relapsed after I'd stop taking them.
Personally I'm happy with taking meds but need to help myself more.
Neil
The_Lighthouse Aspinan
Posted
We are told we "need" alot of things, and naturally because they are healthcare professionals, we follow their advice. However, if one tunes into their body, it will tell them what they need. Like for instance, if you find yourself reaching for the cheese, or pouring a glass of milk, the body is asking for things like calcium or vitamin D. Get some sun that afternoon, and if the sun already set go out early in the morning for about 10-15 minutes to get your vitamin D for the day. We are told by healthcare professionals that we need things because their jobs and pay are based off of it. Subconsciously they may not realize it, but if the healthcare industry at this point in time is to survive, it needs to tell people they "need" things.
CBT is great, and i would recommend you absorb everything you learn in it, all things are interconnected, thoughts influencing behavior which influences feelings and vice versa. Usually when we get sick is is because of thoughts or feelings that put us into such predicaments, or some type of behavior which is not healthy for the body mind or soul. Have you ever had any type of help in figuring out the root cause of your depression? It may be so that you may be predisposed to depression and I'm sure an Astrological reading would confirm it, but i really feel maybe there is some direction needed in your life.
If you would like direction, maybe even to find the source of your depression please email me (and this is for all of you who read this as well), at i would be more than haply to help out!
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infestissumam The_Lighthouse
Posted
As Lucy1969 said, this is "infinite shades of grey". There is no absolute here- it's not as if no one needs medicine or everyone needs medicine for depression. I would also like to start this by saying I am not a medical professional. Just so we're clear, I don't think medicine alone should be the first treatment of depressive symptoms and in my opinion, medicine should always be used in conjunction with some other form of therapy.
I think some people don't NEED medicine when their depression responds to therapy. Some people do need medicine and there's no shame in that. Some people grew up in a loving family and are surrounded by supportive family and friends as adults and still struggle with depression since it's not always caused by something external. There are people who simply have an imbalance of chemicals and hormones regardless of what their external life may be like. There are people who are on medication who don't need to be on it, and people who aren't on medication that need to be on it.
Mental health is not very straight forward. There are people who deal with depression triggered by something in their life like loss of a loved one or major life changes who are able to successfully treat it with therapy and live the rest of their life depression free. Then there are people who need medicine in addition to therapy when therapy alone is not relieving their symptoms. And then there are a small number of us who have treatment resistant depression like myself who have tried what seems like everything we can find and still struggle with moderate to severe depression.
I really hope you don't think all psych medication makes everyone's problems worse. Not everyone needs it but it has helped many people be able to function and no longer be a danger to themselves. Side effects can range from barely noticeable to downright dangerous so it's a matter of weighing the pros and cons. When it comes to problems other than depression, like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, medication often is the only things that manages the nastiest symptoms.
I know you are already coming at this from the angle of not believing in medicine, but some people really do need it and you shouldn't knock it just because it's not "natural". There are tons of studies proving that some people with depression have a literal chemical imbalance that needs medicine at least short term. Many side effects of medicine are easier to manage than the disease that the medicine is treating. Mental illness alters the brain as well, there are many brain scans that show the difference in activity between people with "normal" brains and those with various mental illnesses.
In short: yes, for some people they can treat depression just fine without medicine, and for others they need it. If your theory is "all forms of depression are caused by the person's environment", then yes your theory is wrong. Medication is not 100% evil or 100% good, it's more complex than that. And just for good measure, correlation is not equal to causation.
Once again, I'm not a medical professional either. I'm a 21 year old college student who has dealt with mental illness for as long as I can remember- I have had OCD since I was little and I have spent a great deal of time reading about and pondering mental illness and many different treatments for it. Of course removing something in one's life that's causing depression will alleviate it to some degree, but not always completely cure it. You can remove a splinter from your hand, but there's still a wound that hurts and can get infected. If the splinter's big enough it might leave a permanent scar or the wound can get ripped open again before it heals.
Sorry for the long ramble, I'm dealing with a combo of mental and physical illnesses that are currently not leaving me too sharp right now, haha. Still adjusting to my new hormones and it's leaving me scatter brained.
The_Lighthouse infestissumam
Posted
I'm not saying all medication is bad, and you are right, the brain does change. Imbalances do not simply begin at the physical layer of human life, it begins at a much higher level. Why feel depressed when everything is goong for us? It simply lies beyond what we can see, it goes into the world of feeling and energy. I know the idea goes into the metaphysics of life, but to understand life is to understand all parts, not just the physical. One has only to look at language for clues into various parts of human life.
For example, what does one think when looking at the word "disease?" One may think an ailment of some sort, and that person wouldn't be wrong in their opinion of it, for a disease is a "dis-ease" of what would normally be an ease of life. "Dis" is translated from "Des" which in French is "a lack of" and when placed together with the english word ease, signifies a lack of ease. Now, this wouldn't simply be a lack of physical ease, for we know that the mind is much more than just the sum of it's parts, and if things like CBT work, that means the mind has the ability to influence the body into certain states. When one looks at things like anxiety, the inbalance of chemicals making one "feel" a certain way, even if the condition does not exist, manifests the condition over time, much likely due to the increase in cortisol, and this tenseness of energy manifests itself onto the physical plane from the mind. However, the mind; things like thoughts and other non-tangible abstract concepts, are energetic in nature, the scope of the energy behind it is the basis for things like mindfulness meditation, and other things such as reiki, acupuncture, acupressure, and other categories.
Honestly, I don't think madication is bad, i simply ask whether it is really needed, because if one uses it, one is merely trying to fix something at the lowest level of the energetic trophic level.
On a final note, my conclusions on this are based on the fact that disorders like depression are despondency and dejection based, both being states of the mind, that cause the body to stress and create disorders on the physical level. I guess the proper question to ask is this, "Does one start out life in a depressive state? Or does this depressive state develop over time? Is it nature or nuture based?
Ashley025 The_Lighthouse
Posted
Yeah the mind is so powerful it influences everything. I don't think the environment influences our problems well at least not in my case. BTW I read a article that says it's all a myth that we have a chemical imbalance in our brain you can Google it if you want. I know we cant post links. I feel it's true I think it could be a learned behavior in my case and influenced by my past traumas. I have PTSD. Learned behavior because my mother is shy and submissive and a introvert. Well, was. My father was too but only with other people at home he was the devil. But I do understand what you mean. I think medication can harm more than help. They don't treat the problem just cover it and cause bad side effects and some even permanent like tremors. This person I know took a antibiotic and now when they drive they get bad ticks (their shoulder and hand move)😞Which is dangerous they can have a car accident.😑 Always look at the paper that comes with the med. It says there all the dangers of taking the medication. It's better to be aware. I don't know how they can treat the main problem though??? Do you mean therapy? 🤔I wish the Doctors could erase all my memory. I would volunteer for it.