Quote:
Originally Posted by NowhereUSA
My advice to people in general when they ask about mental healthcare is that I recommend skills based therapy and if they find that isn't enough to pursue psychiatric care. The reality is that a brain under stress *does* undergo chemical changes and a medication can help right those changes. Like my friend. She needed something temporarily, she took it, and then she didn't need it anymore. Why is that any different than needing an antibiotic or some other medication? Yes, it's trickier to sort out because we can't yet crack open the brain and know what's going on (ha! and in my case 20+ antidepressants and other meds never made a dent - ketamine grew pathways that apparently I was missing).
Long long long answer. Anyway, my point is, I think there are useful therapies and useful drugs but the brain is tricky and so are our personality and moods and so we have to decide what we're willing to live with. In my case, we were getting pretty desperate as my depression hovered right between "nightmare" and "a$s end of demon town."
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I agree that a brain under stress is going to worsen symptoms, and that what you describe as a benefit of medication and/or skills based therapy works for some...but it is not true for everyone. I very much regret ever listening to people who told me to take medication, that I would be able to get on top of things and get better. I have spent my entire adult life in pain, with periods of drugged haze, and nothing changed or got better (in a few cases, bad therapy made it worse). The medication actually caused more problems for me and now I have a mental health record and stigma I did not have prior to getting mh drugs. I have no one in my life, so when I take medication, I am just a medicated hermit, haunted by a very complicated past. The idea that I can take medication temporarily, or that it will fix anything for me, has been a dangerous and disillusioning lie.
I just point that out because I don't think I am alone in having challenges that medication and skills protocol do not even touch. So, there's therapy, which is a problem because it's such a long shot, and finding a good therapist is very hard. I have been very hurt by therapists in the past. I've got one now that is really good for me, but the problem is that all those other failed and harmful approaches make me wary of her even after a year of weekly appointments.
I don't know what the answer is. I just know that for many, it is not simple. I am glad for those who do find a solution.