i've been very depressed and confused lately. should i consider taking psychiatric medication again?

Question

i have had problems with severe depression and anxiety since i was about 14. my parents were and still are very emotionally abusive and insulting to me. i am 27 now and living primarily on ssi, which is barely enough to pay cheap rent and eat. i haven't been on any medication or talked to a therapist in a few years, but the last year or so, i have been increasingly confused and unable to think clearly about many things. i have been making many very stupid decisions that i keep regretting. i think i may even have schizophrenia, altough i don't have hallucinations. this confusion and frustration i have been experiencing is making me feel suicidal a lot. the thing that keeps me from wanting to take medication is the potential negative effects it has on your body. i need to make a decision soon about whether to try medication again.

Answer 1

trust me (someone who has been struggling with themself for the past year or two), you need to talk to a dr. even if you dont want to take medications. there are other treatments out there such as "talk therapy" which may be all that you need. you wont know until you go.

Answer 2

Talk to a professional such as a general practitioner or a psychiatrist about this concern. A psychiatrist will be much more skilled than most general physicians.Meds work well for some people, though may not be ideal for others. This is a personal choice.

Statistics show that medications and some counseling greatly reduce feelings of depression, and anxiety. Medication is very effective for symptoms related to schizophrenia. The longer you wait, the worse off you could be.

Many counties have low or no cost clinics that can help you. Look in the social services pages in the yellow pages/on-line for help.

Answer 3

Hey Dylan, Don't make a decision without consulting a good mental health professional. Medication can fix a lot of problems and is no longer a life long thing in most cases. Ask questions about any medications that you are prescribed, what do they do, what are the side effects, how long will I have to take this? It is important to look after your body but if your mind isn't functioning you need to care for that too. Feeling suicidal is a pretty major thing and you need to seek out some help, see your previous counsellor or find a new one but deal with it before it becomes overwhelming.
Getting help is a good decision.

Answer 4

Please stop guessing if you have, "schizophrenia", or some other mental illness. Your primary concern and my professional concern for you is that you feel "suicidal".

Your primary concern is that you should take yourself to a really good psychiatrist. One who cares about you in mind, body and soul. You don't want a psychiatrist, who does not perform a full medical history, psychiatric evaluation to determine if you are "SMI", (serious mental illness). Or you are just depressed and he/she needs to make a DX., and you both work together one-on-one to get to the root cause of your problem.

Medications only mask the root cause. You feel good, but the hurt is still inside of you. The situation is quite different if you are DX, with serious mental illness. Then you will need to be on medications and stay on them for life in order to live a quality life.

Appears that you have not lived a quality life since you were "14 years old". Now it is time to get that proper DX., and if you have to take medications you must learn to live with it and atleast you will have a quality life. Something that you don't appear to have now.

Please I pray for you that you will go and get the professional help that you need, as taking your life is a mortal sin an a complete waste. God put you on this earth and only God will take you when you time is up on this earth. You don't have that right.

If you were in my office and you told me that you have suicidal ideations, I would be required by law to commit you to a mental hospital for 72 hours.. You would go either calm or by force.

Being that you are not in my office I am asking you to please see a psychiatrist, before the urge over powers you to take your own life. This is not they way it has to be.

All medications have side effects. The doctors and ofcourse you have to help them by telling them if you have any strange side effects, so that they can either reduce your medications or find medications with fewer side effects.

Over a period of time, usually medications with mild side effects, your body will adjust and you will not even feel the side effects.

I will be praying for you. Do the right thing please.

Clinical Psychiatrist,
France

Exccuse my english.

Answer 5

Hi sounds like you need a friend. I am Bipolar and living on SSD for the same reasons that you explained except I didn't have abusive parents.

As with you I feel that I have made many more bad decisions (except my kids) than I have good.

My doctor says that I am his second worst disaster of a case. We laugh about it together because I am so hard to treat.

It sounds like you may be Bipolar and off of your meds. Why are you off of your medications? If you are Bipolar you need to be on medications and you must take them everyday in order to get better and to stay better. Going off of your medications was definately one of your bad decisions.

If you are feeling suicidal I would go to the nearest hospital with a Psychiatric Unit and be evaluated for inpatient care. It is not so bad and they can evaluate you there and get you started on a regimen of medications. Confusion, frustration and suicidal thoughts are all those of a Bipolar person off of their medications. I know I quit taking mine a couple of times and ended up in the hospital completely manic and confused. Do yourself a favor. You are on SSI so you don't have to worry about missing work, please go to the hospital and get checked out. I am not a doctor but you have the same symptoms as myself but you say that you don't hallucinate I do if I am off of my medication.

If you need someone to talk to about it please feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail], I will be glad to help you in any way that I can, but please make that trip to the emergency room before it is to late. Good Luck and by the way the medications made now are different than they were a few years back and they have less side effects than the older drugs do.

Answer 6

Maybe you are having trouble making this decision because you are depressed. Don't you just hate those vicious circles? Let me make it a little easier for you. Based on what you have just said, there is justification for admitting you to the hospital. That should tell you that it is time to start taking medication agian. If you have side effects from a medication, then your doctor should switch you to another one. Don't let something that might or might not happen stop you from doing what you need to do. Please get yourself to a doctor.

Answer 7

I would go to the doctor and talk about your concerns with them. You already have admitted to a problem in the past and it sounds like it has reared it ugly head again. Have you tryed any therapy? Now would be a good time to do that. Just do it. I believe its the right decision--call a doctor and make yourself an appointment to get better.

Answer 8

You may want to ask your doctor about Buspar. Out of all the anti depressants I have taken, Buspar has been the best on little to no side effects.

Answer 9

sure sounds like you should be on medications. if your area has a local crisis help line you might want to think about calling it (if you can't afford the medication and need help finding out how to get it, they should be able to help)

Answer 10

make a appoitment with your nerv doctor he what is best for you never second guess on this matter he is trained as well familer with many things about medication you need. in my opion?