Top reasons why people quit meds when they shouldn't?

[guybrarian]

I'd guess the following are in the list:

"I'm cured, I don't need drugs!"
"Needing meds means I'm weak!"
"I forgot to get my scrip filled and now I'm too embarassed/scared/paralyzed to make one phone call to make a new appointment so let's try not taking meds" GENIUS
Weight gain
Sexual dysfunction
Mood flattening

[quickfall]

While these are all legitimate illustrations of ways people become non-compliant with medications, I think it's important to understand that resisting meds or not taking them appropriately is a behavior that is symptomatic of illness. It's not willful, well-thought-out behavior. It's a part of the illness(es).

[serenity88]

agreed, quickfall as i am one of these people.

[Cinnamon]

disagreed:
non compliance is a human condition and presents in diabetics, antibiotics, any medical treatment you can name and is not specific to mental illness or anti-depressants
or even meds - how many people go for their annual exam, eat right, exercise....

making excuses is human, not illness

and saying, there there if you want to quit, it is proof you are needing the meds is a self-circling tautology that is so patronizing and robs the patient of the right to an opinion of their own treatment, agency and self-knowledge
how dismissive and invalidating to the patient

[guybrarian]

I agree that patients need to be advocates for their own treatment. I have a friend who was complaining that his meds were no longer working for him and I asked him if he ever told his psychiatrist that. He was flabbergasted by the suggestion that he should question his doctor. But a doctor can't work without feedback. And if you CAN control your illness without meds, more power to you, it's probably the best alternative. But for some of us, meds are an absolute necessity. I am one of those people. I would be dead without the combo of Effexor/Remeron. I went through all kinds of meds for a period of almost 20 years before I hit on a combo that worked for me. Now, whenever our wonderful health care system forces me to get a new psychiatrist, I tell them that this combo is the best I've ever had and they better have a really good reason to think about changing it. But different people have different chemistries so they'll probably need different combos.

But yeah, I went off meds without doctor advice many times during that 20 year period, often because I hated the side effects and wasn't getting much relief from them. But going off cold turkey without medical support is downright dangerous, and I'm sure several intense meltdowns I had were caused by that. At other times I did the lazy/anxious thing and simply let scrips expire and then found myself too embarassed to call my doc and say I fucked up, because being organized and punctual is a major area I need to work on. DO NOT EVER DO THIS WITH EFFEXOR (part of my current combo) unless you like insomnia, severe mood swings and weird electric brain zaps.

In other words, if you want to quit meds, or don't want to take them in the first place, make sure you're seeing a doctor/therapist and have a plan if things go off the rails.

[kitkat]

I know people who have stopped meds for similar reasons, another being that they wanted to have children and thought it'd be bad for the baby. I have been tempted to stop from time to time, especially with people telling me I don't need meds or asking when I'm gonna finally get off them.

EXCEPT! I am in Effexor and would not dare go thru the brain zaps and so on. I've experienced them on occasion when I've forgotten to take my daily pill, so. Fear of pain wins! Haha