Meds?

[Sunstone]

Many people seem to believe that medications for depressions and other disorders interfer with our natural spirituality, or at least interfer with natural healing processes. Do you believe this is correct? Are meds overall deterimental to our natural spirituality or to our mental and emotional health? Or are they overall beneficial? What do you think?

 

[Yerda]

I have to be fearing for my life before I'll let anyone give me any medication...nothing to do with my spirituality, more my immune system.

 

[Melody]

Many people seem to believe that medications for depressions and other disorders interfer with our natural spirituality, or at least interfer with natural healing processes. Do you believe this is correct? Are meds overall deterimental to our natural spirituality or to our mental and emotional health? Or are they overall beneficial? What do you think?

I think medication is overall beneficial, but like anything can be abused. Way too many children are taking Ritalin for supposed ADD, pain meds like oxycotin are being passed out like candy, sedative use is on the rise (last report over 70% of Americans use some type of sedative to get to sleep) and everyone thinks anti-depressants are the miracle pill for not dealing with your problems (and I'm not talking about clinical depression).

 

[michel]

That's adifficult one for me to answer because I have been on medication since I was sixteen (with one or two short breaks without in between), so I guess I can't offer an opinion - only that I consider myself to be as 'normal' and stable as I can be.

 

[Sunstone]

I'm specifically interested in psychiatric medications, such as those given for depressions and other psychiatric disorders. Are these medications somehow circumventing natural processes that we would be better off not circumventing?

 

[jamaesi]

As I don't have much of an immune system, I'm okay with meds.

 

[TrueQ]

I never use meds, though for me its more of a pride thing, "My mind doesn't need help to fight off no punk-*** depression!" Though in honest truth, I've never been clinically depressed or diagnosed with any major mental diseases, so I'm not sure if what I say should be considered an informed opinion.

 

[Saw11_2000]

Meds are yay!

I take 'em for asthma and allergies (they're really bad allergies though not just the annoying kind.)

I was supposed to take zoloft for my GAD, but we made a decision not to. But, I might need to take them for my new friend OCD.

 

[Druidus]

I wish I could at least try meds for my depression...

 

[michel]

I'm specifically interested in psychiatric medications, such as those given for depressions and other psychiatric disorders. Are these medications somehow circumventing natural processes that we would be better off not circumventing?

Not really; the medication is to redress chemical imbalances in the brain. Often a short burst of medication is enough to 'cure' the problem; most of the side effects are minor physical ones - so I do not belive that the medication circumvents natural processes - in fact, the opposite is true.

Depression can often result in dulled emotions - the medication lets the patient cope with emotions.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I think its up to the individual. I don't want to be put on any meds, for they can change my personality. However, one of my friends worries if he is off them to long, the voices will come back and talk him into killing someone.
I did worship the god called Vicodin after I had knee surgery, but I wasn't in a normal state of mind either with the amount of pain.

 

[anders]

Not really; the medication is to redress chemical imbalances in the brain. Often a short burst of medication is enough to 'cure' the problem

I mostly agree. The way many of the newer medications work is no more against nature than a diabetic's injecting insulin.

But I'm no quite sure that "a short burst of medication" in itself cures the problem. My impression is rather that a short period on a suitable prescription drug may make a patient capable of sorting out what caused the depression.

 

[Lintu]

I definitely need medication but I refuse to take them out of pride/not wanting to be dependent on anything/side effects. (I have GAD and clinical depression).

 

[Saw11_2000]

I definitely need medication but I refuse to take them out of pride/not wanting to be dependent on anything/side effects. (I have GAD and clinical depression).

Yay! A fellow GAD sufferer!!!

I'm secretly over here worried that somehow secretly you're going to say just kidding...hahaah...and I'm going to cry and my friends will see me through my window, and tell my other friends, and they won't like me anymore, and everyone will hate me, then the teachers will wonder why I'm quiet/sad, and call my parents saying something's wrong, then my parents will think I'm depressed and bring me to the doctor and the doctor will tell me there's something wrong with me I didn't know, and I'll get really sick and die, and no one will miss me, except my best friend who will cry for me, but she might be busy the day of the funeral and no one will show up.

 

[Lintu]

Yay! A fellow GAD sufferer!!!

I'm secretly over here worried that somehow secretly you're going to say just kidding...hahaah...and I'm going to cry and my friends will see me through my window, and tell my other friends, and they won't like me anymore, and everyone will hate me, then the teachers will wonder why I'm quiet/sad, and call my parents saying something's wrong, then my parents will think I'm depressed and bring me to the doctor and the doctor will tell me there's something wrong with me I didn't know, and I'll get really sick and die, and no one will miss me, except my best friend who will cry for me, but she might be busy the day of the funeral and no one will show up.

No, I'm not just kidding. I really do have GAD. And right now I'm worried that the tooth the dentist fixed will actually get much worse (after all, he said that it could be tomorrow or 25 years -- and that's a LOT of anxiety to put on one of us)--and then I'll have to spend all my savings on a dental implant and most scary of all I'll be in pain so bad I can't sleep and the dentist won't be able to see me until later because he'll be at one of his lectures at NYU. Did I mention that I think everyone at work thinks I'm weird? I'm not even going to START with that one.

Believe me now, right?

 

[almifkhar]

i may be wrong about what i am about to say but from what i have observed working on a crisis line and knowing people who were dignoised with depression don't need the meds as much as they need to find themselves. taking these drugs also in my view aids in people losing sight of what their real issues are. besides, they still don't know alot about the brain, so why would they give drugs that may or may not help in the long run. everyone at some point in their lives will go through a phase of depression and to me this is the time to find your inner strength. if you go and rely on a shrinker, he/she is only going to listen aphetically and give you a script but never will they help you find your strength so you don't need them anymore. in short i think it is a racket.

 

[Unedited]

I don't think anything physical can really interfere with our spirituality.

I definitely need medication but I refuse to take them out of pride/not wanting to be dependent on anything/side effects. (I have GAD and clinical depression).

I just don't see that. You certaintly have the right to your own opinion, I just can't understand where that opinion is coming from. I guess my feeling on this stems from a personal incident though, as my father holds the same opinion.

 

[Melody]

I'm specifically interested in psychiatric medications, such as those given for depressions and other psychiatric disorders. Are these medications somehow circumventing natural processes that we would be better off not circumventing?

No...if "natural processes" could cure some of these problems, there would never have been a need to develop the medication.

While some depression is situational where the person is best helped by counselling to root out the problem and resolve it, some is due to a chemical imbalance and no amount of counselling is going to get rid of the depression because there is no "cause" to resolve.

I spent 35 years living in the dark (compared to now) and when they finally diagnosed clinical depression and put me on Prozac, it was as if someone switched on the light. No "naural process" would have corrected the situation.

There are other psychiatric illnesses (e.g. schizophrenia) which will also never be cured by natural process because, again, they aren't a result of conflict but rather a chemical imbalance.

Do they interfere with our spirituality? No...if anything, they remove the impediment to our spirituality by freeing us to be able to focus on it more.

 

[Saw11_2000]

I'm glad I now know someone else with GAD!

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

My mother in law was on a list of medication as long as you arm. all had been prescribed by a variety of doctors.
My then future son inlaw a doctor.saw the list when she was again taken ill whilst he was visiting.
Most of the items were duplicates to other items but with a different name, the rest were counter indicated.
One way or another most of her symptoms were down to the medication.
When he sorted it and spoke to her doctor the items were halved, most of the symptoms gone except for her basic heart problem.
Busy doctors can really screw up.

Terry
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Blessed are the pure of heart, they shall behold their God.