[Sigster66]

For me it was a couple incidents in my early 20s. One was my step father finding a note on how I planned on killing myself by using a blender to blend up all the meds I had and taking them at once. The other incident was my roommates in a share house confronting me saying the saw my meds and didn't trust me around their kids just because I was prescribed meds. I got so mad I knocked over a table and cussed everyone out. I figured if I was a danger to self or others I better take meds. Though I did not know much about mental illness back then I knew hurting my self or someone else was not the way to go in life.

Sig, It got to the point w/ me that I had no other avenue. It was either listen to the doc, or loose my family, and kill myself. At the time I didn't have the choice. And to be honest, I still don't. Even today, 15 years later my options are to take the meds or die. And I do believe that if I don't take the meds, I will end up at a point where I don't see any other options, and that's not a happy place.

Yes, it takes awhile to find what works, but when it is found, I actually feel normal, what ever that is.

Jeffro

For me it was after I went into a psychosis. It was so scary it convinced me I was bipolar and I needed to take meds.

[Moose72]

I took them when prescribed them after I was diagnosed. Nothing major happened that I remember.

[BipolaRNurse]

I decided on meds the same day I was diagnosed and Lamictal was offered to me. It was a no-brainer.....as a nurse, I knew the chances of my being OK without them were slim and none. It took much longer to stop resenting the fact that I have to take them in order to function, but I finally accepted that as well.

I admire folks who can manage this illness without meds. I'm just not one of them.

[Cocosurviving]

For me I experienced two months of mania. I had no clue what was going on w/ me or that it was mania. I was dx'd and I started taking meds out of fear, that mania or the other episodes would happen.

[greylove]

I didn't decide to take meds; the decision was made for me. Four years ago when I was in the middle of my first and only mania, my hubby and pdoc had me committed. Technically I wasn't "committed". It was voluntary but the ambulance and two police cars that showed up at my house made it pretty clear I didn't have a choice.

[A Red Panda]

I've only just started on meds - I made the decision because after over 10 years of managing pretty well on my own... things were starting to creep in to my work. I can tolerate when I mess up my personal life... but I didn't like seeing that things were starting to affect my teaching. It wasn't fair to my students. And currently... I know that I have fairly good coping mechanisms in place for myself, but I have a lot of environmental factors within the last two years that I can't do anything about. So, I ran out of ideas to help myself and figured it was time I dragged my butt to the doctor.

I've taken meds on and off for depression my entire adulthood. I only received my bipolar diagnosis about 6 years ago, and I've toyed with my meds still on and off since then, very much in rebellion against/ denial of my diagnosis. But a couple of months ago I had a manic episode that really scared me. I rarely get manic. in fact this was the first manic episode i have had in at least 7 years. my hospitalizations ave all been for depressive episodes. But this episode landed me in the hospital for mania with psychosis, and I have finally come to terms with the accuracy of my diagnosis. I take my meds consistently now and have no intention of screwing with my meds and deliberately risking that kind of episode again.

[Frokly]

i have no idea why i took meds, i told my parents a story of me being telepathic when i was 16 then on the last year of secondary school i dropped out went to see a psychiatrist then for some reason just started taking my medications without even questioning if it was any good.

i cried every night for year back then, hid my face with my blanket so my brother couldn't see, so even now i still hide my face when i sleep, i wish i could fix that just sleep with my face open

i guess maybe that bout of year long depression was a good enough reason to take meds... no idea... or maybe i thought i was crazy just like that...

[Tiger_Lily]

I got to the point where I knew, still know, I would kill myself without them. There was nothing objectively wrong with my life, aside from being able to complete my university degree, but I still didn't want to live. I told my pdoc that if I didn't recover, I would kill myself in September, and it was the end of July, but that I would try anything. I found the miracle med for me: lamicatal. I am no longer stable, but sometimes I am baseline and I've had to alter dosage and add additional meds, but I am back in school and still employed and, most of the time, happy to be alive, even when I am not happy.

[LadyShadow]

For me it was the fact that I hadn't been on meds for three whole years and the symptoms came back. The mania the depression all flooding me. I admire people who can live without it. just the risks to my life are too high for me to be without them. It is a scary place when your symptoms come back and you''re not even aware of it. I need the meds, I am too afraid of the person I am without them

[comicgeek007]

I got a crapton of antidepressants forced upon me after I attempted suicide. Turns out they made me.crazy and did screwy things with my blood pressure.

[wildflowerchild25]

my life became unmanageable without them recently. the episodes started coming on more frequently and becoming more severe. so i decided to give meds another go.

[BPDBIPOLARME]

I have been on and off meds for some time. I have just really tried to do the right thing without alcohol 2 mos ago. I need to take medication or life and I am unmanageable. I am still trying to get the right cocktail, but I now feel like I am truly doing my best to get better.