Why are so many people anti medication?

guess I'll keep worrying

From past readings on how meds work, psychiatrists often try one med to see how it works and may adjust the dosage or try a new med if the first one doesn’t work. Certain drugs can worsen symptoms and include some anti-depressants worsen bipolar symptoms so certain meds are used for bipolar disorder.

Not everyone takes psych meds long term. In fact for a first depressive episode is to take them for one year, no longer, then start to taper off of them

why is that??

I had a doctor who prescribed medications that worked well for me. He retired. I went to a new insurance provider - an HMO - and they refused to continue to prescribe what I was taking forcing me into a "cold turkey" situation. They prescribed other medications that not only did not work but caused very bad side effects.

Someone within the organization told me that the medication I had been on was fine...but that the HMO had to follow certain guidelines and so did not prescribe certain medications.

It's political.

I am finally off all medications and struggling on my on. For anxiety I use herbs. For the depression...well, I am really struggling.

I refuse to be a part of a system practicing bad medicine...and when politics and Big Pharma gets involved...and affects basic patient care...that's bad medicine.

You should never stop a medication before consulting with your doctor. This is why I don't want to get on meds. You become dependent on them and I can't risk being without meds I've become dependent on. It's scary... very stressful. I wish something besides meds helped.

I was pretty resistant to the idea of meds for far too long. I didn't realize how bad I was and thought that I could handle this myself. Meds have alleviated years of suffering, I do have concerns about side effects and want to minimize them but see it as a small price to pay for much a much improved mental state.

There are side effects to untreated mental illness, I've experienced many of them. Suicide is another serious side effect, a permanent one.

To each their own choice. For me, I've spent years on the unmedicated side and meds brought me to a better place than I've been in a very long time.

would you mind worrying some for me. i'm tired out. my hair is turning grey and my beard is turning white. i dont know what these drugs did to me. let me know if that works fo ya

which ones may I ask please?

Hi InfiniteSadness, just saw this. If you're asking which meds I'm currently on, it's Wellbutrin 200, Lamictal 100 and Buspar 20mg.

The lamictal was the game changer for me. The wellbutrin did zip for me until the lamictal was added, so it's difficult to say if it's helping. When my symptoms got so much better, after trial and error with meds that made me much worse, I asked if we could please not change a thing. She agreed.

Because mental illness is not a permanent state for everyone, sometimes they are only needed periodically. Of course this is not true for people who are the most severe, but for a single episode of depression for example, you treat for a year or so. if recurrent episodes occur then perhaps longer treatment is necessary