I spent some time this morning reading some blog articles from another blog author about antidepressants, antipsychotics, and Abilify. You may already know that I have strong negative feelings towards these topics.
David (the blog author) speaks about the limited studies of these medications, the fact that we only see the results the drug makers want us to see, and that it’s pretty clear these medications are not worth the amount of potential side effects that come along with them. I have to say that I agree with everything he said.
I would like to add to that though. I believe that in a huge majority of cases of “mood disorders”… we have created these problems ourselves. We work entirely too hard, we worry too much, and we stress ourselves out to breaking point. We are living lives that we were not built by nature to live. As I heard someone else say once, humans are not meant to sit in front of computer screens all day. I agree with that 100%. We are not meant to do a LOT of what we do every day. Our bodies and minds are not designed to thrive and cope in the conditions we put ourselves in. Take our ridiculously long work hours, combine that with the relationship issues we all deal with, combine it more with our worries of how we are going to pay bills and provide for our families… it’s no wonder we are screwed up in the head! We make ourselves crazy a good majority of the time! It’s our own faults in many cases.
So wouldn’t the logical thing be to make some life changes to reduce the stress and physical strain? Stop accepting that this hard life is just the way it has to be. Everyone wants to be rich and famous. Everyone wants to live in the lap of luxury. But have you ever stopped to take a look at the people who have made it there? A large number of the rich and famous have terrible mental conditions, break downs, addictions, and end up bankrupt in the end. Why? Because the lives they are living are too difficult for them to handle!
In addition, I have personally seen far too often how everyone wants to deal with NORMAL day to day emotions. So your husband divorces you, your mother dies, you are in a terrible car accident, or you lost your job. All of these things would bring on the typical emotions of depression, denial, anger, and so on. That is NORMAL. So instead of coping naturally with your emotions and allowing TIME to heal your wounds, the doctors say “Oh you have DEPRESSION! You shouldn’t have to feel that way. Here, take these antidepressants and it will go away!” What?! Seriously?? This is what is wrong with people today. No one wants to face the facts and live through their natural emotions. And the doctors are looking for ANY reason to give you these drugs.
The doctors then make it seem like the side effects are few and far between. That it’s not really something you need to worry about. I have NEVER had a doctor sit down and explain to me all the side effects and how possible it is that I will have them. Never. I have always had to research myself. And when I ask about the side effects, they casually blow it off like it’s not a big deal and it probably wouldn’t happen to me. Everyone needs to stop and think about this seriously. The side effects from antidepressants and antipsychotics are LIFE ALTERING. Nearly everyone I have known in my life to take these medications has some other problem that manifested after taking these medications long term. You are essentially taking the chance that you will trade one problem for a series of other, more severe, problems. The side effects that they do not explain to you in detail are horrifying. Why would you take the chance of being one of those people you hear about on the Internet who’s life is ruined because of these drugs? WHY?
I can understand how desparate things can feel. I have been there. I have tried many of these medications. Every time, I just knew it was the wrong thing to do. My position on this now is… if you have not made drastic changes to improve your quality of life and significantly reduce your stress, if you have not tried every other means of natural stress release, then DO NOT take these medications! Don’t do it! They should be reserved for those people who have SEVERE mental conditions that have been proven unresponsive to ALL OTHER attempts to improve that persons quality of life.
We are making a big mistake allowing the media to promote depression as an illness. Media makes it seem like anyone who is depressed or TIRED for ANY REASON should not be feeling that way and that they should seek out medication immediately. We are teaching people that it’s ok to avoid dealing with your feelings naturally. That there is no reason why you should have to face the reality of life and let your feelings move through you naturally. Your job sucks? Take a pill. Your teenage son hates you? Take a pill. Your house is in foreclosure? Take a pill. What the hell people?! No one ever says… “Be strong and you will get through this. Time will make you feel better and this will pass.” What happened to those statements? Are they lost along with chivalry?
Anyway, as I mentioned previously, David wrote some good blog articles about antidepressants and antipsychotics. They are good reading and offer some valid points. Take a look…
