As someone who is an acoholic, suffers from chronic depression, anxiety, AND a chronic physiological illness, I feel compelled to throw in my 2 cents.
Depression is a relapsing-remitting condition for many, including myself. Feeling good without meds does not mean I am “cured.” Because the truth is I could go a whole year feeling right as rain, and then boom, I feel like I am trapped at the bottom of a VERY deep well, desperately calling out for help to no avail... for months on end. I feel alone, hopeless, paralyzed by apathy and indifference. It’s like being physically chained down by 1000 lb chains that just happen to exist only in my mind. I wish such a state of affairs upon no one.
Anti-depressants give me the edge I need to climb out of the well. Once I’m out, I taper off them and live med-free until my depression strikes again. But it’s very questionable whether or not I’d be able to climb out without them.
I also suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, also a relapsing-remitting illness. I’ve tried every medication under the sun, only to have my condition get worse. Needless to say, I am not a fan of medication unless I absolutely need it. That being said, the one med that does help me is prednisone, which is dangerous to be on long term. Again, I only take it when I am flaring. It fixes me up, and I taper off.
So, in my experience, most of the time, I don’t need medication. But during the time that I don’t need medication, I am still far from being cured of anything. Chronic illness — be it physiological or psychological — can lie dormant like a beast in hibernation. Kind of like the beast of addiction.
It took me years to come to terms with this, but sometimes, the beast wakes up, and no matter how tough you are (or want to think you are), you need help. For some people help is medication, for some it’s therapy, for some it’s meetings, and for some it’s all three and then some. And if help gives them their life back, then it’s more than okay for them to not be “tough enough.” And it sure as hell doesn’t matter to them whether or not they are “truly sober”in the eyes of others.
Being free of drugs and alcohol that destroy my life while at times relying on ones that ultimately save my life and give me a chance will always be a no-brainer,