Just because I'm on medication

Depression
#1

Hi. I am so sick of the way I am treated… even by my own family… because I need to take antidepressants. I thought maybe others felt the same way.

So I want to say…
Just because I take medication… It doesn’t mean I am an unstable person or a drug addict. I don’t enjoy having to remember to take them, or pay for them…but it’s a part of my life. Why do people think that everyone can be cured by sunshine and an attitude adjustment. Oh, if only it were that easy…

Just because I’m on medication, I am no less of a person, it doesn’t make me a weak person, and it sure as hell doesn’t make me stupid.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Anyone else???

#2

Amen to your amen mikee. Well, actually, I am kinda crazy. Shhhhh! I won’t tell anyone if you don’t!

#3

gone fishing

#4

I’m with you guys. I take meds for bipolar, crohns & fibromyalgia. I also have depression and anxiety but don’t take meds for them. I hate the way people look at you when they find out. Like you’re some kind of freak of nature. I wonder if they look at cancer patients with no hair the same way. I hate pills, but, if I want to try to lead any kind of normal life, it’s what I have to do. I took my health for granted at one time. Now I take 19 1/2 pills a day. I’m 27 freaking years old!!! Let me tell you, this was my dream all along. To be sick and tired of being sick and tired. WOO HOO! I’M LIVING THE LIFE AREN’T I!!! Small minded people piss me off. Sorry guys, I got a little angry there.

#5

Just because I’m on meds doesn’t mean I’m crazy.

#6

THATS A BIG A MEN KENKIE FOR SURE

#7

SUE I KNOW JUST HOW YOU FEEL WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES THERE IS A PUBLIC STIGMA THAT GOES WITH IT UNIT PEOPLE GET EDUCATED ON IT IT WILL NEVER CHANGE I FEEL THE SAME WAY. THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME KIND OF NATONAL EYE OPENERS FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT EDUCATED IN THIS MATER . PEOPLE WILL TEND TO JUDGE US JUST REMEMBER IT IS NOT OUR FAULT HUGS

#8

That is the truth, Mikee… it’s even worse with chronic pain and needing meds for that. It is automatically assumed you are a drug addict. The National Pain Association states that people who are in need of the medication don’t feel the euphoric effect pain meds have on most people. Also just because your body becomes dependant, doesn’t mean you are an addict.
Stigma… that’s the right word. That and the NEED FOR EDUCATION.

#9

HEY GUYS I’M WITH ALL OF YOU. ONE GOOD THING, IF IT WERE NOT FOR OUR MEDS WE WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN ECAH OTHER. …ALL FOR ONE…ONE FOR ALL

#10

Hey Jali, you said that well! Here is how I see it…I am not heavily depressed and I don’t have anywhere as much anxiety as most of you do. I AM on a medication to stabilize my mood swings. I hear a lot from our careplace family of how their family members think that “depression” is a state of mind and can be “mentally overpowered”. This is NOT the case! This is a scientific, physical chemical imbalance. It is NOT an imagination trip! Most people in this world have not become conscious within themselves and are still dealing with very bad ego problems. They cannot (and refuse) to understand how deep depression has got a hold on most of us. Those of us that have depression, have been forced to deal with the life we live, therefore making us conscious within our own selves, which allows us the understanding and compassion we all SHOULD be getting!
Like Mikee says, It’s not our fault!
I am currently reading “The Power of NOW!” by Eckhart Tolle. This is a highly recommended book. It may very well release a lot of people from depression!
And Sammi, you are right about that! I think it is good this site is here for us…otherwise I would never have met all of you and I would not have this to look forward to each day.

#11

I am so tired of this judgemental BS people who do this really need to education their ignorance. I for so long lived with an illness that so many thought and said was in my head. Only to almost die from this disease in my head. I had a family member another lovely sis of mine (I only have 1 I wanna have) who called while I was hospitalized with 7 abdominal obstructions, She asked “what did they say going on?” I replied I don’t know much yet but they did exploratory surgery and said they believe I might have crohns disease. She replied Hmmmm will if I get time I’ll come and visit (she never visited once during my 2 month stay) she hung up or she thought she did but really she didn’t I over hear her talk to someone saying she’s desperate she do almost anything for attention I guess. My god she’s always been like this. Stupid biatch duhhh I have been living with a serious illnesss since my early teens with no support from my family just a bunch of BS that is all they have really done for me. Grrr this crap pisses me off. Yes I daily pop many pills, my sister should be thankful cause without a couple of those meds I might choose to choke the life from them. So yes maybe I am a little nutty but no nutty then the family I came from and the difference betwwen them and me is I live a life with compassion and empathy for others and their struggles. So after my rant Mizz Sue I hope you understand I so relate and think it is about selfish people being ignorant asses just my oppinion though. GRRRRRRRRRRR

#12

I’m so happy to see so many of you getting this off your chest!!!

Here’s what ‘provoked’ me to start this thread… my brother who is 3 years older than I am is currently going thru a nasty divorce. He has never had a real job since going to college AND grad school for a masters in fine arts. So he is currently homeless and the manager of an art supply store. At night after everyone goes home, he lets himself back into the store and that’s where he sleeps. IN A STORE!! And bathes in the sink there.

Well, his ex-wife’s mother has been storing all his paintings from the last 20 years or so in her basement and she decided to get a dumpster and throw them all away. I offered to let him store some of these with me… they are in Rhode Island, I am in Colorado. I assumed he would take them off their frame thingys and roll up the canvases and ship them to me. Do you know what he said? “I don’t think you and Phil are ‘stable’ enough to handle keeping my paintings.” He’s living in a store, and WE are not stable. I asked him how exactly he decided we’re not stable… it’s because we decided not to move to Georgia (I wouldn’t go without my daughter…so pardon me) and then bought a house. That is what makes us unstable? So I kept pushing him… and finally he mentions…“So hows your back? Do you still take the medication for that? What about your so called depression do you take stuff for that too?”

So it’s really because I’m on medication for my issues that he thinks I’m not stable enough to take care of paintings. Oh, ok. And then I told him I was sick of him judging me… and he says, “I’m not judging you… but I know people have… they have to me…” What the hell does that mean? The rest of my family sits and talks about me?

Screw them. I knew there was a reason I moved so far away from all of them. They call me the unstable one, yet, I am the only one who is about to own their own home… I’m the only one who has managed to stay with the same partner, and not cheat or stray, for the last 12 years… and I’ve only lived in 2 places the last 12 years. When I work… I stay at the same job forever… until I quit to raise my kids…

Oooohhh, but they say… “how are you buying a house if you’re so broke?” Meaning… I couldn’t send THEM money when they asked… so how could we possibly afford a house…

Well, most people know that mortgages are cheaper than rent some times… and VA loans are 100% financing… and they know Phil is a Vetran… and I think most people who PAY ALL THEIR BILLS are usually broke every month… it’s the american way for pete’s sake?

Aaaahjhhhhh am I wrong???

#13

oh you are soooo right…i guess maybe it’s not so difficult for some people who have enough resources to have some left at the end of each month…but try as i might after paying all the bills and meeting the needs of my family and kids…i’m freakin broke! no i lied…my savings acct has a whopping $200 in it!!! pathetic i know…but sadly that’s good for me!

you are not unstable…you have provided a stable home for your children…you have provided everything they could ever need…you’ve made your marriage work…you are a great friend… your brother just put that old saying to truth…it’s like the pot calling the kettle black… he has no right to judge you or make comments about you life…your meds…your depression…look at how he is living…he doesn’t have a home at all right now…how sad that must be for you…and i know he’s in a bad place…

sue…you are a great person…one of the best friends i could have ever asked for…just thought i’d add that!!! :slight_smile:

#14

when people tell me i’m crazy… i just smile and say- YUP! certified in two states and four counties!

i hate it when people treat me like i’m broken!- it is never when i need a little understanding!

#15

Good answer, Nyteyes!! lol

#16

Sue, I know how you feel, although I’ve never been ridiculed to my face for being on anti-depressants.

If someone comments along these lines, I tell them it’s no different than taking meds for high blood pressure or a diabetic needing to take insulin. Unfortunately, the world is full of ignorant folks who prefer to bury their heads in the sand. Did you ever think maybe they make such a fuss because your courage in admitting your problem and seeking proper treatment hits an unharmonious chord within them? Think about it. . .

When I entered a three-week, inpatient voluntary treatment ward in 1991 for severe depression, I finally “came out” to my extended family and co-workers about my problem. Most of them reacted positively, which really helped, but it was certainly not easy for me to admit it to them.

Take Mike Wallace, for example. He’s a “Prozac boy.” He publicly took on Tom Cruise over depression and med issues. Apparently Cruise is of the opinion that depression isn’t “real” and certainly doesn’t warrant taking medication to help “cure.”

When I heard this, it opened my eyes to two things: that opinions cross all social lines and rotten ones can come from those at the “top”; and two, that I will never see a Tom Cruise movie again. I refuse to fuel the fire of someone with his high profile by contributing a penny to buy a movie ticket to see anymore of his films. I’ll save the price of admission and put the money toward my next script of anti-depressant meds.

Sometimes you cannot change people with this mindset, so just ignore them. You don’t have to justify your existence to them or anyone else. Learn to put the “I” first, “them” second.

#17

Thanks Tim…

I agree with the whole Tom Cruise thing… what an idiot that man is… I wont see his movies anymore either.

Education is the key. There are different types of depression… the situational and the chemical. And no, people just don’t recognize that a chemical imbalance in the brain is a disease, just like high blood pressure and diabetes, like you said…

#18

Dear Sue, This is the best topic I have had the pleasure to read on CarePlace. It has long been a bone of contention with me. If I,m the least bit opinionated my partner says “did you take all your meds” . Like it couldn,t possibly THIER behavior that was ticking me off. All the in-laws do this with me so I did away with them in my life. My doctor agrees that there is indeed stigma attached to any psychiatric diagnosis. And yes , people look at my pill box for a weeks of meds and treat you like a blithering idiot who,s over dosing. Thank God for our friends on CarePlace.

#19

I’ll agree with that, Gramms, and even say it agian…

Thank god for all our friends here at Careplace!!!

#20

There aint no shame in my game about taking meds everyday! Sometimes I tell people…If taking a pill keeps me from hurting an ass like you I guess its all worth it now isnt it. Or theres also the old stand by of…I have a chemical imbalance in my brain and the meds even everything out.either way I dont let people like that bother me,they cant help it they are ignorant. Gee I feel a little frisky today…lol Anyway life is too short to let little crap like that bother me, I’m going to try to get through this thing called life with a smile on my face because if I’m pissed when I die I’m coming back to make the walls bleed…lmao Anyway everyone have a great day and hang in there SUE. Water on a ducks back Sweetie