Meds are "weak"???

This is my first posting on this board, but I've been floating around the Nar-anon and Al-Anon boards for a while. I have to admit that when I saw a member's view that medication use is "weak" I wanted to scream! Medication is supposed to be used concurrent to counseling, not in place of it, and many people who take these meds have a chemical imbalance that cannot be cured by counseling alone. Are you a weak person because you have to take insulin or thyroid meds?? What if you discover that you have cancer? Are you "weak" to take Chemo??
The "stigma" of mental illness is perpetual if we don't stop acting embarrassed.
It is true that there are some mental illnesses that require lifelong medication- so does a kidney transplant. Could someone please explain the difference between the two?? If your body and mind require a medication to survive, are you going to deny yourself life due to someone else's bigotry?
I'm sorry if I've offended anyone- I know I've been harsh on this one, and I have very strong feelings about this. I've been on both sides of this coin- I've worked in Mental Health and I've also been one of the "weak" people who've taken meds to help get life together again.
Hopefully the time of acceptance of diversity will come.


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[HelpDepression]

I agree whole heartedly and can't re-itterate enough how important it is for people to understand this.

Depression specifically, and psychology in general, are such unknowns still. We've come a long way, but still have many barriers to cross and many problems to solve.

I think it's easiest to put things into perspective by looking back at history. For example, we used to smash holes into people's heads to try and release the "demons". We used to burn people who claimed to NOT be witches because if they were telling the truth, we'd know by their death.

We've survived many terrors throughout the small stint humans have roamed the earth, but I doubt we've even begun to see all of them. Stereotypes and stigmas will continue to cast their shadows on all our unknowns. We can only hope to be strong enough to persevere through it.

I'd like to end this with a small, relevant excerpt from HelpDepression.com's columnist this month, who wrote:
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Antidepressants are all different, just as we are all individuals, and it may take time to find the right one for you. I believe it's OK to take pills for a mental problem, just as it's OK to take pills for a physical problem. No one would dream of telling an insulin-dependant diabetic to "pull yourself together"!
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Sorry for the rant.

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Chad Colbert
chad@helpdepression.com
http://www.helpdepression.com/