What would the purpose of a psychiatrist be? I am not messing with you and you don't have to answer -but I am curious (for example -my sibling is on anti-depressants but still won't make choices that would help him) as to whether the purpose is to use chemistry to more tolerate an unhappy place such that a change is less compelling or to use chemistry because it might help make change not so scary or something else.

I have never taken any drugs for depression or anxiety -but they gave my person some ativan for anxiety around chemo (a couple of rounds were brutal) and she described taking one as just whoosh the anxiety was gone. Another friend used ativan for anxiety for a few months after her father died because she kept fretting about dying -and she called them her happy pills. I tried taking one of my person's one time and felt nothing - no whoosh, no happy pill response. I was both relieved I felt nothing from taking one and a little disappointed. I wanted to know what whoosh felt like.