> When being good to yourself, others, exercising, and being in therapy don't produce an outcome that enables one to function daily (hourly, minute to minute, etc.) then I think medication can be a good option.

The first thing to think about is the kind of 'functioning' that is problematic. Painful feelings? Psychosis? What one should do depends on the nature of the problem in functioning.

So... Painful feelings - loss of enjoyment of things (a kind of depressed feeling) and the experience of pain.

So... How long should one experience those painful feelings and loss of enjoyment before trying medication? Should the feelings be lasting for a couple days... A couple weeks... A couple months?

How long should one solier on with exercise and mindfulness exercises and activity scheduling etc etc before resorting to medication?

What I was responding to was Pinksoil saying 'pretty much stayed home today and didn't do a great deal and felt like %#@&#! and couldn't sleep'. The idea was that getting out and doing stuff might well result in one feeling better.

I didn't really want to talk about other people and other peoples situation. I wanted to talk to Pinksoil about my understanding of her situation (which was why I was reluctant to participate in a thread where this wasn't about Pinksoil so much as about other people). Different people have different circumstances, I get that. I was speaking to lots of people, however, I was speaking to Pinksoil.