Published on 12, July, 2020
I read this and thought i would share it for your thoughts.....
The obvious answer to my question is no.
However, I didn’t always feel that way. In my 20s, I saturated myself in healthism and orthorexia. I thought I could control and optimize my body and mind simply by addressing my diet, getting enough exercise, and going to therapy.
I incorrectly thought that if someone needed psychiatric medication, it meant they weren’t doing the internal and external work. I assumed they were just treating the symptoms instead of the root cause.
This was further reinforced by a brief stint of anti-depressants I took in college. After a fire that consumed all of my physical items, I entered a deep state of depression. My doctor suggested Prozac, which I took. It didn’t help. It even worsened some of my symptoms.
Worsening symptoms is something doctors watch out for when they prescribe psychiatric medication. I incorrectly thought that if one psychiatric medication negatively impacted me, then all the rest were garbage as well. I didn’t know that certain medications can impact you differently depending on how your body responds to it.
I later took SSRI’s again after my mom died. I entered another deep state of depression. The medication I took that time helped (Zoloft), but I felt like a zombie. It was sooooo weird to barely think anything at all. In some ways it was very calming, and in other ways it was alarming. I didn’t want to Zzombie my way through life, so after three months I weened myself off
I also started therapy at that time, thinking that would be enough. It wasn’t.
Look, I’m a therapist, I clearly believe in the power of therapy. However, it cannot resolve everything.
Some things are just outside of our control.
I didn’t believe that until I learned I am autistic. I realized how different my brain is than a neurotypical brain, and that it’s ok to not measure myself by neurotypical standards. I will always think more and feel more than the average person.
I certainly don't think that medication is the easy way out. It may be the easy way for the medics who prescribe them so freely but not for the patient in my experience.
The time I was on various antidepressants was one of the worst experiences of my life and there was nothing easy about it. I was experiencing severe agitation, restlessness, constant panic attacks, insomnia and horrific nightmares. After a few months of that I was experiencing constant suicidal ideation and actively making plans. None of which I had experienced prior to being prescribed them for anxiety.
Antidepressants have not been adequately tested on autistic brains. Autistic people are far more likely to have atypical responses and suffer severe intolerable side effects. Then coming off them can be a nightmare for anyone, autistic or not.
Medication should be very much a patient choice. I accept they help some people but it should be up to the patient to choose whether to take them or not. Far too often people are bullied and pressured into taking them and that is wrong. Trying to refuse is seen as non compliance by many health professionals.