When all you do is hand people so called solutions on a silver platter, they don't expect that any personal work or commitment is involved or necessary for any degree of success. So you have "Dot" [or whatever its called], the little cartoon Pfizer blob that could. Within the span of a thirty second commercial it goes from miserable and alone to smiling and surrounded by happy bird friends.

People go from sad and withdrawn peeking out a window into the rain to playing frisbee on the beach with their dog.

Oh yeah. Then there's that Abilify commercial known for "dat azz" woman

I am not against "drugs" completely (although I prefer different kind of mind altering subtances then the ones doctors give you)... but peeps should realize what drugs can and can't do. They can make you feel somewhat better, but then... they cannot make you do something. Just like back in Uni days when I downed few cans of RedBull or sketchy looking Speed8... I knew I will have enough energy and concentration for allnighter. There was never a garantee it's gonna go into studying or writting paper... instead of playing Pharaoh all night long or watching Tyra Show. So unless you get the right attitude... the drugs alone will not help you.

People don't like to hear they have responsibility, because the post-diagnosis "not my fault" is so tempting. But once you are aware... you gotta do something. Life is hard... for everybody... and by refusing to take responsibility one can make it even harder.



In advertising and in pop culture, there is little to no emphasis or even much mention at all of any type of personal work that one might need to do to improve one's mental health.
There are also many people who are just sort of passed through treatment- "helped along"- without much focus on coping skills, learning independence, self soothing, things like distress tolerance and decisions making, any basic fundamentals of HOW to work on improving your own prognosis.

Yeah, pretty much this. Thing is... many people are capable of it. I hate when people say "we can't control our behaviour". Eh, we may not be able to control our moods (but that can be done to a degree if one is self-observant), but we def can control our responses to them. And by learning to damage control... we make lives so much easier for ourselves.

Self-empowerment, as VenusHalley seems to suggest- though I don't want to put words in your mouth- is not a priority as often as it should be.

Indeed.

Thanks for your well thought reply