Dear perpetuallysad,

Does a disabled vet want to give up his prosthetic leg? Does a post-cardiac victim want to give up his heart medicine? Psychotropics are the same stuff. None of us are born perfect. None of us. We have lacks and needs that differ from person to person. But I'll tell you, there are an awful lot of people walking the streets who SHOULD be on psychotropic meds and aren't. Since none of us are perfect, the image in our minds of what we really should be, should do, should take, should think is way, way over-perfectionalized (if that's a word). Taking pills is not an "ugh" thing, it's like strapping on your wooden foot. Just something you do to function. Along with millions and millions of other people. And there's always the possibility that after a lot of work with your T or P, you won't need some of the pills any more. But it's no tragedy if you still need them. In addition to psychotropics, I have to take lots of pills for blood pressure and cholesterol. I'll be taking those til the day I die. Big deal. I don't resent them any more than I resent my big toe. If I had been born with different genes I wouldn't need them. And if you had been born with different genes you probably wouldn't need to take your pills. But you may (how can I know for certain?) not need those pills in a few years. So you're ahead of me. But it really doesn't matter. There's no picture of perfection you have to match, no TV image or movie image you need to conform to. You're a real, live person, not an imaginary construct, and real, live people frequently need things to help them along. Welcome to the real world!

Take care.