Posted by med_empowered on October 19, 2006, at 14:20:12
In reply to Are you seeing a therapist? » rjlockhart, posted by Racer on October 19, 2006, at 1:29:49
to be fair, though...
I dont take anything now, but it took me a while to get out of the "I need XXX for XXX" mindset. It wasn't even addictive drugs; I'd think sometimes "damn, I need a mood stabilizer" or "maybe Provigil would help..."
I think the whole mental-illness as disease model lends itself to thinking of pills as a solution to a specific problem. So, its kind of ridiculous to say its fine for a shrink to say "Stimulants are safe and effective treatment for ADHD" and then call this guy an addict-in-the-making because he thinks "I really need a stimulant for my ADHD". See what I'm saying? All he's doing is internalizing and personalizing the stuff shrinks have been spouting for years.
BTW--I'm not trying to knock people who do take meds; its a personal thing, and I'm sure some people feel much better, etc...I'm just saying that the mental illness/chemical imbalance paradigm lends itself to dependence on chemicals more than, say, a psychoanalytic paradigm or a behavioral paradigm. That said...its not necessarily better or worse than any other way of dealing with mental issues.
poster:med_empowered
thread:695659
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061011/msgs/696070.html