To medicate or not to medicate? Personally I resisted medication for a good 15 years. When I first went to my doctor about my depression and anxiety she told me to put the kids in the car and go for a drive. That left me feeling like I couldnt ask for help again. The next time I went to the doctors for the same reason I was told that I was a strong girl and I would get over this. So I carried on. I pushed and pushed myself because I felt like that was what was expected of me. I did self help classes, read every book there was on how to manage anxiety and depression without medication. I have a strong faith and believed that God would deliver me from my suffering. I prayed and fasted. I exercised and ate right. I would practice positive thinking all the time. In fact I am a very positive person and always look on the bright side of things. But I struggled so much. I was constantly at war in my head because I couldnt figure out why I feel so depressed and horrible all the time. I felt like a total failure but I always put on a brave face. Then 4 weeks before my 40th birthday, I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldnt breathe. I was having a panic attack but this time I couldnt reason my way through it. Everyday it got worse. I thought I was going to die! Then I wanted to die because I couldnt cope with how I was feeling. I went from doing everything to not being able to do anything at all. My doctor sent me to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with severe anxiety and panic disorder and depression. He wanted to start me on medication and my husband was really against it. My psychiatrist told him that I was bad enough to be hospitalised and that I really needed to be treated with medication. He explained that not taking the medication would be like not taking medication for diabetes. So I started on my journey with medication. I have to admit it took a little while to get the doses right but I am so thankful to whoever it was that invented medication for anxiety and depression. After a couple of years I have been able to resume my life and am now living to the full. Something I thought I would never be able to do again. I guess my reason for sharing this is if you are considering medication or are having some reservations about taking it, be encouraged by my story. I think that if I had of been treated years earlier I would never have ended up as bad as I did. It took 7 years to get my life back after having a massive breakdown. I really feel it could have been avoided if I had of got treatment when I first started with my symptoms. But I am living proof that you can go through hell and come out the other end. I believe that need to do what ever it takes to get our lives back! -survivor
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 05:28:54 +0000