Why do people turn to medications when they are depressed?

Question

Depression is a natural reaction. Why do people try to curve this emotion. I think if you learn to handle your depression as it is, then you will become a stronger person for it.

Answer 1

You're right by saying that depression is a natural reaction. Depression is a common emotion, as is sadness.

However, what you (presumably) experience is not clinical depression -- the depressive disorders. Those are not natural. They are, in fact, quite abnormal.

We are in an overly medicated society. I think most psychologists will agree with that. However, society's dependency on medication is a sociological question and not a psychological one. Psychology is concerned with the makeup of the individual.

I'm a testament to the simple fact: Meds save lives.

Answer 2

I personally HAVE depression. For years I tried handling life w/out medication and it didn't work. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get myself over that mental hump. I tried to make myself a stronger person by not being on meds for a while. I don't know why, but I just couldn't win over. Sometimes medication is what is needed. As with any other disorder, medication can be the means of help... Just as a diabetic needs their insulin, I have learned that no matter how much I try to function off my meds, I always seem to somehow slump back into that un-wanted stage of depression. Yes, it's a natural reaction, but for some the meds are needed to help maintain a normal life.

Answer 3

Depression has more than one cause, one is just emotional trauma and is easier to treat but another is a chemical imbalance which is two hormones produced by the body one is serotonin and the is secretin which when not properly balanced will make you feel things that are not right like no one likes you, you don't belong and even can make you feel sad or unworthy. I suffer from this type and get treated both by a psychologist and take meds but it can be expensive so I go with out the meds when I cant afford them but without them it is hard to live happily, you can even get dizzy, light headed and even develop other symptoms like overeating or not eating enough, headaches, unexplained pain, unusual sleep patterns, and so on.

You can try to control it by other means but in my case It takes both meds, counseling, and not to mention a lot of patience and tolerance to the outside world not understanding.

My depression is caused by a sudden hormone change from a surgery to remove a fast growing cancer and a emotionally traumatic situation in a home life of an abusive marriage.

One last thing I learned that depression is also hereditary and can also include a suicide gene that makes the urge to commit suicide much stronger. they did a study on my uncle and one of my cousins when my uncle. my sister and several other relatives commit suicide. And they found that same gene in both living and the dead relatives.

Answer 4

Studies show that a combination of medication and theraphy is best for depression. But medication is a much less cumbersome alternative. You don't have to go to therapy sessions, spend your money and expose yourself if you just take a pill.

It is true that depression is a normal, healthy emotion. I think it can facilitate reflection and self-improvement. But only in moderation. I was diagnosed with depression. But the medicine would keep me up all night and take away my appetite. And the therapy was crappy, basically just a doctor asking questions off a checklist. So I don't use either. And I don't need to. I'm much happier now and feel stronger after wrestling with my demons. But my cold tukey approach may not work for all.

Answer 5

I agree- it's just an emotional state that has been reinforced by habit and perhaps a few negative experiences. Depression can involve a chemical imbalance in the brain, but all emotions that we feel exist as neurochemical patterns in our brains. By changing your way of thinking, you change your emotions, and this in turn changes the firing patterns of your neurons and brings about a balance.

To answer your question, I think that people turn to medications because it's an easy way out of a bad situation. It's easier to take a pill than to try to correct bad mental habits that bring about suffering, or to try to come to grips with negative experiences that you had in the past. I think that part of it is just confidence too- knowing that there is a magic medicine in you helping to correct your feelings can make you feel better just by the placebo effect. Depression is not natural in some cases where the chemical imbalance just comes about by factors beyond a person's control. (You can't just tell people with schizophrenia to stop having delusions and hallucinations when it is the result of neurochemical reactions beyond their control.) As you say though, there are many cases where just changing mental patterns can not only solve the problem but increase confidence and build resistance against future problems.

Answer 6

People sometimes become so overwhelmed by depression that depression starts to consume who the person is. It takes control of a persons life and they kind of forget who they are and they no longer have the desire to make things better. Depression is a disease. It is hereditary. It kills. Sometimes there is a need for help and some people find it in medicine.

Answer 7

Possibly you've never been truly depressed.

Depression creeps up on you, clouding your mind as it oozes under, around, and through the doors and windows of your soul.
It pulls the lifeforce from the air, picking your bones and leaving you alone in the flatness of its poison.

Medication can be that shining knight on horseback. Saving you when you no longer have the strength or forthright to save yourself. It enables you to pick up the pieces of your soul, and let the sun once again come through its windows.
It's not so much that people try to curve their emotion. They are hoping desperately to get it back.

Answer 8

Depression can be dangerous for some people.I feel if depression is due to recent circumstances see if it runs its course,however if there has been serious events in a persons life or a mental ilness depression needs to be dealt with and sometimes that means medication.

Answer 9

Sometimes the depression controls you; life just throws so much at you at once that you cannot function. That is when medication is needed. Once you have conquered the worst, you can be medication free and get back in control.

Answer 10

Depression is natural.. But if you can not stop being depressed then you need to seek help it is a know fact that depression is a chemical imblance in your brain.. So if you do not get help it will only get worse.. Good Luck.