Not to say natural supplements do not or can not help those who do not have mental illnesses, serious ones like bipolar, but they work best for those who have situational stress not full blown constant anxiety disorders, panic disorder, bipolar, schizophrenia...if natural supplements helped,we'd all use them. C b has a very serious mental illness, for pity sake, along with the severe anxiety that goes with this medical, inherited illness. It kills people. Many people. I believe suicide is the #1 killer of teens in the United States.
The rest of you...don't. Life may stress you out, but not in the clinical sense. No disrespect meant. It drives me crazy though when those who are not mentally ill, which is a brain disorder, give simple, clean, easy answers.
It is like shaming a diabetic for taking insulin and not getting better on just some natural supplement. Or epilepsy. Yes, as we say we are very PHYSiCALLY ill and this causes unstable moods, irrational anxieties,wrongful thinking, inability to launch, inability to concentrate, the feeling that our lives are worthless, and even hallucinations without recreational drugs. Some hear voices and see things that are not there without anti psychotic. They can become dangerous to themselves or others. They can't tell reality from fantasy. This can happen in schizophrenia and also the manic highs in bipolar. Some depressive also have irrational delusions and hallucinations. At 13, my first clinical depression, I whispered in my house because I thought other kids were standing outside, listening to me and laughing. A delusion. At 13. This is irrational thinking. Nobody could explain to me that it made no sense. Of course I saw no professional back in the day. My family thought they could handle it.
They couldn't. It only disappeared when my mood abruptly switched from serious depression to hypo mania. I only had two manic episodes though. Most were mixed episodes (look it up) or depression. I was at the mercy of crazy mood swings. Suicide quickly became an option to me, but I didn't tell anyone. I thought I'd be stopped
and this was my perceived only way out.
It is downright dangerous to play doctor and tell a mentally ill patient you wouldn't take medications. You have no idea what you'd do f you were sick this way. We WISH we could stop our medications and function and not be at the mercy of crazy moods, hallucinations and delusions PLUS severe anxiety. You don't just get one symptom most of the time.
Hey, don't take your high blood pressure medications. They are poison. Just lose weight. Exercise. STop smoking today! Smoking is true poison with no medical up side. How many of you who wouldn't take psychiatric medications smoke? Also, be smart (sarcasm) Ignore your family history. I would never take those fatigue causing drugs that help blood pressure or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). I'd rather lay in bed all day, unable to breathe. This is as shaming somebody about taking psyche medications which often save lives, many of them young too.
Mine saved me...and, yes, I tried it all. I was sick and it wasn't a vitamin deficiency, lack of exercise, obesity, or anything other than the wiring n my brain. Listen...
When I first had to take psychiatric medications for constant suicidal ideation, severe clinical depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), I was ashamed. So ashamed that I hung my head, stayed in, felt like I was a freak, and even refused to let my husband touch me for a long time because I felt unworthy of love. Even though the medications were helping the clinical psychiatric problems, the messages I heard from others were shaming and I felt shamed. I felt ashamed that in order to not want to off myself I had to take an antidepressant. The suicidal ideation and clinical depression greatly improved. But other people made me feel ashamed. I should have "snapped out of it " Not possible!!!!!!! Use less,hurtful advice. So is, "you LIKE to be miserable." Stupider advice I never heard. My mother used to say this. Good ole Mother...
Nobody in good conscience can say for sure what he/she would do if they suffered from an illness that they can't imagine. It's unfair and unintentionally mean. Oh, nobody here would ever be mean on purpose. I know this. But many of us have mentally ill kids and some are not getting better. Why not' Bad attitude? Unhelpful words that hurt or CAN hurt.
I hate drugs of all kinds, even alcohol and pot,but I want to live and be able to feel happiness just like somebody without mental illness, and my mental illness is severe enough to interfere with my very life. We, in this category, need medical AND therapeutic help...it is a lifelong struggle. Are there exceptions? Probably, but in the minority if the mental illness is mild.
I am not speaking for CB. I am speaking for those of us who are mentally ill (people I know well off site) and NEED our medication to function or to even stay alive...my NAMI friends and other mentally ill friends don't like our illness being marginalized.
We always, always,always say (both as a joke but usually with sadness) if we had epilepsy (many of the same drugs are used for epilepsy as bipolar) or diabetes or life threatening diseases such as cancer (chemo isn't poison?) Nobody would suggest we shouldnt take our medications. We say this all the time. This stigma stops mentally ill people from seeking help so many kill themselves or live dangerous manic lives and die that way. Or they simply have no joy. Ever.
I can't read any responses to this. The topic is very upsetting to me. Because I am so involved with the mentally ill community I know too many people whose families/"friends" shamed them out of taking their medications. Bad results including suicide
Thanks for at least reading this, if you did. Maybe it made some sense to you. And I also know that many who are not mentally ill will never believe it is a medical illness that one can not just snap out of .The responses of those people whom I don't want to see are in this category so I won't return to read any responses to this. I don't even want to know who thinks mental illness is not "real"...that one can just pull up their pants and be well I can't know who thinks that way.
Bye. Have a nice day!!! Sorry for this post if it upset anyone. Certainly you all know I love you all. Some seriously kind people don't understand mental illness because...they don't have it.
I will see you all on other threads, no longer this one
