Reasons why you refused treatment!@

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I refused to take anything before when people said maybe it would help me, because I thought it would impair my ability to figure out my problems that were making me depressed in the first place, and I also thought it would compromise my survival instinct. Also, since I wasn't doing much, I thought it was insulting for people to say I may need something to function instead of just being able to do it myself without being told what to do, or being medicated into just being normal.

(Now I need an antidepressant and I take it. I knew I needed something, I was understimmed, and by then I understood that it would help my understimulation by stimulating me.)

I dislike masking my true state of mind with meds. I have used antidepressants when I felt my depression was taking control. But at those times I wasn't really sure of my state of mind. It felt dangerous not to use meds.

It would change me, and I like who I am.

There's a lot of trial and error in finding the meds that work for you. I wouldn't discount them altogether just because some can cause unwanted side effects, including not feeling like yourself. They can be a godsend in some cases.

I refused to take medications as well. My point of view was that medications only treat part of the problem. I knew as someone who is very interested in biology and psychology, that changing behaviors is important to create lasting chemical changes in the brain. It was my point of view that medications alone would not be sufficient to maintain long term emotional health. I worried that if I started taking medications before I was truly engaged in the work of changing my perspectives, that I would decide to let the meds do the work and not continue to strive for true emotional well-being.

Both my counselor and best friend at the time told me I needed to go to the doctor and get medications. I refused and instead spent time researching alternate treatments. In the end I found one and made a compromise with my counselor. I would try St. John's Wort for 30 days, and if there was no improvement, then I would agree to go to the doctor and try something else. All went well, and I never had to take prescription medications. In fact, I only took St. John's Wort for a few months before my moods were leveled out. I later learned that a German study found St. John's Wort to be as effective in treating mild depression as Paxil.

Depending on the cause of the chemical imbalances, some people may need only short-term interventions, while others may need long-term medications. Either way, I believe that medications alone are not the answer to any problem.

* Edited to note: When I was seeking treatment, it was for help in dealing with events in my personal history as well as depression that resulted from these events and the isolation I felt when I was younger.

Last edited by quesonrias on 07 Jan 2011, 11:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I do not take anytype of medicine for my Aspergers because it might affect my high blood pressure medicine.

It would turn me into something that I'm not, and I like myself the way that I am.

contemplating this myself....

I once needed an antidepressent as I was near...or at suicide stage. I took antidepressants for a year I believe (bupropion) and recovered from it for the most part.

Currently I am not depressed, my attention is well, but my anxiety is the biggest problem which might include melt downs....might not. (not sure if melt downs are anxiety related, or just autism related)

A conclusion I have been mulling over....and might still need to be hashed out.
If you can't treat something specifically then it is not worth treating and if the treatment suggestions do not reveal themself as something that you see yourself as having a problem with then it will probably not help. As you have already found taking alternative supliments can be a huge benefit.

I have found that omega 3-6-9 to be a huge benefit for me in improving memory, focus, sleep and helps blood pressure though mine has been fine in past. Also black tea is helping me alot- I try not to drink coffee because of withdrawal head aches, and I prefer the smoothness/benefits of tea vs coffee. (Plus it has some other stuff besides just caffiene in it. (Though I am sure coffee has some other stuff as well)

So alternative medication should probably be the first gamble, as it is safer/less mind altering in my experience or not mind altering at all....just improving the factors that were already there or minimizing negative ones.

As others have said, and I dunno if this is a dilema nt's thinking of taking medications have. I find that taking medications especially of the stimulant kind truly alters who I am, I like holding onto the reality that I have and when I throw in other things to try and fix my minds ways it's kind of like putting diesel in a gasoline engine. The reality that was there comes crashing down, and you have to find your way through a new reality that the medications have created. Which can be very frustrating/troubling especially since a lot of times it is not natural- the conclusions you draw from being chemically altered seem fabricated/fake like pastic as opposed to stone or wood. Though this is of course subjective and medications might effect someone else on the spectrum entirely differently and stimulants might be to them a godsend.

then there is the side effects oO.....................

Also.....I hate being on a leash.....
I feel like if I am on medication I am on a leash because I HAVE to take it.
Most medications you have to take regularily and if you dont then you will turn into a real maniac or into a bean bag chair.

I was on antis [two different kinds] until about twoish months ago. First one made me want to kill myself and it pretty much made me in to a different person, living hell. Got put on another and it made me into a walking zombie. I stopped cold turkey as I HATED the way they made me feel. Like I was someone else and had no ability to think for myself.

Now I'm on St Johns Wort and it's doing good things for me. I'm 99% sure I won't ever take anymore meds, just keep on St Johns for awhile longer and then go from there.

My boyfriend can see the better in me for not taking any meds.

There's only one type of med that actually helps me and that's opiate based ones, like Lortab, which I hardly ever take. It doesn't make me tired like it does most people. It suppresses my appetite. It puts me in a good mood without the "high" feeling. Other drugs I've tried have had strange effects so I am reluctant to take any.
If I could find a drug that wasn't a schedule II narcotic that actually helped I would take it.

dangerous road...but sounds like you have it under raps. (keep it that way!)

when I was self medicating I found opiates to work the best as well, I never had any bad side effects from them either. Except for constipation.......and sometimes couldn't pee. (Was quite frightening when I didn't know anything about drug side effects but I was only a kid)

dude. you dont even know what they are putting in those pills, thats exactely the reason why i dont take any meds. plus all the side effects? no thank you!

sitting in a group to talk about how cool you are because you are on so many meds.

that doesnt sound like a good time for me

I refused welbutrin and pretty much every med I've been prescribed, simply because I hate having my creativity and self robbed from me.

Right now I refuse treatment for anxiety because I am still doing fine without the pills and I am breast feeding so no pills for me even though I have heard there are pills you can take that won't effect the supply.

Plus I am afraid of side effects.

As a child I was on pills and the first pills I was on was for ADD but the side effects really increased my metabolism so I could eat anything I wanted and not gain weight. Then by 6th grade it took away my appetite so I almost never ate and I got very skinny and didn't have any energy to do soccer so I quit the sport. It also did other things to me which I won't even go there. Then I was taken off them when my parents figured out it was the pills. I was on other pills too at the time.

Then the new pills I was put on for seizures to calm my system down, increased my appetite so I ate three times as much and I gained all this weight and then lost it when I was taken off them because I ate less food again. (I recently learned this from my mother)

Then the pills I was on for years from 6th grade till I was an adult I did fine. I also quit the anxiety meds when I was about 18 because I felt they weren't doing anything for me. The other pills I stayed on because without them, I'd have troubles sleeping and always be tired and I would feel nausea and always feel hungry even though my metabolism would increase. Then they stopped working so I felt no point in taking them anymore and plus you can't take them when pregnant. I quit them before and then was consulted to get back on them so I did and they just didn't work. Then I learned last year when you quit pills they won't work on you again so I guess that's what happened.

I prefer natural meds

Recently I was on anti-depressants but had awful side-effects and hated how they affected me.
I feel that I am being fobbed off with these tablets as it is an easy answer instead of other
alternatives.