Posted by LlurpsieNoodle on August 5, 2007, at 13:07:23
In reply to Re: moods, meds and elephants » LlurpsieNoodle, posted by Meri-Tuuli on August 5, 2007, at 10:48:51
> Hiya!
>
> I was wondering, why do you feel the need to take meds at all? do you think that things would be any much worse unmedicated?Hmm, well, one of my goals is to get off my meds at some point this year. I'll keep psychobabble posted on that. As long as they keep me out of the hospital and able to tolerate life's ups and downs though, I'm willing to sacrifice the money, the time, and bear the side effects.
>I've found that once I ditched the various meds I was on, and the rollercoaster ride of getting on them, getting off them, my long-term quality of life has been far better. I'm not saying I don't get bad days, or weeks or months, and a good while ago unmedicated I was deeply suicidal (over a year ago now) but things have improved considerably without any sort of chemical intervention, so much so I would consider myself now anti-depressed (to use a Lurpsie-ism). Do you feel that taking meds somehow validates your condition??
First, I'm *so* glad to hear that you're doing well with no medication. It gives me hope. I think that therapy is going to be the long-term solution for me, and will be the key to helping me manage my symptoms in the long run. The main idea at the present is to keep myself out of the hospital and able to fulfill my job responsibilities which have 4 components
-eating
-sleeping
-taking medication
-going to therapy
(the last two fall under the umbrella of "keeping myself safe")Does taking medication somehow "validate" my condition? Well, in a way, I guess it does. That's an uncomfortable admission. Needing an emergency appt. with pdoc underscores the fact that I've had a crisis etc.
I really struggle with the concept of mental illness. The medication validates my concept of being sick right now with the hope of recovery/remission if I do the right things. However in therapy we're talking about certain "vulnerabilities" and traits that I have that leave me susceptible to all kinds of crap -> symptoms of mental "illness".
> Just some thoughts...
>
> Kind regards
> Merithanks for your thoughts. tried to be honest. honesty is hard... ugh.
-Ll
poster:LlurpsieNoodle
thread:773600
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070726/msgs/774123.html