Is medication-free really possible?

[Gilles Blais]

Hi everybody,

I believe med free is possible. I have proved it in my experience. But before you decide to do this, you must fix what I call your "inside job" first. What I mean by this is change the way you think. The way you react to situations/events/people is what causes anxiety. Get rid of negative thinking. It has taken me several years to accomplish this. But it works. I was able to get off my antidepressant which was keeping me in a vegetative state of mind. I stopped cold turkey and accepted the fact that I will get thru it or I will die. Well, I got thru it but it was hard. I am so much better off since I changed the way I think. I still have problems with my sleep but I've learned how to manage the depression and anxiety. But until the inside work is done, which takes a lot of work and time, you will need your meds to stay afloat. This is a long story made short but the benefits are there, I assure you. My belief and experience is this: negative thinking is what causes all mental illnesses. You are what you think! Hope this helps all of you. Thanks for reading. Appreciate it.
Gil

[egriff]

Hi everybody,

I believe med free is possible. I have proved it in my experience. But before you decide to do this, you must fix what I call your "inside job" first. What I mean by this is change the way you think. The way you react to situations/events/people is what causes anxiety. Get rid of negative thinking. It has taken me several years to accomplish this. But it works. I was able to get off my antidepressant which was keeping me in a vegetative state of mind. I stopped cold turkey and accepted the fact that I will get thru it or I will die. Well, I got thru it but it was hard. I am so much better off since I changed the way I think. I still have problems with my sleep but I've learned how to manage the depression and anxiety. But until the inside work is done, which takes a lot of work and time, you will need your meds to stay afloat. This is a long story made short but the benefits are there, I assure you. My belief and experience is this: negative thinking is what causes all mental illnesses. You are what you think! Hope this helps all of you. Thanks for reading. Appreciate it.
Gil

Excellent points and they all apply to me too. Don't know where I would be without CBT and the TEA forms which enabled me to fix the way I process everything in my head. I hate to sound overly dramatic but the book by Sam Obitz probably saved my life.

[JR5]

[quote="egriff Excellent points and they all apply to me too. Don't know where I would be without CBT and the TEA forms which enabled me to fix the way I process everything in my head. I hate to sound overly dramatic but the book by Sam Obitz probably saved my life. [/quote]

I can't go as far as saying that book saved my life, but it certainly made my life 100 times better than it was before I dedicated myself to using the TEA forms and the Counter exercise in it. For anyone who is willing to put some time and a little effort into getting themselves better I would second this recommendtaion.http://www.tao3.com

[Arlenez]

It definitely is and I am living proof of it I would also recommend the TEA forms for those who are self motivated and willing to work on them daily for a while.

[PB2704]

Wow -- what really got my attention here was that you were unemployed for 9 months and then got a new job, at which time you restarted your meds. For myself, I can't imagine having to job hunt and find a new job WITHOUT my meds. It sounds to me like you really have a good handle on how you feel with and without meds and the fact that you think you might be able to stop them is just huge. I'm new to the program and kind of stuck in session 3 (self-talk, self esteem) and afrid to go on to 4 because I don't think I've done well enough in session 3. Anyway, from where this newbie is coming from, to "hear" that someone is doing well to discontinue meds is huge for me. And I wanted to let you know I think it is huge thing that you are able to gauge how you do with and without the meds. I would suggest you have someone on board for support who knows you well (family member, spouse, friend, whoever) so you can talk and bounce what is going on with you and how you react to daily situations off them. If you are feeling down or too anxious to be comfortable off the meds, then you might not need to stop entirely. Dealing with meds is a very difficult thing. With me, it always seems like situations come along that are so difficult I don't even stop to think what my meds are dong for me. If you can remember how long your start-up on the meds took (how many days or weeks did it take for you to start noticing you feel better), that might help you decide what to do about stopping the meds. If it was a long lead time for the medications to be effective, do you want to risk that length of time feeling bad again? On the other hand, if the meds took effect quickly, then you don't have as much risk involved... Whatever you decide to do, congratulations on being in a spot where you can even think about it!!! You've given me a little hope that I can get better too!

[egriff]

[quote="egriff Excellent points and they all apply to me too. Don't know where I would be without CBT and the TEA forms which enabled me to fix the way I process everything in my head. I hate to sound overly dramatic but the book by Sam Obitz probably saved my life.

I can't go as far as saying that book saved my life, but it certainly made my life 100 times better than it was before I dedicated myself to using the TEA forms and the Counter exercise in it. For anyone who is willing to put some time and a little effort into getting themselves better I would second this recommendtaion.http://www.tao3.com[/quote]

I didn't mean to come off overly dramatic but in my case I really believe it did save my life... Know that won't be the case for everyone but hope a few people I turn onto the TEA forms will have similar results

PB2704- I've said it before and I'll say it again... If I can get off meds anyone can
It takes some effort learning to counter your thoughts in the TEA forms and staying with them after you start feeling better but it really can happen for you

[egriff]

PB2704-
How's everything going? Did you take any of my advice? Either way I hope you are doing better

[seniyajw]

I have a library of motivational books, mostly. I have hope for a good year, I do not lose hope. How are your holidays? Thank you very much for the uplifting words! All about gold:Tera Gold Tera Online Gold

[egriff]

Doing outstanding
Welcome to the boards!

[WW]

[quote="egriff Excellent points and they all apply to me too. Don't know where I would be without CBT and the TEA forms which enabled me to fix the way I process everything in my head. I hate to sound overly dramatic but the book by Sam Obitz probably saved my life.

I can't go as far as saying that book saved my life, but it certainly made my life 100 times better than it was before I dedicated myself to using the TEA forms and the Counter exercise in it. For anyone who is willing to put some time and a little effort into getting themselves better I would second this recommendtaion.http://www.tao3.com

I didn't mean to come off overly dramatic but in my case I really believe it did save my life... Know that won't be the case for everyone but hope a few people I turn onto the TEA forms will have similar results

PB2704- I've said it before and I'll say it again... If I can get off meds anyone can
It takes some effort learning to counter your thoughts in the TEA forms and staying with them after you start feeling better but it really can happen for you [/quote]

Great advice as usual Egriff Sorry I have been away for so long... But I'm back now