Posted by chujoe on June 15, 2010, at 7:54:23
In reply to Cyclothymia, posted by chrisg27 on June 15, 2010, at 2:40:05
Hi Chris G. Welcome to Psychobabble. From your description it doesn't sound as if you have had very good medical or psychiatric advice. And I do think there is an unfortunate tendency -- especially in the US -- to medicate children & give them psychiatric diagnoses w/o careful evaluation or attention to psychological issues. You are right to be skeptical of those who tell you to take this medication or that one when they can't even settle on a diagnosis.
Having said that, and speaking only for myself, I have found that developing a good relationship with a psychiatrist (or other clinician such as a nurse practitioner) knowledgeable about psychiatric issues has been very valuable to me, as has the careful use of psychiatric medications.
The choice of whether or not to take meds, ultimately, is yours. You have to balance the upside against the downside and decide what to do. If you really don't want to take psychiatric drugs, you will probably want to think about your health in holistic terms. Are you getting enough exercise? Sleep? How's your diet? Use of alcohol or other recreational drugs? (Those are psych meds, too, remember.) You might look into taking some supplements, but I'd advise trying one or maybe two things at a time to see how they affect you: start with vitamin C & fish oil, perhaps. Other folks on this forum may be able to make other suggestions.
poster:chujoe
thread:951106
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100615/msgs/951117.html