"The Rest of Your Life"

[RedsManRick]

Thanks for making my point for me.
You don't just "develop" a bad knee, diabetes (adult onset type 2 for sure) or high blood pressure one day.
9 times out of ten these are preventable "diseases" that derived from how your lifestyle choices affected your body and ultimately your health.

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Not necessarily. Maybe have a bad knee because I slipped on ice and tore my ACL. Maybe I have Type 1 diabetes. Maybe I have a strong genetic predisposition to high blood pressure and I'm a normal weight and eat a normal diet.

Even then, why isn't there a social stigma attached with people taking medication for them? Why, if I have an arthritic knee, does nobody think of me as having a character flaw for taking pain medication "for the rest of my life"?

If you're trying to suggest that my position is that these conditions are 100% beyond the control/influence of the person and therefore the person should be no responsibility or be free of any and all judgment, I'd suggest you'd be putting words in my mouth.

My point is that mental disorders are treated by our society as reflections of people's character/worth in a way that most other medical conditions simply are not. They are seen as a failure, a weakness, in a way that simply is not applied to other conditions. One does not need to characterize mental conditions as completely, 100% biologically determined for this clearly differential approach to be deemed unfair and destructive.

Yes, people have a responsibility to tend to their health and people who are clearly neglectful of their health will almost assuredly continue to be the subject of social judgment. This is not my complaint. My complaint is that when people choose to do the responsible thing regarding their mental health, they are often seen in the opposite light. If I were going to physical therapy for my knee, I wouldn't be judged by people the way I am when I tell them I'm going to see my psychiatrist.

[BuckeyeRed27]

I tend to take the side that people that have mental health issues, they should absolutely take medication and error on the side of caution if it helps them function and feel better. I don't think there is some big conspiracy by the drug companies to stifle the creativity of the world in the name of profit.

I think some of the societal stigma comes from, what happens if someone with a mental health issue, stops taking their medication. If someone with arthritis in their knee stops taking pain killers, they are only affecting themselves. If someone that is bipolar stops taking their medication, who knows what is going to happen. There is a bit of an unknown there that I think people keep in the back of their mind. I don't know if I articulated what I meant there, so I hope that makese sense.

[BLEEDS]

Not necessarily. Maybe have a bad knee because I slipped on ice and tore my ACL. Maybe I have Type 1 diabetes. Maybe I have a strong genetic predisposition to high blood pressure and I'm a normal weight and eat a normal diet.

I believe that is covered in my statement "9 times out of ten"

Winning.

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[Roy Tucker]

I believe that is covered in my statement "9 times out of ten"

Winning.

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Are there too many people taking plls for their ills and big pharm is pushing this attitude? Sure.

But arguing this point with a morally superior attitude won't win many allies. Don't come down too hard unless you've walked in those shoes.

[Yachtzee]

I have two friends who eat healthy diets and run marathons. Yet for some reason, they still have to take meds for high cholesterol. I eat what I want, don't run much due to bad knees and back (old injuries from my youth), and yet my cholesterol was awesome last it was checked. So how does that work out?

Sure there are some people out there who can resolve their psychological issues with lifestyle changes. But have you ever dealt with people who have bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or severe depression? I know people in my life with those issues and deal with more at my job. In the past, these people would have been institutionalized, but today, with medication, they can lead normal lives. Even people whose depression might not have risen to the levels of severe used to just self-medicate through drug and alcohol abuse (anyone remember when valium was the drug of abuse for the middle class?). Today people are able to manage their psychological issues with drugs that don't impair your senses and motor control. Anyone who thinks the days of yore were better because we didn't have all these people on meds are fooling themselves. People have always had psychological problems, but in the past those people were either sent away or hid their problems and dealt with them in less desireable ways. Do people have mental problems because they lead unhealthy lifestyles, or do they lead unhealthy lifestyles because they have mental problems? Chicken, meet egg.

If someone can cope with physical or psychological issues without meds by making lifestyle changes, more power to them. I myself have a family doctor who takes a conservative approach to medication. However, I'm not going to criticize or question those who do have to take them, nor am I going to question the doctors who prescribe them. I spent three years at evil law school rather than do four years at evil medical achool. The workings of the mind and body are not my forte.

[Larry Schuler]

I have two friends who eat healthy diets and run marathons. Yet for some reason, they still have to take meds for high cholesterol. I eat what I want, don't run much due to bad knees and back (old injuries from my youth), and yet my cholesterol was awesome last it was checked. So how does that work out?

Sure there are some people out there who can resolve their psychological issues with lifestyle changes. But have you ever dealt with people who have bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or severe depression? I know people in my life with those issues and deal with more at my job. In the past, these people would have been institutionalized, but today, with medication, they can lead normal lives. Even people whose depression might not have risen to the levels of severe used to just self-medicate through drug and alcohol abuse (anyone remember when valium was the drug of abuse for the middle class?). Today people are able to manage their psychological issues with drugs that don't impair your senses and motor control. Anyone who thinks the days of yore were better because we didn't have all these people on meds are fooling themselves. People have always had psychological problems, but in the past those people were either sent away or hid their problems and dealt with them in less desireable ways. Do people have mental problems because they lead unhealthy lifestyles, or do they lead unhealthy lifestyles because they have mental problems? Chicken, meet egg.

If someone can cope with physical or psychological issues without meds by making lifestyle changes, more power to them. I myself have a family doctor who takes a conservative approach to medication. However, I'm not going to criticize or question those who do have to take them, nor am I going to question the doctors who prescribe them. I spent three years at evil law school rather than do four years at evil medical achool. The workings of the mind and body are not my forte.

Too much empathy in this post.

[Roy Tucker]

Too much empathy in this post.

Too much being a dick in this post.

[Yachtzee]

By the way, Raisor, I'm happy to hear you're doing well. I always enjoy your posts and RedsZone is better for having you.

[Wonderful Monds]

I believe that is covered in my statement "9 times out of ten"

Winning.

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You need to [removed by mod]. You have a terrible attitude and don't appear to be all that intelligent in the first place. You sure as hell aren't when it comes to this subject, at the absolute least.

[BLEEDS]

You need to [removed by mod]. You have a terrible attitude and don't appear to be all that intelligent in the first place. You sure as hell aren't when it comes to this subject, at the absolute least.

No attitude.
Just education and information.

Keep following the sheeople.
Ignorance is bliss.


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[nate]

A little backstory.

A few of you know, most of you don't, that a few years ago I went a little "off". And by "off" I came pretty close to killing myself.

It took going "away" for awhile, changing jobs, moving to a new city, and buying a house (and having an awesome wife) for me to get all the way back to were I used to be.

Oh, and some really good prescription medicine and doctors.

Anyway, had my quarterly checkup today, and was told by the doc that I'm going to have to be on prozac for the rest of my life.

I probably should be weirded out by that, but I'm not.

At all.

My mom is upset. (Haven't told my wife yet since she's at work). Mom doesn't like the idea of her son having to be on mood altering meds for the rest of his life.

I figure, I feel great, why take the chance of going back to what I was?

Just felt like sharing.

Getting the thread back on track...

High five, Phil!

[Larry Schuler]

Too much being a dick in this post.

I think you've misunderstood my post.

[Wonderful Monds]

No attitude.
Just education and information.

Keep following the sheeople.
Ignorance is bliss.


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I've never met anyone who has used the word "sheeple" without a trace of irony that also had any idea what they were talking about. I also find it extremely amusing that, of all people, you are the one calling others ignorant in this thread.

C'est la vie.

[RichRed]

If we're lucky, we will all one day reach BLEEDS's level of enlightenment. I wonder if there's a pill for that?

[vaticanplum]

Too much being a dick in this post.

If I know Larry, and after at least three exchanges on a baseball message board I think I do, he was embracing sarcasm.