Jump to content
Mental Support Community

medication for lifetime


Recommended Posts

The way I see it is if they do shorten your life, they shorten the years at the end of your life, which I don't particularly want to live anyway.

I have been on meds continuously for 20 years and off and on for 10 years before that. There is one med I am afraid of being on long-term and that is Geodon, my anti-psychotic. It's already been about 3 years now. It can cause movement disorders, which can become permanent (even if you stop the med) and involve involuntary movements of the lips and tongue, or grimacing. That scares me.

But the others - what will be will be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another point that has some value is that many mental illnesses, left untreated, also shorten life span for various reasons.

Besides the increased risk of things like self-injury and suicide, which are indirect results, we know that untreated bipolar tends to get worse with time.

And finally, say you lived your full life span, but hated it because you weren't coping as well as you could. Wouldn't a happier life be worth something, even if it might be slightly shorter?

All of our food is chemicals. All of the chemical reactions in our bodies have some small chance of being diverted into a harmful side reaction. That's why we don't live forever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I was told I would have to be on meds for the rest of my life and have been COMPLETELY med free for several years now. It makes me mad when I hear professionals say things like this! My life changed for the better when I read the CBT book by Sam Obitz and Michelle Craske called Been there, done that? Do This!. It's real simple and the TEA form exercise is invaluable. If you work on countering your thoughts in them everyday you will be better than you ever thought possible sooner than you ever thought possible:)

Doctors are not God and don't know everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doctors don't know everything, that's true, but neither do Obitz and Craske, and I suspect they'd agree. Some things are probably extremely well suited for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, but it's equally likely that some aren't. To me, it only becomes a problem when we fail to distinguish which case is which.

I'm glad that you found a way to live medication-free, Cynthia. I agree with you that CBT can be valuable to many people. Because of that opinion I have (more than once) allowed you to post what might otherwise be seen as a commercial link, and to bump half a dozen related threads on every visit. Is it okay if I also wish that your interaction with our community were more personal, more sustantial? As it is, it's hard to distinguish your interaction from that of someone with a book to promote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...