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medication

Does it make sense to take medication in order to be "mentally loose" for therapy?

Have had a really bad week but are feeling calmer due to ?splitting.  Cried a lot on Sunday and was probably able to do a bit of grieving.  I think I might be understanding stuff on a slightly deeper level which may also be helping.
Had an emergency psych appt on Monday which was pretty unhelpful but I guess indirectly helped me to get where I am now.
Gave lorazepam to my GP as I wasn't able to take one safely.

I think the psychiatrist has interpreted my current anxiety as a fear of treatment.  I guess I have anxieties about that but for the most part I think some of this comes back to past treatments and losses plus all the other stuff that has happened (some significant, some trivial).

I'm thinking that I should just commit to the medication anyway.  The six week trial and then maybe three months to be reevaluated then.  At this stage I don't think that I could commit beyond that.  Three months I could do though.  Three months plus three months plus three months.  The doctor reckoned two years.  This kind of seems in keeping with other stuff I've read.
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Avatar universal
Circumstances?  High anxiety?
So taking medication to be more "accessible" in therapy is ?stupid.

My GP said that he's had psychologists phone and ask him to put his patients on medication to access them/ get through to them.

My last T, whom I respected, asked me to try an anti-anxiety medication.  I had issues with side-effects and compliance.

I guess if it's not being prescribed for either anxiety or depression then maybe sitting with these feelings make sense.  On the one hand the anxiety corresponding with the issues provides a lot of material to work with.
Making a decision shouldn't be this difficult.  
I don't think that listing the pros and cons help either.

pros
-might work

cons
-cost ($3 a script so not a major but still a negative)
-side-effects (concern about weight gain and dry mouth -which may or may not occur).  Also long-term effects.  Is it safe?
-compliance issues (doesn't feel right even if intellectually it sounds OK)
-maybe same as above but meaning of medication to me.
- -ve psychological issues of becoming well??  Fear of change but of becoming well.  I honestly don't know the answer to this one because being sick is devastating.

Yes, no, yes, no.  No.  Yes.  Maybe.  No.  ??  This is crazy.
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1308134 tn?1295187619
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Generally taking a medicine to be comfortable with therapy doesn't seem like an ideal approach. But I suppose there might be circumstances where it would be worth considering... don't know.

As for three months. That seems like a good amount of time to commit to. You should be able to get a sense of the results by then. When folks ask me if they have to take medicine "forever" I never say "yes". First, who can predict what might change in the future, for them, for our ability to treat them... And also, whether they take it long term is obviously going to depend on whether it helps them, which we don't know yet... So instead I say let's commit to trying this for a reasonable amount of time and then we can assess whether the benefits seem to outweigh the disadvantages.
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