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> To fix the problem it would be better to address the causes of the stress instead of trying to just treat symptoms. The effect of depression, anxiety, and a

> To fix the problem it would be better to address the causes of the stress instead of trying to just treat symptoms. The effect of depression, anxiety, and a host of other mental illnesses is that they prevent you from taking steps to address the addressable issues in your life. To start exercising while depressed, to start socializing while suffering from anxiety, etc., are some of the hardest things to do. That’s why medication is typically paired with counseling - the medication prepares you to take the steps the counseling guides you into taking. To put it another way, anxiety disorders (and depression, and ADHD, and more) take away agency. The purpose of medication is to reintroduce agency. The medication (for most people) won’t fix their problems, but it will help them fix them.

scrungus 7y ago
do you think that, in general, medication is successful in improving the agency of it's users? i worry that medication harbors a reliance on drugs, and facilitates growth of a society in which drug-use is necessary to participate "normally". if someone with ADD/ADHD has an opportunity to increase their agency, do you think that would increase their quality of life? the parent commenter suggested that mental illness (in the case of depression) might be the result of someone with healthy brain chemistry in a bad environment. but do you think that someone with healthy brain chemistry can demonstrate an attention disorder as a result of their environment, and would be more able to improve their environment through medication?
- ps101 7y ago
  > i worry that medication harbors a reliance on drugs It can also get you out of bed when nothing else does. Or prevent you from killing yourself when you otherwise would have. Or give you a push to take small steps to get your life together. All of these effects are valuable despite efficacy being far from 100%, there being side effects and issues with reliance.

scrungus 7y ago

do you think that, in general, medication is successful in improving the agency of it's users? i worry that medication harbors a reliance on drugs, and facilitates growth of a society in which drug-use is necessary to participate "normally". if someone with ADD/ADHD has an opportunity to increase their agency, do you think that would increase their quality of life? the parent commenter suggested that mental illness (in the case of depression) might be the result of someone with healthy brain chemistry in a bad environment. but do you think that someone with healthy brain chemistry can demonstrate an attention disorder as a result of their environment, and would be more able to improve their environment through medication?

ps101 7y ago
> i worry that medication harbors a reliance on drugs It can also get you out of bed when nothing else does. Or prevent you from killing yourself when you otherwise would have. Or give you a push to take small steps to get your life together. All of these effects are valuable despite efficacy being far from 100%, there being side effects and issues with reliance.