Just a personal note, in case it’s helpful for others: in the past, I thought that medications for mental health issues were likely to be pretty bad, in terms of side effects, and generally associated them with people in situations of pretty extreme suffering. And so I thought it would only be worth it or appropriate to seek psychiatric help if I were really struggling, e.g. on the brink of a breakdown or full burn-out. So I avoided seeking help, even though I did have some issues that were bothering me. In my experience, a lot of other people seem to feel similarly to past-Claire.
Now, I also think about things from an upside-focused perspective: even if I’m handling my problems reasonably well, I’m functioning and stable and overall pretty happy, etc., would medication further improve things overall, or help make certain stressful situations go better/give me more affordance to do things I find stressful? Would it cause me to be happier, more productive, more stable? Of course, some medications do have severe side effects and aren’t worth it in less severe situations, but I (and some other EAs I know) have been able to improve my life a lot by addressing things that weren’t so bad to start with, but still seemed like they could be improved on. So yeah, I tentatively suggest people think about this kind of thing not just for crisis-management, but also in case things are fine but there’s still a lot of value on the table.
As a second data point, my thought process was pretty similar to Claire’s—I didn’t really consider medication until reading Rob’s post because I didn’t think I was capital D depressed, and I’m really glad now that I changed my mind about trying it for mild depression. I personally haven’t had any negative side effects from Wellbutrin, although some of my friends have.
Seconding this. My partner was spooked by seeing a family member on heavy-duty medications for a more serious mental health situation, so our vague impression was that antidepressants might really change who I was. I did need to try a couple meds and try different times of day, etc to deal with side effects, but at this point I have a med and dose that makes my life better and has very minor side effects.
Just a personal note, in case it’s helpful for others: in the past, I thought that medications for mental health issues were likely to be pretty bad, in terms of side effects, and generally associated them with people in situations of pretty extreme suffering. And so I thought it would only be worth it or appropriate to seek psychiatric help if I were really struggling, e.g. on the brink of a breakdown or full burn-out. So I avoided seeking help, even though I did have some issues that were bothering me. In my experience, a lot of other people seem to feel similarly to past-Claire.
Now, I also think about things from an upside-focused perspective: even if I’m handling my problems reasonably well, I’m functioning and stable and overall pretty happy, etc., would medication further improve things overall, or help make certain stressful situations go better/give me more affordance to do things I find stressful? Would it cause me to be happier, more productive, more stable? Of course, some medications do have severe side effects and aren’t worth it in less severe situations, but I (and some other EAs I know) have been able to improve my life a lot by addressing things that weren’t so bad to start with, but still seemed like they could be improved on. So yeah, I tentatively suggest people think about this kind of thing not just for crisis-management, but also in case things are fine but there’s still a lot of value on the table.
As a second data point, my thought process was pretty similar to Claire’s—I didn’t really consider medication until reading Rob’s post because I didn’t think I was capital D depressed, and I’m really glad now that I changed my mind about trying it for mild depression. I personally haven’t had any negative side effects from Wellbutrin, although some of my friends have.
Seconding this. My partner was spooked by seeing a family member on heavy-duty medications for a more serious mental health situation, so our vague impression was that antidepressants might really change who I was. I did need to try a couple meds and try different times of day, etc to deal with side effects, but at this point I have a med and dose that makes my life better and has very minor side effects.