by New light for you 21 Replies latest jw friends
I'm actually shocked and proud of all of your mental stability! i thought for SURE people would jump at the chance to recommend their favorite drug... I'm so proud.
Wait... we're apostate now... dont we "do drugs" while we "Fornicate" and ..... oh crap.. i forget...
If you feel you need meds, I would opt for a regular antidepressant such as SSRI's-Lexapro, Prozac, etc. I would avoid the Benzos such as Xanax, Ativan, Valium, etc. as they are just short acting, and can be VERY addictive. I have taken many different SSRI's, and Lexapro is best for me. They are also non addictive. It takes a couple weeks to build up in your system, but many people have been helped by them, myself included. I am also prescribed Xanax, but I do not even take them as the antidepressants seem to be doing the job for the most part. Good luck!
There's a lot of side-effects of those AD drugs - mostly, IMO. It took me a few years to get off that crap, and I'm happy I did it. I started having panic attacks going off Paxil, and had to take Ativan (sp?) once... it was horrible.
Everyone is different, and drugs affect everyone different, so I can't say what they will do for you.
Hang in there- it will get better.
yeeeoowww.....just pm me...sure a shame i went to the doc and trashed a $k of pills this week dammit!!!!!!!!...so call or apostaphone me....oompa
they help, but are far from a cure...you will have to find somthing like a tasmanian devil chick you help with the curing..........oomps
THIS IS ALL THE PSYCHIATRY YOU WILL EVER NEED:
Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins (I like most of his stuff)
How to Start Living and Stop Worrying by Dale Carnegie
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
Combating Cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan
Whatever you do, don't delve into conspiracy theories.
Wait... we're apostate now... dont we "do drugs" while we "Fornicate" and ..... oh crap.. i forget...
NAw, fornication is best sober.
I didn't know we had so many pharmacists on this board! LOL. Start doing the happy dance girl because you are about to start living life as it should be! Exit counseling by a professional would be great if you can arrange it.
Whatever you do, don't delve into conspiracy theories.
Very good advice, WAC!
Did it!
Thanks, ninja! OY!
BFD
I believe meds are too heavily relied on. First, you need to make sure you have as good health as reasonably possible--and that includes making sure you have plenty of vitamins. The B complex, especially pantothenic acid and vitamin B6, are important. You also need magnesium--500 to 1,000 mg a day of magnesium should be suficient, plus what you get in foods. (Which are more deficient these days). That will help ease additional stress from nutritional deficiencies.
Now, the real issue. Leaving the witlesses is always stressful, especially during a judicial hearing. And the aftermath of being shunned by family can hurt. However, meds should not be relied on to help you through it. You need to look and see what is missing, and fill in the holes. You lost friends, you need to get some new (worldly) ones. You have been programmed to believe that the whole world is evil, and you need experiences to prove that is wrong. You have time on your hands, you need something worthwhile to fill it (and that can be whatever you want to do). You feel guilty that the religion may be right, you need to objectively analyze what the most probable outcome is if you stay versus if you go, both if they are right and if they are wrong. Which is not really possible if you are on meds.
If that isn't sufficient (and often, just looking into another church or some "secret" society is enough), the next step is counseling. At this point, you are still not looking at meds. What you really need now is help in finding the real truth and in blowing off the fake truth (which is harder if you were born in). You need to step into the world, a little at a time, and learn that it is not wholly a vile place. You will feel guilty at first when you do something "bad", but you need to continue doing it anyway. Take advantage of the Washtowel warnings that you can "sear" your conscience. Which I recommend doing--on purpose. Once you can realistically see whether an action you choose is good or bad for self or society, you can then retrain your conscience so you will tend to choose acts that are good for self and/or society. Which is much easier, and more rewarding, than a washtowel.
Only if you are at an impasse should you even think of meds. (Or if you are continually tormented by aftermath of having been a witless.) You reach a point where you know you need to do something, but you just cannot force yourself to do it that one time. And even then it should be the smallest dose of the shortest-acting "drug" that will do the job. Believe it or not, a single drink at this point can be the ticket to getting through it. The danger here, whether with alcohol or prescription meds, is relying on them. Once you get through one impasse with the help of a chemical, you might be tempted to use that same drug to avoid the pain of dealing with the stress. This is dangerous, and can lead to addiction and faulty judgment.
That is why I recommend using meds only when absolutely necessary, and then only in the minimum dose possible. You need to feel a measure of the guilt in order to root it out, and if you are too drugged up or use drugs when not necessary, it can result in not rooting out the guilt at the source. It will still be there, and you will not be able to effectively retrain your conscience. And there are physical dangers. I recommend reading www.breggin.com for more insight on the dangers of excessive or unnecessary use of meds.
However, if severe depression or anxiety that is the aftermath of continual terror or stress is the dominant problem, then you might benefit from carefully adjusted doses of meds in conjunction with effective therapy. Again, the goal is to retrain your conscience. However, the past stress could be causing severe problems that proper care would reduce. Only you can judge whether the risks are worth the benefits--I do, however, recommend using as many sources as possible to research it before trying meds.
maybe you need antidepressants or something for anxiety; maybe you don't need them. You can go to your family doctor and talk to him or her about it. The family doctor can prescribe an antidepressant and/or anxiety pills if necessary. You might need something for a short while, or you might find exercise and new hobbies and new friends will work well enough. In other words, we don't know your situation. We each just know our own situation. For me, I was so depressed before I faded, I needed antidepressants just to keep moving. Took them for a couple of years. Didn't need them again for years until last year. Now I am quite grateful to take them and I know it won't be forever.
