Malaclypse the Younger

According to your own statements, you were not misdiagnosed. You appear to agree with the diagnosis of bipolar and/or borderline personality disorder.

Rather you have shown only that you ignored expert advice for moral/preferential reasons. According to medical (and ordinary) ethics, you have the right to do so.

Regardless of your particular outcome, a physician has an obligation, given an objective evaluation of the symptoms, to recommend the treatment that he or she scientifically believes has the best general outcome. Additionally, he or she must evaluate the effectiveness of the treatement in each individual case, and make adjustments as necessary.

Since you have apparently not tried drug therapy, you have not shown that the treatment recommendations were false; you have merely shown that in your specific case, you were able to recover (at least to the extent of not reporting distress at your current condition) despite refusing medical expertise. Even though it is known that some people can indeed recover without treatment, it would still be irresponsible and unethical for a physician to recommend such a course.

Indeed it is simply out of bounds for a physician or psychiatrist to even comment on your nonmedical moral preference or to impose his nonmedical moral preferences on you. Rather, he or she is limited to giving you scientific advice on what treatement has the best probability of succeess. Such a recommendation does not, however, contradict the knowledge that treatements with a lower probability of success are sometime effective.

It is not the factuality of your own account that is in question. Rather, it is the fallacious conclusion that what is true for you is necessarily true for all people, and the arrogant and presumptuous attitude that your decision is morally superior to another's.

[ March 17, 2002: Message edited by: Malaclypse the Younger ]</p>

Pseudonymph

As I've already stated, I do not feel that I am superior to anyone. Not in the least. I choose to live my life differently then some people. Not better, not worse, just in a different way.

I cannot pass judgement on anyone for what they choose to do, I just know what I choose to do. More power to anyone that does what they do.

I am no one to judge...

Danya

How did you address the problem exactly? By waiting it out and hoping it would pass?

Your comments are nothing if not judgmental. See the your first quote.

Pseudonymph

Not quite, if you misunderstood me then that's not my problem.

And how I addressed the problem? By letting it pass? Hell no!

I took some time off work and school. I reflected on WHY my problems were happening and I thought of ways to overcome them on MY OWN.

I was tired of being a "victim" and I wanted to take control of things MYSELF. I did activities I enjoyed and hung out with friends I trusted, who I knew would build me up and give me confidence.
I talked with my parents, who gave me good advice and guidance.

I wrote down my thoughts, and realized how stupid being "depressed" was. When I looked at my problems on paper they really seemed small compared to the big scheme of things.

I realized that I was wasting my youth being pissed off, and having bad mood swings was ruining my relationship, my friendship and everything else.

I took back control...period. I embraced opportunities to better myself and to become a more positive person. Instead of living in the past, I wanted to move foward.

And I did all of that without drugs of any kind or alchahol. If that makes me stuck up or arrogant or condescending then fuck you.

Sorry to be harsh but I am so tired of people thinking that I'm stuck up or being a bitch just because I dont agree with drug use, even for depression. Sure I am no doctor, but I knew that these drugs werent right for me. If they are right for you, then great.

I prefer to deal with my problems rather than run from them. I realize that this is going to offend a lot of people who "need" these drugs. If you really do, then great. I'm glad that you can be helped and hope you get out of the horrible cycle of depression. It really is a painful reality to experience, as I have been through it.

But I still am not worried about offending "depressed people" becase I have always been made to feel like a freak or something because I disagree with these issues.
I'm just tired of always being made to feel weird for my stance on these things. Not to say that you people have done that, but a few people here are repetedly making me feel like I dont know what I'm talking about.

Viti

SirenSpeak...calm down a bit please. Nobody is calling you a freak. Your point of view is welcome here, but maybe you need to be a bit more careful in how you word things to avoid this kind of conflict. I also had to learn a few lessons the hard way...I tend to state my opinion as fact as hubby often points out to me.

I think people were simply trying to point out that you word things as assertions...meaning instead of saying "I didn't need drugs to get over depression, and there may be others out there who could do the same" you asserted "Antidepressants are over prescribed to people who don't need them by unqualified doctors" (more or less). You may be correct, but when you lay it out as FACT rather than opinion; discussion will cease as you cannot back up your assertion with data.

I think you can avoid further problems by simply rewording your posts a bit. By all means make your points...all of which are interesting for discussion in my opinion

Pseudonymph

Sorry... I dont mean to get so angry. It's just that these beliefs have made me an outcast in that respect. And it gets old after awhile. I will take your advice and try rewording what I say from now on...thanks for the tip!

Danya

I am happy for you. These were common sense approaches that people use to solve their problems when they realize they can make a change.These solutions are listed in every self-help book there is.

Would they have worked for me? Let's test it out:
I reflected on WHY my problems were happening and I thought of ways to overcome them on MY OWN.
Me too. My only problem was depression. There was no cause for it. I had a husband and children who loved me, and all the necessities of life with no major harships going on. I reflected on all of those things and ended up only feeling guilty because now not only did I feel depressed but also selfish.
I was tired of being a "victim" and I wanted to take control of things MYSELF. I did activities I enjoyed and hung out with friends I trusted, who I knew would build me up and give me confidence. I talked with my parents, who gave me good advice and guidance.
I was never a victim. I no longer enjoyed the activities that I used to and could think of nothing new that would give me joy. And no matter what my family or friends did to build me up I sunk deeper and deeper until there was nothing but a black hopelessness that was eating me up.
I wrote down my thoughts, and realized how stupid being "depressed" was. When I looked at my problems on paper they really seemed small compared to the big scheme of things.
Me too. More guilt and confusion as to why I could not just get over it.

I tried to figure out what else it could be and found that thyroid problems can cause depression, sudden weight gain, and other symptoms like mine. I knew that would be something easily detected and treatable and went to my G.P. who did a physical and ruled out any thyroid problems. My diagnosis was severe clinical depression. She explained my options and prescribed a medication.

The meds did not make me feel anything. But about two weeks later I noticed that I had laughed about something. It felt strange. I had not laughed at anything in so long. It was a little ray of hope. Very slowly I started feeling more like myself.

I respect your decision that drugs are not for you. I am happy you were able to find a solution to what you were dealing with. It was obviously not the same illness or circumstance that I was dealing with. Just as others who take medication go to therapy are not just like me.

But generalizations about stupid doctors over-prescribing antidepressents and the people who would rather be drugged up then deal with their problems are insulting. Implying that too many people are just popping these pills for fun puts suspicion on anyone who seeks treatment.

My goal is not to change your opinion on drugs but to make you more aware of the way your comments could negatively impact people who might seek treatment but are afraid of what people like you might think.

Queen of Swords

I'm curious. What's the difference between

1. needing to take drugs because the levels of my insulin or estrogen were messed up

and

2. needing to take drugs because the levels of certain neurotransmitters of mine were messed up?

[ March 17, 2002: Message edited by: QueenofSwords ]</p>

Pseudonymph

Danya,

I am sorry to hear about all that you have been through...You might say I expeirenced something simiar, albeit not quite as severe.

Like I have said before, I am truly happy for ANYONE that can overcome depression. Likewise I am glad to hear that you came out of this horrible cycle.

Take care!

Megatron

I may be missing something, but I really don't see one...