Why do people think they need some kind of Drug to get through LIFE? I work with people that discuss their?

Question

prescriptions like they are discussing the latest toilet paper. "Mine is soft and I drift through the day" OH GOD MINE STARTED THAT WAY AND NOW I ITCH ALL OVER!!
can anybody give me the name of their Dr? mine will not give me anymore drugs!.May I borrow some of your??? OH HELL NO!! I NEED IT OR I MIGHT KILL SOMEBODY< MY DR SAID SO!!!

Am I so Different and my Children so Different that we can live a Happy Life WITHOUT the Drugs or are we missing something???

I was beaten by my parents as a child (I mean BEATEN) belts,hands etc..for nothing more than not turning in my Homework. I was sexually abused by my uncle ( A Principal at an Elementary School in Mesquite Texas) look up the 60's and 70's . (Arlie Holman). I worked 3 jobs while going to school to get the money I needed for College! i got STUPID, got married and Pregnant! I used MY SAVINGS to put Him through COLLEGE and lost my BABY at FULL TERM because SHE was tangled in the umbilical cord.
I do not know where he is now but he has a degree.
I moved on and married a man that lost his Son to Lukemia at 5 years old. My sons are , and 17! I am raising them on my own because their Father (my ex husband) is in Prison for a stupid thing he did!!
Do I need Drugs? Do my Children?
NO!!
Hello!!
We are healthy and know that LIFE IS LIFE!!!
We have all been given tests for our strength in LIFE and I guess my family has it!
NO DRUGS!!
We have our brains and souls! GOOD STUFF!!

Answer 1

Be proud of yourself that you're not buying into the drug scams the drug companies push on everyone with their massive marketing campaigns. No pill replaces real life.

Answer 2

Look, I have to agree with all the folks here who reacted negatively to your post and I was angry at first too because mental illness is difficult enough without people passing judgement on those who seek treatment.
But yes, there are a lot of folks on meds these days and here's a couple reasons why:
1) We live in an age where pharmaceuticals are big business and that's good and bad. The "bad" part is that often times primary care docs don't have the time to really analyze why a person is depressed and whether therapy or meds or both make sense-it's easier to hand out a pill. And they are encouraged to do this rather than refer people to therapists or psychiatrists by the insurance companies who offer them incentives for keeping their referral numbers down. So, yes, we end up with some people on meds who could probably be better treated with therapy and support. The good news is that because pharmaceuticals have high profit margins, threre is a tom of money being dumped into research and newer and better drugs are being discovered at a rate unparalleled in modern times. We have better treatments and more choices and this encourages people to take meds (including the majority of those who need them) who might have otherwise gone untreated.
2) There has been a greater emphasis put on better education about mental illness, particularly the vegetative signs of true clinical depression, and it is being identified far more frequently because both consumers and docs know what to look for. People who would have previously been labelled as neurotic are now finally being taken seriously and receiving treatment and there is less stigma attached to mental illness than ever before-another good thing-but it increases the number of folks on meds.
3) Another reason is that I believe there is a lot more trauma in the world today, especially for young people. When I was a kid, I never had to be afraid of school shootings, afraid there's be no social security when I grew old and no fear of terrorist attacks. I also had the luxury of a parent who was home all the time and the support of an intact family. I wasn't afraid to go out and play with kids in the neighborhood because neighbors knew each other and looked out for one another, so I had other outlets to develop for relaxation and a social network kids today are often lacking. I also never doubted I'd find a job and be able to support myself when I grew up. I could go on, but you get the idea. There's a lot more trauma and a lot less support for kids and adults now than there was 20 years ago and if you don't think trauma creates symptoms, well then, you just aren't paying attention.
4) Lastly, when I was a kid, psychiatric illness in children was nearly unheard of because we just couldn't imagine kids could have stress or depression. In other words, we were just plain ignorant and let a lot of kids suffer needlessly and took the easy way out by calling it a phase. Yeah, adolescence was tough and teenagers are moody, but look at the increasing rates of suicide in teens and tell me it's a phase.

So to sum up, yeah, there are a lot more people with mental health problems who are receiving treatment today than there were 20 years ago. Society has changed, the world has changed, the medical landscape has changed and attitudes have changed.

If you can "get through life" without being touched by mental illness, than count your blessings and when you see people who struggle and take meds remember that there but for the grace of god ....
Be thankful and don't judge others who aren't as fortunate as you.

Answer 3

You aren't different in a bad way- but I believe people should be more understanding towards other people. Some just cope with problems differently than others. Sadly, this means people will turn to drinking, drugs, pills and etc. as a means to cope. Some may feel this is their only option. And in many cases it is truly NEEDED as a means for these people to survive. Mental torment is worse than anything imaginable.

Answer 4

Sounds like you are patting yourself on the back and feeling superior because you don't have a mental illness. Perhaps they are talking about the pills so they don't have to feel like they are a freak show because they have a stigmatizing mental illness? Do you take aspirin for a headache? If you take a pill for pain, what is wrong with taking a pill if you have mental pain that won't go away with time? Mental illnesses did not have good treatments until recently, so people didn't treat them as real physical illnesses, until recently. Geez, brain scans and autopsies show that there is brain damage going on, isn't that real enough for you? It makes me feel real good to know that there is white plaque forming in my brain. That's not to say the pills aren't overprescribed, they may well be, and most people with mental illnesses would do well to get counseling or get themselves out of a bad situation, if they can.

You lack empathy for others, you are judging, don't be thinking that you know everything, or you have learned no wisdom through the years.

*Your question really disturbs me.* I hope that it comes from a lack of knowledge, and not arrogance.

Answer 5

Be thankful that you and your children have not been victims of physical or sexual abuse, abandonment, lack of loving parents. I could go on. Most of the time there is a chemical imbalance in the brain and there are certain meds that stabilize those chemicals and allow people to deal with feelings and life in a better way. You can't understand if you haven't been there.

Answer 6

i am a diagnosed bi-polar and border line personality disorder at the time of diagnosis full time carer elderly parent single parent working full time with no support network maybe that is the reason why i needed drugs cos in the end i ran myself into the ground by doing everything for everyone else and nothing for myself and no normally i dont discuss my meds and you should think yourself licky you dont have any mental health issues they certainly are not easy to deal with

Answer 7

I am happy for you & your family not needing medications (no-one really wants them), the raging debate about over prescription has valid points, however dont dismiss the mental illnesses that require medications, just like mainstream illnesses eg diabetes, epilepsy. Before these medications people died or were institutionalised, so for these people there is a need.

Answer 8

Now see...this question wouldn't *even* come up with other real medical issues like cancer, or diabetes or heart disease.

But no, someone puts the word "mental" in front of "illness" and suddenly, medication is no longer legitimate even when it is perscribed by a doctor, who often has to *tell* people they *have to take the stuff EXACTLY as ordered* or risk being committed by Court Order for being A Threat to Self Or Others....oh no, if it's a "mental" illness, now it's a "drug" isn't it, and people are just "taking Happy Pills (tm) to get high".

It's disgusting is what it is. It's bigotry, pure and simple.

Look, do you see folks like me pissing and moaning when diabetics have to talk about "shooting up" on insulin? And *yes*, I have had a few diabetics in my own family, those *are* the words they use. Do you hear folks like me complaining when cancer survivors show their bald heads and are clearly ill from using chemotherapy *as their doctor told them to*? No you don't. Why?

Because I understand that these are real illnesses here, that nobody *wants* to have cancer or to be a diabetic, and that sometimes people have to talk about what is an important part of their lives--yes, people do obsess over their meds sometimes, but it's only because they want to preserve what health they have left as best as they can, ok?

Is this so wrong, or is it only "wrong" when the illness is psychiatric? Is it only wrong when it is an illness *You* don't want to believe in? Is it only wrong when *You* want to carry on with the delusion that it's some sort of "character flaw" or laziness, when in fact people *still* committ suicide by the hundreds to thousands each year for want of timely and proper treatment?

So am I saying there is a pill for everything that goes wrong? Hardly. What I am saying is....Quit Picking On US!! Many people with psychiatric health concerns *need* to be on the medications they are on (or something better still) not just to keep them from being a Legal Threat To Self and Others, but also to a) keep voices and/or hallucinations from destroying their lives, and/or b) keep extreme mood swings from rendering them housebound and incapable of functioning in the outside world. Do you *not* want anyone with a Mental Illness to recover enough of their wits to actually, I dunno, maybe find *work* again so they can earn a living?? Do you want them to kill themselves when their lives are in utter ruin from want of treatment?

Stop it. Stop being such a bigot about an illness *You* don't like. Because the truth is, *nobody* chooses to be depressed or schizophrenic either, ok? These too are legitimate medical *illnesses*, they *happen* to people, and are *NOT* something a person chooses freely of their own will.

I mean, yeah, I know people obsess about their meds, but that is *their* business, they are just trying to mind *their* health...you don't have to be a busybody and listen. And you sure don't get any right to judge, unless you yourself a) are a doctor, AND b) also have discovered a *breakthrough* that is going to make all of this obsolete.

And if that latter statement is true, what are you still doing *here*, don't you have a Nobel Prize in Medicine waiting for you? :p *lol* I thought so....

Thanks for your time. ^_^ Yes, you've annoyed me, but still....

Answer 9

its gone on for hundreds and hundred of years, whatever it be, caffeine, alcohol in the coffee cup, the prescription drugs, cigarettes; bong smokers, the drugs whatever it is, we all have something we have that gets us through the days and life, BECAUSE LIFE IS A *****!

and it makes us feel so normal to know that other parents who on the outside seem to have it altogether and cope fantastically with parenting, housework, and life ,etc....... really dont.

Answer 10

Take an unmedicated paranoid schizophrenic home to spend a couple of weeks with you and your children and see how that turns out.

Answer 11

Some people really need medication, and then some will be put on medication by their doctors just because "they've been feeling down lately.. or stressed .... or angry..." I believe it is all a money-making racket to get patients to keep coming back to the doctors regularly and to be on medication permanently.
It's all about money.