I agree with what everyone's saying about the medication. It's not for everyone, and those who push it on a "for life" basis are incorrect. As a registered nurse who treats nursing home residents every day, it's amazing to see how many pills these people take in any given day. Some take upwards of 20 pills a day. Some, however, take very little and do just fine. Some take pills to counter the side effects of other pills they take, which is just mind-blowing to begin with.

What drives me insane is the people who ask for meds for every little cough, ache, or pain. They act as if a pill will fix all their problems, which they won't. Pills are poison. And this isn't some conspiracy theory talking. If they weren't poisonous they wouldn't cause side effects. And pills do NOT fix every problem. As many of you probably know they cause more problems than they fix. Some are even addictive (benzos, opiates, etc.) and have wicked side effects when you try to stop taking them. The doctors I work with are mostly pretty decent and try not to prescribe anything unless they absolutely have to. But it's the patients, who are in a dependent state, that beg for some magic pill to solve all their problems. It's maddening to hear them beg. Sure, a pill might relieve some symptoms, but it's not going to solve the problem. Like the lady in the video said, it's all about symptom management.

As far as I'm concerned, I don't want to be psychotic. It causes so many problems in my life that I can't function and my family suffers. I ask for medication. I do the research. I know more about antipsychotics than just about everyone I know (maybe even including my pdoc). I know I need them to be stable in life. Do I want them for the rest of of my life? Of course not. And I know they aren't a cure. But if they help me come to a point where I can help myself via other avenues, such as self-care, exercise, eating right, making it to therapy, etc., then so be it.

Many of you have said it already, pills aren't for everyone. Everyone is unique. I say this to my own patients as well. Everyone will react differently to medication as well as their own disease process. If SZ was so simple, we'd all have the same symptoms, disease process, etc., and we'd all take the same pill. But no disease is simple. Everyone's different, which I think is the key point. Everyone will need a different treatment. Some might do well on meds, while others will try every med under the sun and get no relief.