Over the weekend I had several opportunities to speak up about one thing. Medication. Most were in the form of emails, from people that are like me or know people like me. I love having conversations with people who have been through something that makes them relate to my experience. The best way I can describe it is that we're refugees from the same war. But we never want to talk about it because we don't want to get deported.
Another opportunity was on THIS blog. I have to admit it's that time of the month, and I'm trying not to be witchy. But this worried me. Mostly because of the comments. Karen, the writer of the post tries very hard to be fair and researches what she writes about. I was just disturbed at the way people were flippantly baddying about what people should do. I probably overreacted. Anyway, I commented and poor Karen had to handle the aftermath.
She is a gracious lady and posted a follow-up today. The first comment was mine from Thursday's post.
I understand the thoughts behind not needing medication for mental illnesses. I understand the feelings behind it too. I know all sides of the argument too. I support people finding their own way to mental health, as long as they involve professionals when necessary.
When necessary is NOT subjective. There are definite indicators of when it is necessary to involve a professional in your mental health life. Email me if you have questions, and I will do another post on it later if there is enough interest.
There are many studies that suggest thirty minutes of exercise is roughly equal to a low dose of Zoloft, Prozac, etc. But they both must be consistent to fight the chemical imbalance occurring in the brain long term to cause depression severe enough to necessitate management. AND, neither should be done without the direct observation of a health professional. I'll copy part of the email that I sent Karen when she so graciously contacted me afterward here:
I made the mistake of assuming that I was well educated enough and had
read enough studies about my condition that I could skip paying for the doctor. They always agreed with me anyway and we didn't have the money. This lead to me going off Zoloft on my own-diagnosing my anxiety cause myself-and spiking myself into psychosis eventually. The part of the discussion that disturbed me was the comments. I heard too too much of myself in them.
Please do do a follow-up. I would love to get more people aware. Most bipolar II's go their whole life undiagnosed unless something like my experience happens. We blend. We're functional. We're just high low within the norms. :) Thank you.
And I really must say thank you to Karen once again. She is a classy lady and I appreciate it!
And also to all the other many special someones out there: Thank you. You see me and my medication in a light that is difficult to see myself. I haven't taken off my glasses tainted by the earlier apocalypse. I am becoming someone I love to see looking back at me in the mirror. I'm more tolerant, and patient with myself. I'm aware of my incapacity, and that makes me savor my abilities like never before. Plus, I have an understanding of mental health from the inside. I'm so glad that my illness has been able to be managed with medication. Bipolar can be very tricky.
I hope you have a great day. Is there anything you're irrational about during TOM?
Thanks for sharing!!! I am irrational about everything during TOM :)
ReplyDeleteooooh yeah - I am much harder on myself when during TOM, and I am hard on myself anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting study. I need to read the rest of the related posts over there!
Hi JBS,
ReplyDeleteTOM aside, I went and read the post and all the comments you linked to, and I found it a little disturbing as well. Your comment was excellent. No one answer or view can be comprehensive about the issue because every aspect of the decision to take medication for depression or BPD is individual, as are all the particulars of the individual cases.
Some of the comments seemed to boil down to sanity over vanity. With bilopar, so often the disease itself at times convinces a person they don't need their medication, stop taking it, and all levels of disaster can ensue. I hear this so often in AA meetings. People will be doing well, staying sober, and then feel compelled to come off their medications. Sometimes they do okay - other times they relapse and get into all kinds of trouble.
Also, obviously there are still people who don't understand that depression in and of itself is the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain, and not merely a symptom.
Whoa - I think I've been on the soapbox long enough. Thanks for the interesting post and link!
Sanity over vanity, I like that!! I think that sums it all up nicely. I was on wellbutrin for a long time - post partum depression - and while my weight concerned me - it was my LAST priority. I needed to be well for my son. My ex husband is bi-polar, and he gained a LOT of weight from his meds, but he's a much steadier father figure for his son. I'll take that anyday. His being bi-polar and refusing to take meds was a large factor in our divorce, and in the custody proceedings following that. Anyway, being sane and healthy is more important than gaining a few pounds. I had to agree with your original comment on the other blog.
ReplyDeleteAs a studying nurse I see both sides of the argument. I think that medications in many instances prolong lives of people who are suffereing and I question at times if they are really worth it.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER!!!!!!!!!
They are necessary for many people to improve the quality of life and that is important. Albeit a fine balance, is important. After reasearching and learning about how specific drugs work, I am ALL for people who have mental illnesses to be medicated. If it's short-term, so that they can increase the seritonin level, or longer term to balance out their chemical levels in their bodies...then I support them.
I had a VERY scary incident this weekend with a man who was suffering a bout of pyschosis and needed to be properly mediacated. not sedated...medicated. He can't funtion without it and it's not a choice for him to be that way, it's a chemical inbalance.
Do I think that medications, overall, are over-prescribed..YES.
Do I think that in the instance of mental health is should be avaliable to people without banishement..YES.
The other thing, which kills me--living in Oz, is that medications are SO expensive. Why would you, for instance, not be able to have medications to enable you to be the best that you can be because you can't afford it? I find this tragic, appealing and unacceptable.
I will now get off my soap-box.
Thank you for posting a follow-up to your comment. It is so easy to think you know what you would do in a given situation but the truth is, we don't know what we'd do and even two individuals in the same situation may react differently.
ReplyDeleteSomething you didn't mention, but I suspect you have experienced is that when you are in a low state, exercise is the last thing on your mind. I know that when my father died, I gave up my workouts and ate poorly for months. If medication can get a person over the hump, then the natural methods of treatment can be added. I would assume that the amount medication might even be decreased if improvements occurred.
Thanks again for the comments and this post. I will update my post to include a link here.
JBS, thank you so much for posting this, for all the links, and for directing us to the original post and continuing conversation.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I also struggle with Bipolar Disorder [BPD I], and it is no exaggeration to say that without the PROPER medication, I would have been dead a long time ago, either from incredibly reckless behavior and/or by my own hand. I grew up, and I continue to believe, that suicide is not an 'option,' but when you have a chemical illness, personal beliefs do not even come into play. I also know for a fact that if not for the [again, proper and PROPERLY medically supervised] medication, I would not be a mom today.
I may discuss these things in a post, and I really didn't intend to write so much now, because I am still disturbed by much of what I read [i.e., blood slightly warmed, ahem].
One more thing I wanted to point out: no one would ever dream of telling an insulin-dependant Diabetic to stop their insulin. Nutrional intervention and Exercise can obviously be very beneficial to the Diabetic, but it does not replace life-sustaining insulin, and nobody would suggest that it should. Why, then, does this 'medication for depression' topic continue to be tossed about so often and so cavalierly? One reason: the vast majority of people still do not understand that Depression, Bipolar, and other mental disorders/illnesses are, like Diabetes, PHYSIOLOGICAL problems.
The End.
[for now]
P.S. Sorry for the hijacking!
P.P.S. And thank you for your spot-on clarity, both in your posts and in your comments!
As with so much in life, I feel that there is no "one size fits all" approach. I am glad you are finding what works for YOU:)
ReplyDeleteI could be irrational about any or everything when hormones hit!
I always find it interesting when people have strong opinions about life threatening illnesses that they have never had.
ReplyDeleteI find the same people who get on their high horse about medication for mental health wouldn't think twice about accepting medication for cervical or breast cancer. There is a lot of ignorance and prejudice surrounding mental health and obesity.
I was once hospitalised for clinical depression and I strongly suspect that without the medication I was given, I might not be here today. Before I developed depression I was ignorant and ill-informed about the importance of medication in treating depression. That ignorance almost cost me my life. Had I been better informed I would have made the choice to accept medication sooner and would have saved myself years of pain and near self-destruction.
Let me just say I used to judge a coworker for medicating her son.
ReplyDeleteThen my son was diagnosed with autism. Luckily, I have found some great over the counter, natural medicines to help him sleep. But I do fear he may be bipolar, he is only 8 so I am holding off on medication for now, but not ruling it out. We have some very tough days even though he is high functioning.