Why do ppl do some things

Why do ppl sometimes purposely not take their meds? To see what happens? Fear feeling better? Maybe they are so used to feeling depressed and down for years or the majority of their life that they fear the unknown of being better? Thoughts?

well I know my hubby will hit a point where he feels so good for so long that he must be cured, so why take meds he doesn't need? Just a few weeks ago he was going to stop again but we discussed it and I pointed out what happens EVERY FREAKING TIME he stops so for now he's still taking them.

My sister would quit because she missed being manic. She said the pills made her feel fake and flat. That on them everything was gray and she wanted to live in colour

I'm not medicated right now because I can't afford to see a T and the Pdoc won't see me unless the T sees me and I just can't afford the copay PLUS the cost of the meds. I know it makes me a bit of a hypocrite to gripe at him to take his meds when I don't have mine. But because of his medicare his appointments/psych meds are free OR $3. Wish mine were

I'm sure other people have other reasons too

For me, I stopped taking them because I felt ashamed and believed I was "cured."

I come from a loving family, but their view on mental illness is very flawed. Every time I was released the hospital with a prescription for meds, my mother would immediately tell me to throw them out or don't take them. She would question me daily if I took it and if I happily responded "yes," she'd look so disappointed. Both of my parents would constantly tell me that I was completely fine if I could just push myself to get over my issues. If I ever took them in front of my younger siblings, they would stare at me and question, "Why do you even take them? Do they actually do anything? I don't think you need them."

I felt incredibly embarrassed and even started to question myself. I started to believe that they were right; there's nothing wrong with me, so I'd throw them out and relapse right back into hospitals. That was the cycle throughout most of my teen years.

Now that I'm thinking back on this, I deeply regret trying to fit it with my family's views. I plan on getting back on meds but this time, I'll hide in my room or the bathroom while taking it if I have to.

I stopped taking my meds (the last time...) because I was really worried about what it could be doing to my brain. I was on Seroxat (otherwise known as Paroxetine or Paxil) and experiencing so many of the side effects because I was rubbish at getting in to the habit of taking them, I'd forget on an almost daily basis despite leaving the blister packets anywhere from on my box of teabags to on top of the snooze alarm on my alarm clock, even attached to my house keys at one point. Despite this I don't think in 5 years I went through a single week where I took them every single day and definitely not at the same time of day on consecutive days.

I saw and read a lot of bad stuff about Seroxat, despite this I kept on taking it, I felt a bit stronger and less affected by other people's opinions, I felt less like everything around me hurt and as if I had a bit of a stronger outer shell, but I was still getting all sorts of side effects so I began to withdraw.

I withdrew over many months (18 to be exact) because the previous time, withdrawing over 9 months left me in a psychiatric hospital. Even though my taking them had been so scatty I still was left too afraid to leave my home and wanting to die. 18 months seemed to work but then again I relapsed with my eating disorder so I guess I'll never know.

Makes me doubly worried about taking anything else. Or to keep taking anything and not get cold feet, freak out over what happened last time and as a knee-jerk reaction to just stop taking what I would be taking. You experience things like the head-zaps, dizziness, mood swings, floor flying up at your face.... you do begin to wonder if there is irreparable damage occurring where you can't see it (in your brain).

So why do/would I suddenly stop taking my meds?

Fear.

I honestly don't think it's fear of being better. I think most people with MI very much want to feel better.

For me I have stopped taking them in the past (without pdoc's approval) because either 1. I was feeling better and hated taking them so I thought I could do without; or 2. I wasn't feeling better and thought they weren't doing any good so I thought why bother. Not very rational thinking, but depression can do a number on the rational part of your brain. :-)

For people with an illness like schizophrenia, there is something called anosognosia. Part of the illness is not believing you're ill. So someone may not want to take meds for that reason.

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A lot of people with depression get to a point where negative thinking plays a big part such as believing that there is no point in taking medication (what's the point in trying,) believing it doesn't work or feel they are unworthy. Depression can make you believe all sorts of terrible things about yourself so starting medication in the first place can be a huge step.

Then you've got the double edge sword of the fact that it takes 6 - 8 weeks for medication to get into the system, this can make someone believe it doesn't work, so why bother. If someone manages to take the correct dosage over the length of time (that introduction stage) then the person may start to feel slightly better and believe that they don't need medication after all.

I've stopped them in the past more times than I can count for various reasons.

First time I felt better and decided I didn't need them. Backfired of course.

I also stop them when I'm not feeling good though. Part of me decides they obviously aren't working so what's the point in keeping on taking them? Another part of me is very self destructive so when I start going downhill I generally just start doing all the wrong things without even really thinking about it, it's just an automatic response. And another reason is so that I can stockpile...

Side effects....or not helping so not wanting to take a useless pill with potential long term health effects.

When I feel the meds are not helping I usually stop because I get tired of taking them. But usually that makes the depression worse so I try again. Get tired of going back and forth so I have finally decided to stop all together. The T and the Doc are not happy about that but I figure why not? Right now the both of them are not happy with me anyways.

Thank you for all of the responses. I wanted to know because I try not to but do purposely miss doses either because 1 I feel they r taking over my brain and allowing others to control me. Or 2 i am so used to feeling so awful when that awfulness goes away I don't know how to respond to anything. I haven't been able to grasp and identify my emotions an when I don't know what I feel I have a tendency to get very angry and frustrated and do really stupid things.

Simple. Negative and potentially harmful side effects.

After not only enduring abuse from the mental health system and dealing with the some of the worst negative side effects during my childhood, but also seeing 2 relatives suffer long term organ damage over bipolar medicine, I refuse to ever take any of their poison ever again especially since there are plenty of alternative ways to treat most mental illnesses.

Even if there weren't so many negative side effects associated with these medicines, there is also the fact that it usually takes trying several or more medications to find something that works. Personally, if I wanted to be their lab rat, I would at least join a paying clinical trial and be compensated for my time and pain.

So, you don't believe in psych meds. There are some on here that go without.

Each person has to see what suits them best I suppose, some would be most unwise to stop taking meds, while others may well find meds are useful in a crisis but are able and would rather control their illness by other means at other times. Unfortunately the nature of many people's illness might well limit their ability to appreciate their need for meds and to take wise decisions about continuing them.

Wise of course to seek professional advice, but in the end it is a personal decision.

This totally says how I feel!

I believe in psych meds only as a last resort. If you absolutely can't do anything else to treat your mental illness then psych meds can be viable.

I believe if somebody has an illness rather it be mental or physical, one's nutritional intake, lifestyle, coping skills, and stress levels should be looked at first and handled accordingly before medicine should even be considered.

I also believe that most forms of acting out that could be associated with a type of mental illness hve an inherit reason behind it such as stress, trauma, or something wrong in their life. Doing something about one's triggers and seeking therapy when applicable can solve the vast majority of people's problems. Why give an Asprin for a brain tumor when the problem can be attacked directly?

I'm opposed to America's need to prescribe a medication to somebody for every little issue. I believe in the saying "at first, do no harm" and I believe that the best medicine is the human body.