Posted by med_empowered on March 25, 2007, at 10:13:32
In reply to Mind Is Awakening After ll Years, posted by Phillipa on March 24, 2007, at 22:21:57
I read an article about this...about how lots of things in our lives (sadness, shyness, indigestion, so on and so forth) have been turned into "diseases" or "conditions," mostly by companies that stand to make $$$ peddling profits for said "conditions". With psychiatry, I don't know what to think. Yes, meds can help. But on SO MANY PEOPLE? For SO MANY THINGS? What about..therapy or a little bit of valium, or just being there for someone without labelling them?? And yes, meds help, but when you spray so many meds onto so many people for so many various "conditions," you often end up in a situation where the cure is worse than the disease. So, yeah, some people (not a whole lot) respond to antidepressants, but a lot of people will also get agitated, turn psychotic/manic, so on and so forth.
Personally, my views are mixed. I used to be super-pro-med, b/c I've had severe depression, and it felt like a disease, something that should be treated aggressively. Then...I switched, to super-anti-meds, b/c of all the problems with psychiatry. Now? Now I don't know. I'm happier off meds, I have friends doing well on Lamictal, and I've thrown away my absolutist yes/no, good/bad view on the whole thing.
I do think that, with regards to emotional/existential issues, turning them into "medical conditions" kind of turns us into children. We are dependent upon docs and drug companies to feel better, b/c no one is encouraging the resilience we'd need to do it ourselves (or with fewer meds). But then...does being dependent on meds for happiness make one weak, child like? Not necessarily. There's an assertive aspect to it, a sort of "I'm doing this b/c I REFUSE to live like this anymore" element to choosing to be on meds. Now, having meds forced on you...that's just wrong.
But I think you're right, Phillipa; we're being encouraged to see all this things that happen, that should happen, in the course of our lives as "diseases" and "conditions". There are other ways to look at them, which I think could be more helpful. I'm trying to look at things in my life either as obstacles to be overcome (when I'm feeling more bellicose) or important lessons, or both. That's helped, that and saying "yes" to my anxiety and weird emotions.What does everyone else think? Like I said, I tend to vacillate...sometimes it seems awesome (better living through chemistry), other times I feel as if we're being turned into immature "Brave New World" style creatures, giving up liberty and depth in exchange for shallow happiness.
poster:med_empowered
thread:743841
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070320/msgs/744099.html