Lived Experience Forum

[Historylover]

@D1ng0, if you don't agree that it is the therapists' job to get patients off medication and to be able, as soon as is reasonable, to fend without it and the therapist, then what do you think the therapists' job is? Over a 10- or 15-year period, a patient may have had medication change, dosage change, 'treatment change' but if, when they come off medication, they are plunged back to square one it must be assumed that 'therapy' was nothing more than an ineffectual, warm, fuzzy, (costly) chat. I don't regard that as therapy. I would consider such a therapist licenced to medicate and ill-equipped to cure. Cure shouldn't depend on which therapist one sees. Medication is certainly a tool and there is no stigma taking it when required. However, independence from it should be the goal in most cases.

[tyme]

@Historylover @D1ng0 ,

We want to ensure this remains a safe and respectful place for people to post about their experiences. People have had different experiences with their supports, and whilst the some have been effective and some ineffective, we need to make sure we do not discourage help-seekers. There is no right or wrong to what people have experienced.

I'm sorry if things have not worked for you @Historylover , yet many can testify of the world of good treatment has been for them.

We ask that this conversation be left for members to agree to disagree.

[Historylover]

@tyme said: We ask that this conversation be left for members to agree to disagree.

That's what we're doing @tyme. @D1ng0 stated enjoyment at this chat—discussing opinions. Isn't that communication? 

Things DID work out for me, @tyme. You have me summed up all wrong.

[tyme]

Good to hear @Historylover 

[chibam]

@Historylover  @tyme  @D1ng0
I think I get what @Historylover was saying: we should be aspiring to make sure that medication regimens are as short-term as is appropriate.

Just as I assume we can all agree that a person with a broken leg in a cast shouldn't be confined to that cast any longer then they need to be to repair their leg, so too should we aspire for a system that doesn't keep people on medications any longer then they need to repair their lives.

That's not to deny that some people may need to be medicated for very long periods or even their entire lifetimes; but we ought to be aiming to insure that we aren't needlessly putting people on medication; nor leaving people on medication any longer then is appropriate.

How would any of us like to be still locked up in a cast five years after breaking our leg, because our doctors forgot to cut us out of it?

For my two cents (and I know I've talked about this before) I was put on meds when there was absolutely no reason to do so, aside from the therapist looking for a quick and easy way to make it look like he was doing something for me. What I really needed was "psychosocial support" - help with my real-world problems; though I had no idea that this was a specialized form of therapy and just assumed that all therapists did it. There is absolutely no coherent rationale as to how me taking pills would've fixed those things for me.

So, while I'm not disputing that medication can and does help some segment of the population, I also know from personal experiance that some therapists within the system mis-perscribe it.

[D1ng0]

@chibam I'm with @tyme here, I know what my experience is and I'd rather leave it at that. It was a mistake for me to go into this topic more deeply, since I'm still working with practitioners to figure out my own medication regimen. I'd rather not talk about this anymore or debate what approach is best, so please don't tag me again. I'd be up for it on other days, but not right now. Thank you for your thoughts, I'm sure others will benefit.