(no subject)

[azurelunatic]

If there was a way to remove someone from your friends list without them ever having been there in the first place, I'd use that right now.

Bleaugh.

Not everyone has absolute faith in the gods of modern medicine, especially not those who have been continually and abusively subjected to the darker side of it.

Sometimes, you've just got to vent, and LJ is an excellent forum for that. Anybody who doesn't realize that someone quite happy normally can have a few off days and need to vent is an idiot, and taking that venting-space away, for those who rely on LJ as a coping mechanism as much as some people rely on a therapist, or other people rely on prescription (or other) drugs, is counterproductive and manipulative and the work of an ass-bastard.

Comments

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

What happened?

[azurelunatic]

One LJ friend was going through one of a series of periodic bouts of depression. She asked for some cheering up to get through the day, and commented on some of her history, to dissuade the inevitable comments of "Oh, just get on some antidepressants and you'll be just fine" -- she's been on them, and they did not work, and she's been subjected to medication against her will, and not once has anyone in the profession in her years of experience with it (at least 10 years under the age of 18) really given a shit about anything she's ever had to say for herself. Pretty much.

One guy, someone she thought was a friend, told her she was "toxic" for her attitude about drugs, and unfriended her and banned her from posting in his journal and wrote up a harsh criticism of her (without the comment option on, of course) and his condition for friending her again is that she get on psychiatric drugs.

When I'd say that she has maybe one bad day in two months, and her bad days are still functional days, and she's come so far from where she's been without psychiatric drugs, and LJ is a perfectly valid form of talk therapy, it makes me so mad at those people that I really do want to spit on them.

Re:

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

That's pretty ridiculous. I'm a pretty big opponent of psychotropic drugs when used to treat anything other than psychotic disorders. This is mainly due to my psych classes, my time working in a mental hospital and also having had several friends with depression.

Most chronic depression involves faulty or self-defeating perceptions and behaviors, which can often be worked on and changed without the aid of medication, and often, being on medication only allows a person to ignore his or her feelings or problems and not really deal with the source of them.

That, and there's empirical evidence that shows that a chemical imbalance can be created in the brain of a previously healthy, "normal" person by depression brought on my situational factor.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that drugs, at least in respect to depression, tend to treat the symptom, not the problem. So I totally respect anyone who tries to work through their issues in other ways--to me, they are the ones with the right idea.

And, yeah, her friend sounds like a moron.

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

"self righteous" is a better description of the behavior in question

Re:

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that "self-righteous" even covers it... what is a good word for soemone who acts like they know what they are talking about when actually they don't?

[azurelunatic]

I am in favor of using drugs to grab someone who's sunk deep into a bottomless depression OUT of there into a mental place where it's possible to talk things over like rational people and possible to examine the bottoms of the mind. I probably could have used that when I was depressed.

As with any illness: If you have life-threatening symptoms, treat the symptoms. If it's a chronic condition, find out what the hell is causing it, and what the hell to do about it to fix it, which may sometimes be something drastic, and may sometimes be simple.

Re:

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

"I am in favor of using drugs to grab someone who's sunk deep into a bottomless depression OUT of there into a mental place where it's possible to talk things over like rational people and possible to examine the bottoms of the mind. I probably could have used that when I was depressed."

Yes. I did actually mean to state that I am in favor of that as well. It's just that drugs are rarely used that way, because doctors don't transition their patients off of them after the emergency is past.

[azurelunatic]

The thing I had the most problem with, ever, with a doctor of mine, was when I was given a nightguard by my dentist to correct the misalignment of my jaw.

When I went back a year later, and told him I wasn't wearing the nightguard because its time was over, my jaw was fixed, and the thing was an implement of torture, he told me that it had been given to me originally to protect my teeth from my grinding them at night, and since I hadn't been wearing it, a new one that fit my mouth would have to be made.

I told him absolutely not. He was not happy with me.

Re:

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

Yes. Because doctors always know best. Really, they do. I mean it. ;-p

[boojum.livejournal.com]

She decides not to use powerful, not-fully-understood drugs with nasty side effects because they don't work for her and he says this attitude is toxic? Yeesh. Mind-altering drugs can be good things for some people, but the proper responses to "They don't work for me; I'm trying to do other things" include things like "That's rough on you", "Here's another thing to do you might not have come across yet", and possibly "I've heard of a new drug which uses completely-new mechanism X. You've said that you tried mechanism Y drugs. The problem Z you mentioned is not supposed to be a problem with mechanism X drugs", but only if you think the person hasn't tried X-drugs and isn't fed up with the whole drug issue. "You are a bad person for saying that" is not a good answer.

[azurelunatic]

From her attitude, I'd call her phobic, actually; I don't hear a lot from her direction about the looking into new drug X, and since she is functional, it's not really an issue about getting her to stop hurting herself or getting her talking or getting her to be able to go to work or be a good mommy -- the issue is about her having bad days that fit into the category of "normal people" bad days, just bad days for no rhyme or reason.

I hate it when people say things that make other people feel bad about themselves just because they have an axe to grind. Evidently in this guy's world, people who have depression and don't even want to hear about new drug X, N, or P because of issues in the past are "toxic".

Bah.

I still want to kick him.

[boojum.livejournal.com]

? Someone telling you you shouldn't rant, because it'll kill the baby ducks and destroy the ozone layer?

[azurelunatic]

LJ drama. See above response for situation.

[iroshi.livejournal.com]

Amen, sistah!

[azurelunatic]

And I say this as a member of the fuckin' clergy.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Thanks. I love you guys! And it was good to hear opinions from people who don't know me, too....

[azurelunatic]

Love you too.