This part I think is because of society's shaming of mentally ill people in the media not taking their meds and that is why they committed [insert horrible act here]. People are essentially brainwashed by all of these forces and you are either condemned for not taking your meds and condoned when the meds "work" and now you are a zombie. I've explained to others who feel the need to drop into their conversation, "well s/he stopped taking their meds or something" that the kind of meds that society expects mentally ill people to take are extremely toxic. They wreck havoc on an individuals lives (more often then not, especially when people are after the holy grail of the "right cocktail") through weight gain, sedation, cognitive impairments, loss of libido, anhedonia.

I'm not saying this to justify taking meds or not taking meds. If you take meds and they work for you, that is great. If you don't take meds and it works for you, great. But I think what OP is getting at with the last part is people on a pedestal who do everything they are told by their psychiatrist and doctors and point fingers at those of us who heavily question the science and function of the realm of psychiatry.

I'm struggling recently with taking meds again. When I was diagnosed at 26, I told the psychiatrist he was full of sh--, this whole "umbrella" of diagnosing and a "spectrum" just allows big pharma to sell more drugs to more people.

I have long held the belief that anti-depressants and psychotropic drugs are intended only for a short amount of time. Get someone out of their bed and back in life, help that person get involved in alternatives to antidepressants (yoga, exercise, meditation,therapy, work, etc), and get them off of the drugs. But no, now these are lifelong afflictions and we have to be judged by society on whether or not we are taking our drugs, like we are children who are not completing their homework and need to be talked down to and told what to do.

I am currently in a full blown mania at the moment and that is due to arthritis medicine. Don't even get me started on that one. I saw my psych doctor on Friday because I'm feeling like my brain is going to explode. So he handed over the typical recipe, a mood stabilizer, an antipsychotic, and a benzo prn. But then, I just feel so resentful of the whole thing. I have to medicate myself with these effed up medications because I was taking another medication for another illness? And now I have to go off of the arthritis med and probably not be eligible for anymore in that class of medication.

Rant back at you. Take it easy, you seem to be on my wavelength - it's refreshing.