Question about the spiritual viability of certain medicines?

[FirstLight]

disclaimer: I am NOT asking for medical advice, nor am I considring going OFF my meds...just curious as to your take on the spiritual pros & cons of certain meds...


Specifically, Psych meds for depression or ADHD

I know I probably was 'self medicating' as a youth for depression. I have seen my own ups & downs (severe) that really caused me to make some drastic choices and possibly screw up my life. My current meds are great and I feel more like myself, and act more consistently with my spiritual goals than I have in a long time.

After reading the Matthew message for this month- at the end he talks about the meds being bad and causing more problems...
I think differently. I think sometims just like a person may have a need for thyroid meds or hormones, someone can have a depletion in brain chemicals and need the meds for life.

I worry about the same thing in ADHD meds. I know ritalin is bad juju, but some of the newer meds are gentler and really can help these kids with focus.(perhaps they are reacting to the energy of the planetary breakdown too) My own son was born with severe PTSD after being abused in utero by my ex husband...it has taken many years before I broke down and allowed the synthetic meds...but he is happier, doing WAY better academically, and able to even develop friendships he was not able to 6 months ago.

so this is where i get upset by the broad brush of the new age movement that says ALL drugs are BAD for spiritual development.

what's your thoughts?

[mysticalchick]

1. I re-read that portion of his message earlier ..

... and believe he was speaking of situational depression vs. chemically caused depression.

32. We happily offer some “plain vanilla” suggestions that can assist you to get past depression when its cause is circumstantial:

My opinion of it all? I am happier and productive when I take my AD meds. I got an intuitive feeling I could reduce the dosage by half and still be okay and that's what I did (with my doctor's blessing)and I am fine. I don't think any medication is inherently harmful (my feeling) but only you can know how it interacts with your body chemistry. If you don't feel right taking it, I would suggest you investigate other possibilities. I think it's best to follow your inner voice rather than what one "movement" suggests.

My two cents FWIW.

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. "My own son was born with severe PTSD after being abused in utero by my ex husband..."

!!!??!?!?!???!

(slaps forehead...)

I don't have words...or emoticons.

[FirstLight]

5. sorry, TMI...?

Ya, my ex-abused me when I was pregnant with our son, thrown across the room and almost lost the baby...funny it didn't really get bad till that pregnancy either. My daughter's pregnancy was fine. it was a very unstable relationship, though.

ya, we are much better off now, no worries. thx

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. It hits me clearly in the Empathic center.

I cannot stand that people are or can be that abusive. I have some anger within me from such abuse, and am working desperately to clear it...and am succeeding, and praying for a world without such pain. I am deeply ashamed of the harm that =I= have caused and wish to never ever be the source of suffering for another.

Please understand that this is a safe place in which to plainly discuss such things; healing it and speaking candidly is part of the spiritual path, and it requires the basic spiritual principle of courage to do so. Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased. Please bring your pain to us that it may heal completely. Someone else somewhere needs to see your strength to help them on their own journey into healing and joy. Peace to you and yours, may your paths always be of ease and grace.

[FirstLight]

11. ...and I don;t mean to sound flippant about it either :)

I think that is part of my healing practice, no regrets.. Once I have dealt with something I try not to drop to that vibration again, except to heal whatever peices come up in the moment.

and ya, i forget that it is so shocking to so many people. I shared it in conversation yesterday and heard the lady I was talking to gasp and say something soothing and sweet under her breath...she felt so sorry for me.
But the whole *sentence* was about how, ya, I had survived *that* so nothing else could scare me! ;)

:hug: thanks for your openness too, healing for us all :grouphug:

[get the red out]

3. The spirit is not the body, but we should take care of our bodies

I don’t buy into anything completely, spiritual path, psychiatry, spiritual leaders/teachers, probably because of my own meandering life-path. My opinion on medication for various ills like depression, ADHD etc…is that if it is something one stays aware of so far as how it effects their whole body system, and they trust their doctor and the doctor keeps tabs on the effects of the medication, AND IT HELPS THEM, how could it possibly diminish one’s spirituality? The medication is for the body, not the spirit. An imbalance in the brain, left painfully uncorrected would separate a person from spirit, IMO, not the other way around.

That being said, I too suffered from depression from an early age and received very poor psychiatric care for years. Early on the doctor questioned why I would even be sitting there claiming to be past even getting out of bed and eating from depression and having suicidal thoughts when I was 18 and had a college scholarship yada yada; and later, when my life crashed for the millionth time in my late 20s (because by God, if they couldn't fix me I would do it myself), the various psychiatrists I saw drugged me to the point of not being able to see and barely speak. (There are few forums where I can share what really happened without stepping on preconceived ideas, and this is one of them). I have been treating my depression since with talking therapy and natural supplements, but after the depression I suffered a little over a year ago (during the last Presidential Election and for a while afterward) I have vowed that if I get in that shape again I will consult a good doctor and try some type of medication. I feel good right now, but I do not intend to let myself suffer like I did again, it was awful.

I have see suffering on both ends, I have known people who suffered because they were told their particular spiritual path meant they could not use prescription medication for either psychiatric issues or pain relief after surgeries, and I and others have suffered due to psychiatrists dispensing very poor care. The truth is usually in the middle. We all know instinctively, if we will ask our inner guidance, what is best for us in our circumstances. The key, IMO, is being present in our own lives and willing to look and ask questions until we get the best possible care. I can’t imagine if one does that that they could harm their spiritual life in any way if medication turns out to be the answer for a misfiring body organ called the brain.

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. As I'd posted in the Lounge two days ago...

...my psych meds are not "just perfect" for me, and do interfere with my ability to control my mental body, and that is a spiritually debilitating effect, because that is the one true world, the causal plane.

Don't even bring up "anti-psychotics" and their effect upon those not actually psychotic (ME). I couldn't count to ten for five days after one pill. And MORE.

[FirstLight]

9. I hope you can find the right stuff for you!

I have never been exposed to anti-psychotics but I have heard some scary stuff :hug: that has to be awful!

Whatever you do, keep moving and breathing and working on that wonderful spirit you are cultivating...because that is what will pull you through this. and also recognize that as empathic as you are, you are probably getting hit more by the earth tides than most. Hang in there! may should be a much easier month for us!

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Thank you!

Ah....May has some pain and tears...but June...

The main problem I have experienced in "mental health care" has been doctors who will not listen. Over and over. I've had to bite the bullet just to get where I am today.

Even after completely proving myself to one of them...I was intuitively correct on several issues which thankfull later came into play..and I'm not sure if they ever even considered what I'd said to get there, or even afterward.

I'm sort of done with "character building", thank you, I'd like to get off this carousel and onto the nicer one(s)...

[FirstLight]

12. ya, i don't tell them too much anmore...

I have one or two docs that I can TRUST, who I know wil not think I am nuts when I talk about grounding or meditating...but I don;t give them any more info than that either.

I have been thrown out of the ER with strep throat because I refused to leave and the doctor said I was just 'depressed' - because I was crying that I was sick and NOBODY would believe me! so I've also seen it go both ways for sure!


ya...here's to the 'happy merry go round of the new earth' ... not the 'Mr toad's wild ride' we are currently enduring! :grouphug:

[FirstLight]

6. .. personal interest in growth is vital to mental health.

I think we can all agree on that. And yes, there are many who would rather have a pill or who are victims of BAD medicine, for sure.

I also agree there is a tendency in most people to avoid personal growth and responsibility for choices.

Each of us is so used to responding with knee jerk reactions to our most simple interactions, sometimes that just perpetuates damaging behavior.

But I am also of the mind that things can be fixed by diet and healthy approaches, allopathic meds have ALWAYS been a last resort for me. I also have decided to take the meds for chronic auto-immune issues and depresion that have allowed me to get out from under the blanket of pain and grief i was living in and be more of myself than ever before..(.and believe me I tried doing it on my own and thought I was a weak person because I couldn't "keep it together" for more than a year or so before crashing into my wall.Screwed up alot of my college and career opportunities...)
I am still a holistic thinker, but I also recognize that sometimes our bodies need help, and that can apply to brain chemistry as well as your immune system - it is realy all connected more than even our doctors know.

Taking personal responsibility for your own HEALTH - spiritual, mental and physical is the key.

[rumpel]

8. I have yet to read the new message, but I am not a meds person

I just simply do not like to take meds myself. Is it not that most pharmaceuticals are made to suppress certain symptoms or to maintain the status quo, i.e. keep symptoms from getting worse or simply make it bearable? I think none of the pharma products have actually "cured" something. Therein lies my distrust to meds. But I also know it would be foolish not take medication when needed.

I also think nothing is permanent. I believe that everything has a vibration and this vibration changes constantly, it may be worthwhile to muscle check the vibration of the meds to see if it is compatible with the current vibration of one's state.

As I watched the nursing home just pump all the meds ever prescribed to my mother in the immediate aftermath of her emergency surgery for months on end - she did not recover, and was only delusional. Only after we started weaning her off of the majority of those medication has she been able to "live". It now appears that it took more than 5 months (on edit: after discharge from the nursing home) for her to regain herself, as she does not even remember I had to change her diapers at home for many months. In the process of not being really "conscious", she lost the use of her feet.

Like Mystical Chick said, I think just like the blood thinning meds, which needs adjustment of dosages and monitoring, perhaps monitoring should be applied to other meds, too. But the doctors neither have the time nor would they want to deviate from the dosages the pharma companies recommend.

Maybe someday soon we may have a breakthrough and are able to determine an underlying cause of a health issue and find ways to assist the body heal itself, but this seems to me must be addressed on all levels of body, mind and spirit - as they say. The medical community, including big Pharma & insurance should keep their mind open to new or even ancient re-discovered modalities.