Am sorry to hear of your struggles Poppy.

i think things are very individual & complex with regards to medication. In my own case i think far more could have been done to help me 30 years ago - but even then maybe i would have still needed medication to be best helped. i tried living medication free & it didn't work out. There are psychosocial approaches that can be very helpful for people, & more should be tried to work with people.

Some people are very much helped with a wise use of medication, but the process of it all is almost alchemical.

imo psychiatric drugs are being far too widely & over prescribed, but that doesn't mean for some people it isn't helpful. For some people it helps, & for some it doesn't - these areas are not black & white - either/or.

In some severe cases of mental illness i think that medication is probably vital.

i do currently accept needing the medication i take to maintain a degree of stability & to stop more severe psychosis. i have become incredibly unwell in the past if i don't take it.