[Nomad17]

Hi everyone,

Let me begin by saying I'm 17 and I've been on multiple different psychiatric drugs for depression, anxiety, and OCD since I was 14 years old. Lately I've become very suspicious of psychiatric medications, and really all drugs in general...and the government which really ties in here (MK ultra, etc.). However, I've realized that it doesn't matter whether or not I think the government is using medication to control my thoughts and make me conform into being a contributing member of society, because I'm still 17 and can do NOTHING about it. It sucks. I would quit taking meds in a heartbeat. I want to stop my medication. I hate it. I think it's changing me fundamentally as a person, stealing my thoughts, and turning my brain into mush. When I turn 18, I plan on stopping medications completely. I've already stopped taking my meds once, which only made my parents and the doctors give me more, which really just made me more suspicious. What if this is all widespread mind control by the government to keep us all the same? What if we're medicating great minds and stifling amazing personalities? What if the "crazy" or "paranoid" ones really know the truth and are being labelled in order for them to be controlled and/or ignored?

I think about this a good bit and have started freaking people out/annoying them because I talk about it obsessively. I just wondered if there were any other people who felt the same way and also what other people think about taking meds. I could just be paranoid like some people say, but I really don't think I'm really the only one. I can't be.

Any thoughts/opinions/feelings are much appreciated as I'm very interested in this topic in general.

Also this was not meant to offend anyone in any way if you support/endorse the use of these types of drugs. It is just my personal opinion/belief.

Nomad

[~JD~]

Watch this documentary.

I agree completely with your suspicions.
The ties between pharmaceutical companies, psychiatrists, and the FDA
is beyond what's necessary for "helping" the general population.

The psychiatrists add any emotion or natural human feeling to the DSM
and label it a disorder, then the pharm. companies comes in claiming
"We have a fix for that! Just take this pill!"

Plenty of these medications actually are effective, but that doesn't
change the fact that it's all done for money and to extort the "patients"

[elliemay]

I don't think that medications are a form of mind control by the government or anyone else. They are developed in order to make a profit mostly, but, then again, so are most products.

By and large I have found medications to be quite helpful and I'm the last person in the world that wants to be like everyone else. If you could see where I live, believe me, you would see why that is....

Like all things, you take the good and leave as much as the bad behind as you can.

As a minor, it IS too bad (understatement) that you can have medications forced upon you.

However, as you reach legal age, there is also the idea that you can make the best, reasonable decisions for yourself. Decisions based on fear or rebellion are usually not the best ones to make.

Perhaps you could try to parse out what is likely true, what is pandering to fear, and what actually helps with your life.

[rockgal]

Originally Posted by Nomad17

Hi everyone,

Let me begin by saying I'm 17 and I've been on multiple different psychiatric drugs for depression, anxiety, and OCD since I was 14 years old. Lately I've become very suspicious of psychiatric medications, and really all drugs in general...and the government which really ties in here (MK ultra, etc.). However, I've realized that it doesn't matter whether or not I think the government is using medication to control my thoughts and make me conform into being a contributing member of society, because I'm still 17 and can do NOTHING about it. It sucks. I would quit taking meds in a heartbeat. I want to stop my medication. I hate it. I think it's changing me fundamentally as a person, stealing my thoughts, and turning my brain into mush. When I turn 18, I plan on stopping medications completely. I've already stopped taking my meds once, which only made my parents and the doctors give me more, which really just made me more suspicious. What if this is all widespread mind control by the government to keep us all the same? What if we're medicating great minds and stifling amazing personalities? What if the "crazy" or "paranoid" ones really know the truth and are being labelled in order for them to be controlled and/or ignored?

I think about this a good bit and have started freaking people out/annoying them because I talk about it obsessively. I just wondered if there were any other people who felt the same way and also what other people think about taking meds. I could just be paranoid like some people say, but I really don't think I'm really the only one. I can't be.

Any thoughts/opinions/feelings are much appreciated as I'm very interested in this topic in general.

Also this was not meant to offend anyone in any way if you support/endorse the use of these types of drugs. It is just my personal opinion/belief.

Nomad

I do not believe the government is out to control our minds via medication. As one of the other posters said, though, pharmaceutical companies are for profit. We know that. Yes, there is a motive to make money. But that doesn't mean they are not producing drugs that are genuinely useful. The two are not mutually exclusive - making money and making useful products.

Sure, I would love to jettison all of my meds. It's sort of a pain taking them. But I really don't want to go back to crippling depression and miserable anxiety. On the right meds, I don't feel zombified. I feel like I am restored to my normal self, with my normal feelings and enthusiasms back. They are not perfect, but they sure are helpful. I owe my graduate degree to an antidepressant that gave me enough focus back and relieved my symptoms enough to let me actually write my thesis. Boy was I grateful.

Great and creative minds (not that I think I'm one of them... don't function all that well or do their great and creative things when they're in the throes of really bad mental illness.

I'm sorry you feel you are being medicated against your wishes, being still a minor. I would not like that either. Have you discussed your concerns with your parents and your psychiatrist? They should listen to your concerns and talk them through with you and work with you on decisions. Are you seeing a therapist, and if so, have you discussed your concerns with him or her? If you're getting obsessed about this, you really need to be talking to a therapist about it.

But Let's step back for a moment and put that issue aside (consent about meds). Let me ask a few other questions:

1. How bad were your anxiety and depression and OCD? Were you suffering badly? I am guessing you may have been to have been medicated at a young age and for so long, but only you and your family know your history.

2. Have you gotten any relief from of your symptoms with the meds?

3. When/if you did not feel you were getting relief, or when you had too many side effects, did your doctor work with you to find better options?

4. Were you at all satisfied with your meds prior to reading/thinking about and getting concerned about government control of your thoughts? In other words, are you letting fear drive your concerns, as opposed to objectively taking stock of how effective the medications are? Try to get some help divorcing your thoughts form worry about government control and try to objectively think about whether aspects of your life are better (or not) with meds, and if so, which symptoms and which meds.

If you want to stop your meds to see how you do without them, that's something best decided in collaboration with your doctor. If you do it, then the two of you would plan it out and do it slowly. If you do great without them, that would be really nice, but there's also nothing wrong with being prepared to go back on if you feel really miserable off meds.

Good luck.

[rockgal]

And looks like Elliemay said everything I was thinking, but much more concisely! :-)

[Nomad17]

1. How bad were your anxiety and depression and OCD? Were you suffering badly? I am guessing you may have been to have been medicated at a young age and for so long, but only you and your family know your history.

I was suffering pretty badly, and also did when I intentionally came off of my meds, but I think I could've worked through my problems with a therapist. Who knows. I will NOT tell you that I think the drugs aren't helpful. They are, and none of us can deny that. I just really am suspicious of them. Also, my parents rely on them VERY heavily-to the point where when everyone-all of my treatment team-insisted on inpatient/more intense therapy, they just said "no, you just need your meds right." They're firm believers in the "magic pill" theory. -_-

2. Have you gotten any relief from of your symptoms with the meds?

Yes, I have. But only after trying over 20 different cocktails and wasting much of the last 4 years having awful side effects and taking meds that didn't work.

3. When/if you did not feel you were getting relief, or when you had too many side effects, did your doctor work with you to find better options?

Yes, but lately she's given up and yesterday we resorted back to the first medication I ever took. We've tried everything.

4. Were you at all satisfied with your meds prior to reading/thinking about and getting concerned about government control of your thoughts? In other words, are you letting fear drive your concerns, as opposed to objectively taking stock of how effective the medications are? Try to get some help divorcing your thoughts form worry about government control and try to objectively think about whether aspects of your life are better (or not) with meds, and if so, which symptoms and which meds.

I used to just take my meds and not question it. It always has bothered me, but the "paranoia" is relatively recent. My meds never made me feel "good". I've always felt weird on them and different. I've mentioned this all to my psychiatrist and my therapist, and it-and some of my other beliefs-concerns them greatly. They're reluctant to call it "schizophrenia", so they call me "delusional". Its only a matter of time though. The labels are just another way to get me more meds and new meds, especially now that I've caught on to the plan. It's all really scary to me. But at the same time, the labels intrigue me-its felt lately like I'm watching this happening and its not happening to me, and the doctors and therapists are all little ants scattering to rebuild their anthill after someone stepped on it and I'm the anthill. It's an odd and interesting feeling...I don't think I'm making sense anymore. I think I'm really really going crazy.

Thank you for your kind reply. You raised great questions.

Nomad

[Nomad17]

Originally Posted by rockgal

I do not believe the government is out to control our minds via medication. As one of the other posters said, though, pharmaceutical companies are for profit. We know that. Yes, there is a motive to make money. But that doesn't mean they are not producing drugs that are genuinely useful. The two are not mutually exclusive - making money and making useful products.

Sure, I would love to jettison all of my meds. It's sort of a pain taking them. But I really don't want to go back to crippling depression and miserable anxiety. On the right meds, I don't feel zombified. I feel like I am restored to my normal self, with my normal feelings and enthusiasms back. They are not perfect, but they sure are helpful. I owe my graduate degree to an antidepressant that gave me enough focus back and relieved my symptoms enough to let me actually write my thesis. Boy was I grateful.

Great and creative minds (not that I think I'm one of them... don't function all that well or do their great and creative things when they're in the throes of really bad mental illness.

I'm sorry you feel you are being medicated against your wishes, being still a minor. I would not like that either. Have you discussed your concerns with your parents and your psychiatrist? They should listen to your concerns and talk them through with you and work with you on decisions. Are you seeing a therapist, and if so, have you discussed your concerns with him or her? If you're getting obsessed about this, you really need to be talking to a therapist about it.

But Let's step back for a moment and put that issue aside (consent about meds). Let me ask a few other questions:

1. How bad were your anxiety and depression and OCD? Were you suffering badly? I am guessing you may have been to have been medicated at a young age and for so long, but only you and your family know your history.

2. Have you gotten any relief from of your symptoms with the meds?

3. When/if you did not feel you were getting relief, or when you had too many side effects, did your doctor work with you to find better options?

4. Were you at all satisfied with your meds prior to reading/thinking about and getting concerned about government control of your thoughts? In other words, are you letting fear drive your concerns, as opposed to objectively taking stock of how effective the medications are? Try to get some help divorcing your thoughts form worry about government control and try to objectively think about whether aspects of your life are better (or not) with meds, and if so, which symptoms and which meds.

If you want to stop your meds to see how you do without them, that's something best decided in collaboration with your doctor. If you do it, then the two of you would plan it out and do it slowly. If you do great without them, that would be really nice, but there's also nothing wrong with being prepared to go back on if you feel really miserable off meds.

Good luck.

Also, really thank you for the time you took on your reply. that was very nice of you.

Nomad

[Rapunzel]

I definitely understand your concerns, and I agree that medications are over-used far too often. I don't think that it is any intentional attempt at mind control, though. Like you described, people develop distressing and painful symptoms that cause problems for them and for their families and people around them. There are many reasons for those symptoms including biological, neurological, social, environmental, behavioral, psychological, spiritual, etc. Not any one thing, but a combination of all of them. Typically, the person with the symptoms is more susceptible to situations in the environment or has needs that are not well understood and not met. It's probably pretty scary sometimes, for you, your parents, and others who are concerned. They don't know how to help you, and they have tried a lot of things that didn't work very well. And resources are always limited. There is never as much time, money, energy, ideas, etc. to be able to do everything the best that it might be, right?

So your parents take you to the professionals, who also want to help and maybe are supposed to have all the answers but since every individual person is unique, it's trial and error to find what might be effective for you.

Before we had psychiatric medications people might have tried various herbs and sometimes that helped and sometimes it didn't. Often they didn't know what else to do, so people with a lot of symptoms or problems may have just gotten locked away somewhere or worse. Now we have all of these medications, and new ones all the time, and they work (for some people, some of the time, when you get the right ones), and they make life a lot easier (if it's the right medication and amount for you). It's in everybody's best interest to find something that works. As a society, we don't want to lock people away anymore, but a lot of people still don't know how to handle someone who is different or has problems they don't understand.

Meds have made such a dramatic difference, and it is so easy to just take a pill, that I think we as a society have become overly reliant on them. We tend to overlook or disregard the side effects and adverse effects of medications, and to use too much and too many different ones without really understanding how it works and what it is doing. Medication doesn't really fix most of the problems either - it just makes the symptoms easier to deal with. We forget that there are all these other things - unmet needs, problems in the environment (meaning all the people and circumstances around you), and everything that caused the problem in the first place. There are more ways to help than just pills. To start with, how about listening to people and finding out what the problem was in the first place (easier said than done, especially after time has passed and you have had all of these things done to try to make it better and some probably made it worse instead).

There are more options. Your parents could be thinking the pills worked - why should we have to try something harder and more expensive. The doctors may be used to just writing a prescription because as a society we have gotten into this quick fix mode and now we think that's what doctors do. Hospitals are expensive and usually short-term and not very good at changing much in your life, at least not for very long, but they are useful if you need a safe place to get away from things for a little while.

Real change and healing takes time and a lot of work. Not everyone is willing to do what it takes. If you are, talk to your parents, doctor, therapist, and anyone else who is there to help you. Believe that they really do want to help. I hope that they listen to you and help you develop a plan to deal with the symptoms or problems that you have and to use less medication. There are people who do best if they keep taking some meds, and I don't know if you are one of them or if you will be able to function without any medication.

You can write out the pros and cons of taking medication, stopping medication, going into more intensive treatment, or any other options that you are considering. You need to find what works best for you so that you are free to live your life. I hope this helps.

Rapunzel

i think all psychiatrist know that there drugs are bad.

thats why some shrinks dont use them and they push for therapy.

they are in it for the money

i beleive the governement is out to control people so they are productive members of society or fit a normal profile.

i dont think low dosages of medications are bad but if u are into psyhisical fitness and u take a high dose of medication, that medication will probably ruin you with weight gain.

plus too much thorazine has made me lazy, even being off of it. i used to be really hyper and was always busy doing somthing, untill i got put on alot of thorazine , even being off it now for a few months, im just now getting my energy back..

i think the drugs are horrible and i think they should be illegal.

psychiatrist have no scientific test for there diagnossies, they vote by a show of hands , about what should be in the DSM and what shouldnt

its all a bunch of crap

normal behaviors theres like over 300 disorders in the DSM and its still growing