One, I was married to the Type I diabetic. Two, I've been on and off the couch since I was 8 - last major depressive crisis was when I was 27, thank God. I dodged a major bullet this year - but it wasn't pretty. (Keep a job you know is bad for you because you don't want to rock the boat. Go ahead. Should have left years ago. It was painful - but it wasn't pathology.)
Every time. EVERY TIME - they wanted to add drugs. Over that long a span, you can imagine what they wanted me to 'try.' It likely would have been Seconal in 1969, it was Valium in 1978...and they thought Paxil was just the bomb the last time it was mentioned. Every time - I've refused.
And gee, I've gotten through it. Very durable, actually. Have I been Little Mary All-Is-Fine? *laughs*
One thing I know - I'm not the addict. I have a liquor cabinet that remains full of stuff that sits for years. Just not interested. There's a ton of addictive behavior in my family (there hasn't been a generation without an addict in five that I know of - Dad died of an accident overdose in 1967) - but the whole thing holds no appeal at all to me.
For the record, most of the research that developed the SSRI class of medications came out of addiction studies. Yes, they paid heroin addicts to stay addicted so they could figure out what the big deal was. Pity they didn't notice they stopped getting high - because even then, the 'poop-out' effect was very clear. Addicts stop getting high. Just before they take overdoses that kill them.
There are chemical issues that respond to replacement therapy - lithium is the best example I know of, and it's no walk in the park. As far as cycling through every SSRI ever developed - ghads, the cost in human suffering just wipes me out every time I look at it. I won't say I understand it - but what I have to do is question it. I'd love to find someone too cowardly to prescribe - most of the cases I know of have been people too busy to spend more than 15 minutes to work up a case, or working within a managed-care system that only has funds available for the cheapest possible option. 15 min visit plus $20 in drugs - or - $125 an hour, weekly counseling? HMMMM. Oh, and most would want that $20 in drugs and 15 min monitoring as well. Fat chance.
Meanwhile, the 'heavy service users' remain dependent, miserable and vulnerable. That, my friend, is extremely offensive to me.
My own family is amazed at how 'normal' I am these days. It's so nice to be considered 'damaged goods' - so don't tell I don't know about it. Faking it until you make it - believe me, I know.
It's also not hard to link criminals with mental illness, considering the penal system is now the largest provider of mental health services today, full stop. I did mention lowest cost of providing care? Right. Moving on -
My pain is not your pain - and comparing them? Please don't. No, really. Looking at your paragraphs above? Been there. I'll give you credit for it being the truth because I know it is. Yeah, I have an idea. I have first-hand experience, thank you very much.
Whatever it is for you, good on you for finding it.
no subject
Every time. EVERY TIME - they wanted to add drugs. Over that long a span, you can imagine what they wanted me to 'try.' It likely would have been Seconal in 1969, it was Valium in 1978...and they thought Paxil was just the bomb the last time it was mentioned. Every time - I've refused.
And gee, I've gotten through it. Very durable, actually. Have I been Little Mary All-Is-Fine? *laughs*
One thing I know - I'm not the addict. I have a liquor cabinet that remains full of stuff that sits for years. Just not interested. There's a ton of addictive behavior in my family (there hasn't been a generation without an addict in five that I know of - Dad died of an accident overdose in 1967) - but the whole thing holds no appeal at all to me.
For the record, most of the research that developed the SSRI class of medications came out of addiction studies. Yes, they paid heroin addicts to stay addicted so they could figure out what the big deal was. Pity they didn't notice they stopped getting high - because even then, the 'poop-out' effect was very clear. Addicts stop getting high. Just before they take overdoses that kill them.
There are chemical issues that respond to replacement therapy - lithium is the best example I know of, and it's no walk in the park. As far as cycling through every SSRI ever developed - ghads, the cost in human suffering just wipes me out every time I look at it. I won't say I understand it - but what I have to do is question it. I'd love to find someone too cowardly to prescribe - most of the cases I know of have been people too busy to spend more than 15 minutes to work up a case, or working within a managed-care system that only has funds available for the cheapest possible option. 15 min visit plus $20 in drugs - or - $125 an hour, weekly counseling? HMMMM. Oh, and most would want that $20 in drugs and 15 min monitoring as well. Fat chance.
Meanwhile, the 'heavy service users' remain dependent, miserable and vulnerable. That, my friend, is extremely offensive to me.
My own family is amazed at how 'normal' I am these days. It's so nice to be considered 'damaged goods' - so don't tell I don't know about it. Faking it until you make it - believe me, I know.
It's also not hard to link criminals with mental illness, considering the penal system is now the largest provider of mental health services today, full stop. I did mention lowest cost of providing care? Right. Moving on -
My pain is not your pain - and comparing them? Please don't. No, really. Looking at your paragraphs above? Been there. I'll give you credit for it being the truth because I know it is. Yeah, I have an idea. I have first-hand experience, thank you very much.
Whatever it is for you, good on you for finding it.