Why is it that so many people who don't NEED antidepressants are so AGAINST meds??

Question

Is it just me or is there a new population of anti-drug loud-mouths who are harping on the evils of psychiatry and prescription drug usage who don't even suffer from depression, anxiety, or any of the phobias that they are so convinced that a "good walk around the block and heavy breathing" will cure?? Have any of these people ever SUFFERED any of these illnesses? Or do they really believe that breathing exercises and meditation will help major depression, etc?

wow! I'm also shocked at the POSITIVE response to the question. I half expected those same drug-bashers to continue their yelling at my question. Hmmm...is it that maybe when the question is really put to them, they don't have a good answer?

Hopefully they are reading all of your ANSWERS and LEARNING...

...and you are so right those of you that said it is ADDING to the stigma of mental illness and the incorrect belief that depression is an 'excuse', or something you can just "snap out of." If they suffered this horrible condition, and then saw the disapproving and judgmental looks in peoples eyes when they answer the question, "where have you been? why haven't you been out? at work? " maybe they would keep their condemnations to themselves until they had experienced it....
Maybe.
(P.S. I DO agree and acknowledge the difference between SITUATIONAL depression and long term depression due to chemical imbalances...2 totally different things, and 2 totally different ways to treat them."

Answer 1

I agree with you and it is infuriating to me also. I think for people who don't need meds, they don't understand what it is like to have chemical imbalances in the brain that one has no control over. Unfortunately, many people who don't understand something are quick to judge others who do, and to just write those people off as being weak. I am a believer in doing all the non-medicinal things possible to help with depression; however, nothing can take the place of meds for people who have chemical imbalances in the brain.

I wonder if these same people would tell a diabetic not to take their insulin anymore, that the insulin shortage in their body can be cured with a walk around the block, heavy breathing, etc.

What about a person having a heart attack? Would they tell that person not to take nitroglycerin to help with chest pains? Would they advise the person to try deep breathing?

Brain chemical imbalances are every bit as physical as any other illness or disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis, or arthritis. I don't understand these people who are so judgmental just because we suffer from a mental disorder.

You may remember Tom Cruise publicly bashing Brooke Shields for taking meds to cope with her postpartem depression, saying that all she needed were vitamins. He took a lot of heat for those comments, and I have never felt the same about him since that time. I loved her response - that the last time she checked, Tom did not have a uterus, so how could he know about PPD?

Anyway, I'm not sure my answer helped, but at least hopefully you will know you are not alone in your frustrations about these judgmental, close-minded individuals.

Answer 2

Hi!

There is another angle on what you say. The mental health profession has been in denial about reactive depression for some time, so when people present feeling low having lost a job or temporarily lost their way in life, psychiatric services and medication regimes are often triggered needlessly. Instead of offering approaches (perhaps but not exclusively counseling) that can help a person find their own solution and road to recovery, medications are px that are really for people with a very different problem. Dependency can then creep in.

In this community, with a long history of high mental ill health following industrial decline, we tried an approach that looked beyond "presenting problems" and included art, exercise, social activities and the creation of job opportunities. Slowly, the demands on mental health provision came down as people realised they were not, after all, past their sell-by date and that life still held joys, experiences and purpose.

As a result, the medication approach can be focused on those who really need it.

Hope that helps.

Good wishes.

Answer 3

No, it's not just you. If they'd ever been in the situation where they needed such helpful meds, then they'd understand. Remember Tom Cruise being so critical of Brooke Shields for her postpartum issues. I've wondered if Katie Holmes had any issues with postpartum depression, and how Tom would have dealt with it then. He had no business criticizing Brooke, nor does anyone else when they aren't close to the issue. I had a doctor years ago tell me that people who need antidepressants aren't much different than someone needing insulin. It's a chemical imbalance, and that's the reason such meds were created. It almost makes you wish that some of these people spouting their anti-drug garbage would have a brief bout with depression so that once and for all, they'd actually understand what it's like. Last I knew, pulling yourself up by the bootstraps wasn't a cure for anything, particularly not a chemical imbalance.

Answer 4

My experience has been that people making these statements are the ones who know absolutely nothing about psychotropic meds. Because they don't know anything about prescription meds for mental illnesses, they have fears and have heard misguided information about the meds. They choose to focus on all the "bad" things that meds can cause (like side effects) instead of choosing to find out more information about the meds and thinking about all the good the meds do for people who need them. Some of the people making these statements have suffered with mental illness, but had a bad experience on meds, so they generalize their experience, saying that all meds are bad. I don't doubt that breathing exercises and meditation help some people with depression, but I believe there are some people out there who really cannot recover without the aid of medications.

Answer 5

I think it's hard for anyone to truly understand an illness unless they have experienced it themselves. A lot of people still don't seem to understand that depression or anxiety is a real illness caused oftentimes by chemical imbalances in the brain and they think it's just something in a person's mind that they can control themselves. I think these people who are shouting these things about going for walks or breathing like you said are uneducated about mental illnesses and need to educate themselves before opening their mouths.

Answer 6

There are people who go through short-term depressions that may not need drugs, only counseling or may take a drug for a short time and then recover from their depression and have a great life!!

Then there are people who suffer from genetic problems and chemical imbalances, who are like diabetics, and require medications forever to balance out their lives in order to live like "normal" people and function. I'm one of those people.

Generally people think of depression as the first case....oh, you go to the counselor or psychiatrist and then you get cured and OH, you're all better now!! But for some of us it doesn't work that way and they fail to understand it. They think we aren't trying hard enough or that our Dr's are just keeping us on the drugs.....when that's not it at all....we NEED the drugs just to live like "normal" human beings and function day-to-day without falling apart. My own mother, when I told her I suffered from panic and anxiety attacks for many years, looked at me and said, "Well, I never thought you looked nervous." and she still doesn't understand what went on in my head when I wasn't on the meds.....it's just beyond her mental grasp because she doesn't suffer from the imbalance.

I feel sorry for those people because they are deluding themselves but they are also doing all of us who suffer a severe disservice as well. Some of us need these drugs every day, just like a diabetic need insulin, and for someone who doesn't fully understand the condition to pass judgement is wrong and dangerous.

Answer 7

most people who disagree with anti depressant will have at some stage in there life suffered from depression etc. its more the fact that doctors seem to give them out to anyone these days. many of us who do suffer depression do in fact just get on with it. its not an excuse for sitting moping around the house or being off work sick. the real cure is not medication but dealing with the cause of the problem which is in the head

Answer 8

The world is full of people who like to think they know what's best for someone else. People who have never suffered major depression haven't got a clue what it's like.
A brisk walk will not cure a broken leg, and meditation will not replace a missing chemical in a person's brain.

Answer 9

I have suffered with depression all of my life.I do not believe in drugs.I have found that a healthy diet and vitamin and mineral suppliments help.Especially the B-complex 100 caps.You could have hormone imbalance,thyroid and adrenal problems.Check out mary Shomons yahoo group called thyroid.Chemicals in processed food and have brain altering effects.Excercise can help also,but the lack of nutrition in our food supply is a hugh factor.Cooking and processing destroy the nutrition and the enzymes in the food that you need to digest it.At least give these suggestions a chance.

Answer 10

First things first, why are you interested in anti-depression drugs? The only good thing about them is that you have a release of all the sadness and turns you into an addict over it. Which means it'll wear off sooner or later. Really, exercise and meditation could help out. But, what you really need is someone to keep your mind off it. I do good with that for a lot of people I care for. You just need that special someone.