I was given risperidol when I was transfered to UCLA psych hospital. They were sure they could help me or at least do all the tests that would show what was going on with me. It messed with my blood pressure & I passed out at breakfast. That went over real well. At least they had to pay attention to that.

The psychiatrist I have now started out trying to give me every med under the sun again. I had told him what I had taken before him, but we seemed to have a communication problem to start. Once everything finally got understood between us, everything went fine & he has been the best Psych I have ever had. He works with many clinical trials & is up on all the current alternative treatments. He went with the natural meds for a while. I knew they didn't do anything but they also didn't do anything bad to me, so I made him happy by taking them. He even tried light therapy for me & provided me with the light to use for a few months to see if it would help. It didn't, but I appreciated him trying. He would always put me into the hospital when he tried a new drug in order to monitor the side effects. He always started with an extreme small dose which meant a long hospital stay to see how it progressed. It really sucked because the environment was not one I tolerated well but realized he was only trying to help in the only way he could think of.

I agree with you that a psych should not plot out new drugs for you to take & should just work with the one he has you on. I know it is hard to find a new Psych but you might try to find one that wants to work with your ideas for not using meds. If you are going to a psychologist/therapist, they are really the ones that help without meds. A psychiatrists job & knowledge is only to push meds, except for a rare few who go beyond that. You might need to break out of where you are & find someone else that can help.

I also found meditation useless but had it cramed onto me in all the group sessions I attended while being hospitalized. Maybe that is why I have an adversion to it.