Why do so many people choose to take meds for so-called personality disorders instead of dealing with life?

I know of at least 2 men who are married to very controlling women who dictate almost every aspect of their lives. Both are taking meds, one for bipolar and the other I don't know the diagnosis.

The wives are happy to see their husbands medicated for 2 reasons. One is that they are more controllable and the other is that the onus is off them. If hubby is taking meds, the difficulty obviously is with him.

Is putting chemicals into one's body a better solution than dealing with the core problem?

The answer to your question without even reading further is:

We have created a victimized society and the pharmaceutical companies discovered a way to turn a quick buck by trying to offer a "cure all" for things people learned to deal with through simple coping skills years ago.

I honestly believe there's a lot of disorders (including physical ones) that have been fabricated by drug companies...playing off of the fear and gullibility of the population.

It's also very true that being with the wrong partner can lead one to despair...as is hanging out with people who are constantly creating drama.

If most folks removed the negative element in their lives, they would find they are in fact happy and stable people without a need for a chemical crutch.

Yes, I heard one psychiatrist say that half the people that go to him for meds have nothing wrong with them....they're just with the wrong partner!!!!

Amen to that. Sadly, people think they can find a magic cure in a pill...especially in the USA...I'm so glad I don't live there as medicine is a business in the USA and for every little thing that ails you there is a PILL.

NOTICE HOWEVER....never a cure...only a pill...how else would the entire medical profession and pharma companies stay in business?

This is what happens when you don't have a universal health care system...people become a business and look how sick and unhealthy everyone is, even with ALL THOSE PILLS!!!!!

It should be a CRIME for the pharma companies to advertise on tv. "TELL YOUR DOCTOR TO GIVE YOU THIS!!!!"

Please....since when should people be telling their doctors what to prescribe????

Those who truly need pills for CHEMICAL IMBALANCES really need them....they are literally luney or their moods fly all over the place without them. People with autism, other disorders, they're evident they need medication to fix the chemical imbalances to stabilize them. But for depression, for unhappiness, for every little thing that ails them? Please...get outside and go for a walk and all will be right with the world.

Of all the comments I read about people who are on these anti-depressants, most people are unhappy about them and say they don't work...duh...that should tell you something...maybe you don't need them at all.

You are right, what ails most people is psychological and no pill in the world will cure that.

Everyone has problems, and if I were to look at my problems as insurmountable then I would need them too. Thing is there are people with even MORE than I have, with life 100 times easier than I have that need drugs and I don't. So why is that? It's called coping. You deal with what life throws you. And before you think it all comes easy let me tell you it doesn't, but you can make it all happen if you work hard enough and forget about the pissing rain that's in your face all the time if you know what I mean.

My grandmother said something to me once that I will never forget...Hardships build character...you can let life make you or break you...it's your choice which you choose.

I'm wondering then "anxiety" became a disease, rather than the symptom it always used to be. I'm wondering when it became OK to give people drugs for "anxiety" rather than getting to the cause of it. Probably about the time the drug makers coined the term "chemical imbalance" and started pushing their drugs on TV... and HMO's found a cheap way to get rid of people.

The disorders impair your ability to deal with reality. Its a strong possibility that they need "chemicals," that their brain isn't producing enough of, to be able to handle every day circumstances.

No--but in the case of the man with bipolar there are neurochemicals involves which cause the illness. counceling is very beneficial and should go along with the meds in most cases. the goal usually is to learn how to deal with life better so eventually the meds can be stopped. however, if there is chemical involvement this may be impossible. it's like a person with diabetes--their body does not produce enough insulin for them so it needs to come from an outside source. i wish all personality disorders--which bipolar is not--could be dealt with by getting to the core problem and changing something. that would make a lot of people happy to be off their meds.

A lot of men in that situation turn to alcohol.

You've definitely looked at just one side of the equation here.
Consider, those two men may have married whom they did BECAUSE they needed some sort of control in their lives. That is a huge burden to place on the person one marries, but it happens all the time. And if the meds give a man better control of himself, what could be wrong with that? Control of someone other than yourself is an illusion that people seem to buy into all the time, I think because it is easier to lay blame rather than accept truth. Your perceptions are skewed hon, suggest you try looking at both sides of an issue the next time and then ask the question if maybe you need mental health drugs as well.

Well if you have bipolar you need to be taking a medication to control it. Other wise the person would be having mood swings from the Hightest highs, to the lowest low, and that could really destroy a marriage. There is not really any thing else that can do for that. That person could become so high,that he would think that he was god, and could do anything, even beat his wife if he so choose too. And not one could touch him. Or he could get so depressed, that he might just try to go and take himself out of this here world. So he really needs to take an medication for that. Now not all personality disorders can be treated with medication. Some of them like DID needs to be worked through, and the core of the problem worked on. So you see it really depends on the disorder, and why they are needing a medication.

No, I hate psychiatric drugs. I take several of them. I want to deal with my core problems without this ****, but I have a serious chemical imbalance. But, if I were not on these ******* drugs, I would probably be alone living in a forest somewhere where no human beings can find me. In fact, I know it. In other words, sometimes the core problems are just so bad that drugs are the only way out [or into the psyche].

"Bi-Polar" Disorder can and should be treated.
If a Doctor has diagnosed these friends,and they are taking meds,why would you think it's a plot by the wives?
Sounds like you believe these women are controlling their men,or that your belief in psychology/psychiatry is not there.
As long as your buddies are consenting to the treatment,and their quality of life is good why not leave it alone?

U want to know why people r on medication? I will tell u, I am married to Sgt. Thomas Garrett, Jr., of the 1st & 149th Inf., which is currently stationed in Baghdad. I am here in the states raising our 2 small boys, while he is getting shot at! Now u tell me how do u deal with a core problem like that???????? Right now my medicine and my kids r what keeps me sane, and if I am a terrible person for taking meds to help me get through this, then so be it!

Obvoisly no one here has experienced anything that would REQUIRE meds. I am adamently against taking meds unless you absoulutley need them. I wonder if you would say this if you experienced a panic atacks or had bi-polar episodes etc. Have you truley know anyone who has these problems? If you did you would not be so neg. I have dealt with panic attacks since I was 11 yrs old and I am 27 now. Last yr was the last straw for me...I had the runs for 1 month solid 10-23 x a day, felt horrible all of the time, had panic attack after another with no releif. I went to my reg. Dr. and she would give me nothing for it, sd that I was just understress. I kept blacking out having horrbile symtoms until on my 5th anniversery I had to go to the ER. Then they took me seroiusly when no one else would. They sd that I was having a panick episode and should have been on something to help it right away. I was dehydrated, shaking, nausias, could not think straight, could not breath well etc. I took lexapro for a yr along wih klonipin and it worked, and yes I bulldozed through the caueses, most of them though were just dealing with people who just did not care and were cruel at heart. Had to get rid of them right? Well if I did that then I would not be able to function in life at all, you are surrounded by controlling people, aholes, selfishness. One needs to learn how to cope, BUT you do get out of wack in regards to your chemicals. You get adrenal exhustion, thyroid problems, that are caused by undue stress or jst a gentic thing that causes these "problems" among others. And no, sometime you just can't do it on your own, I tried, it jst does not work. Be compationate and try to understand as much as you can, knowlege is power (the well informed type)and you may be able to help that way instead just adding more stress to them by placing stigmas or sanctioning them for trying to better themselves.

My ex-husband is diagnosed Bipolar. He made my life and our children's lives miserable. Maybe we should have never gotten married, obviously. However, he was doing the same things he had been doing since childhood and they are the same things that he is doing today. He is not medicated and while functional in society he can not keep a job, a home, etc. And he is a constant source of pain for his family, friends, and children.
Now my son is also diagnosed Bipolar (although I sometimes ? this diagnosis.) But since being medicated he went from failing elementary school to straight As. He is no longer having visual and auditory hallucinations. He is more logical and centered. And is no longer in deep depression for days. Now I am talking about a child who wasn't a bad kid. I am talking about a child who couldn't concentrate, was terrified of the voices, bugs, etc. A very sweet boy who, when given the proper tools, is excelling in every way possible.
I have seen the extremes of Bipolar and it has been a part of my every day life for 10-years. While I know that it is probably over diagnosed... I have seen the extreme good that medication can do. It is easy for some people to claim that it is a get-rich-tool for doctors and pharmaceutical companies. And maybe to some it is. But I have seen first hand that is not always the case.