meds stigma

[emotional]

Recently, I haven't been feeling good about taking my medications. I'm on a good combination of medications and they help a lot, but I feel like there is a stigma associated with taking medications. I started seeing a new therapist, of course I had to tell her about the medications I am taking, she didn't judge me but I felt the need to justify why I'm taking them. I felt the need to reinforce the idea that I'm not crazy. I also felt uncomfortable listing all of my medications. Is it normal to feel this way?

[eppursimuove]

ur bipolar, u said ur crazzy?

but i dont know if its normal or not but i dont like to take meds. sometimes i forget sometimes i dont take them on porpouse, but at the end i know they help so why be so silly.

[emotional]

Yep, I'm bipolar. In my experience, there is a lack of understanding about bipolar disorder and the medications associated with it. Maybe its my personal hang up because I'm like you about my meds...I don't care for them but I need them

[shanrucas]

Yes, sadly emotional, I feel that there is still a stigma recording such disorders such as ours and others. I don't know..maybe because the association of the words mental illness implies just that..that we are ill..but rather this is a chemical issue in the brain and is more of physical issue rather than mental..just because it envolves the brain. This is just my opinion.

I have been dealing with bipolor for awhile now, I know there are times when I don't feel like taking my medications and fed up with it all and other times I know I need them as the do help balance the chemicals in my brain. However..I have never considered myself mentally ill. I guess what i am trying to say is that because of the stigma.. I won't refer having bipolor as a mental illness, but a disorder of the chemicals of brain...I think I said this twice. Anyway I hope I am articulating what I mean here.

Whether on meds or not..I feel I must use other tools as well to keep balance.

[malign]

One thing about 'stigma', in this context, is that no one but you expressed anything negative about the medications. Are you sure that the stigma you perceive from everyone else isn't your own opinion about people who need to be medicated?

Putting it another way, would you feel the same stigma towards daily medication for, say, diabetes? If not, what's the difference?

Taking medication for mental health doesn't say anything about one's "quality" as a human being. It isn't a case that they're just not trying hard enough. That's the belief underlying the stigma, it seems to me, and it's simply not true.

[shanrucas]

Hi Malign...I agree...we don't make such a hoodoo about people or even ourselves if we need medication for any other thing..like diabetes, high blood pressure etc.

And I have learned about myself more over the last few months, that any negativity I feel, I realize is actually coming from me. I may not be able to control the situation at hand or whats going on in the world around me ..but I can control how I react..looking at it from another perspective. Anyway, whatever it is I am trying to say this early in the morning..is that I feel now that I am more in charge of my own positivity....and I have been feeling more positive...ok..need more coffee.....Its good to see you Malign.

[malign]

I'm glad to see you too, Shannon. :-)

I wish I had a way to send you extra energy.

[shanrucas]

Thanks Malign....the wish was enough , feeling good and awake now and ready to tackle the day. I hope all is well with you.

[Misty]

My opinion is....So what if there is a stigma about taking medication!!

I for one would be a complete mental nightmare without it. If anyone else has a problem with it then thats their small minded problem! With meds I can function as a "normal" human being, with "normal" reactions. That far outweighs anything else!

Live your life for you and the ones you love....not people that dont matter!!

[Ralph]

I used to be very embarrassed about my meds and I was talking to a nurse practitioner about what I was on after I went to see someone for my second or third panic attack. When I said meds for anxiety and depression he was like, why are you embarrassed that's you and about 50 million other people. Kind of put in perspective for me.

People can be cruel though and not everyone understands. You don't have to like the fact that you are on meds and I think there is a stigma against psych meds because they don't work the same way meds for other conditions would. For example if you have diabetes you get insulin and it works. OTOH if you have a psych condition it's anybody's guess whether a given med will work. Usually we have to go through several meds that don't work before finally stumbling on a combo that helps.

Hence if you are on psych meds the question is whether they are going to help or are they just a signal that you could blow up at any moment. Not saying it's right, just saying that this was what I heard people talking about at one of my past jobs when it was found out that a particularly obnoxious client had bipolar. The upside is that you can decide whether you want to internalize this stigma or not. It may be difficult to de-internalize a stigma, but it's worth it, IMHO.