Thanks for the article. I feel discriminated against because of my resistance to meds. I was cut off access to other psych services until I got on the meds. I relented when I realized I was not going to qualify for disability without the doctor reporting 'compliance with treatment'. I started taking the scripts but I didn't pop the pills. I just needed to 'appear compliant'. The doctors weren't interested in the 'effective non-drug' approaches I was taking to learn how to cope rather than mask or lessen the affects of symptoms.

I walk it alone because it is easier than debating treatment options with everyone who seems to suddenly be an export. My views don't seem to hold water with anyone so I just don't bother to express them anymore.

We all need to be given treatment choices even if the choice is to manage an illness without p-meds. Meds should not be a prerequisite to other psych treatment. No meds does not mean I don't want to live better. It doesn't mean I don't work at getting healthier. It doesn't mean I want to be left on my own to find my way towards recovery. It just means I want to work with other approaches than meds. Why is that so hard for the pros to understand?

I don't make much fuss about it anymore. I just let people say what they want to say and nod in agreement and change the subject. Meanwhile I keep on moving forward and when I fall down I always get up.

I feel limited in what I can share or risk being cut off from asking for support even here on PC. The pro-med voices and lectures are too rampent when I have tried. The no-med folks like me are pushed into silence to avoid the med talk.

Thank you for opening up a discussion that allows for alternative thoughts.

I have become a great performer to protect my rights to choose. I paint the pictures people want to see. It seems to keep them all happy and off the lecture podium. Mostly I just avoid people who know me very well so I can avoid listening to them offer unsupportive support no matter which side of this fence they are sitting.