Ciela, I would ask that you please read my response to Anne-Marie, just above. The same goes for your comments. You infer things that I neither said nor implied, so I would also ask that you consider the fact that the article makes no effort to be all-encompassing for all people. My premise, which is that for the most part most of us would likely be better off with exercise, better diet, a solid group of friends, etc. stands. There are plenty of individuals for whom this does not work. You appear to be one of them. That said, I was diagnosed as bipolar, and the meds damn near killed me, and I took a whole slew of different ones. That said, what works for Ciela doesn’t work for the other nearly eight billion folks on earth any more than what works for me will, either. The point is more than we are generally an over-medicated society (which research states clearly), and other alternatives in many cases can offer far better outcomes than yet another dependency on a chemical that the brain may or may not be making. I would submit that a read might offer you some insight on why I feel the way I do: A Mind of Her Own, by doctor, psychiatrist and holisitic healer Dr. Kelly Brogan. This isn’t taking issue with anything you said, it is rather an invitation to read a deeply intelligent book about so -called mental disorders by a doctor who has three disciplines, who specializes in working with women, and who calls to task the claims that most docs make about the scripts, why, and what the research really shows. It might or might not be of interest. That’s up to you. But as someone who walked that road, and I did indeed get free of the meds as well as the lies I was told about the so -called “chemical imbalance in my brain,” I was delighted to find a sober, sane voice in the medical community which simply offered a differing viewpoint. A smart one. Again, Ciela, I don’t give medical advice. I offered a viewpoint, some thoughts, and they can be construed any way you like. But I didn’t say outright, nor did I imply in any way, that all people at all times should never take pills. Kindly, that’s s serious misread. Besides, not only do I not believe that, as a responsible journalist that would be completely out of line because it’s patently untrue. How you read a story is your choice and your right. But please respect the writer and kindly don’t put words into my article that don’t exist. Here’s one line that is completely off the charts wrong:

To suggest that those who need medications for their mental health could fix it all with changes to their lifestyle is a behaviorist approach that implies they can be blamed for their illness, and it’s also dangerous because it is enabling in a society that already stigmatizes needing medication for mental health.

Nowhere in the article did I state such a thing. Nowhere in the article did I make such a claim. This is your version, to which you have a right, but kindly, this is your personal interpretation. This completely disregards the point of the article. We are an over-medicated society. That’s the point. Remove a lot of the stresses, there’s a very good chance that the one in four cases of bipolar in American women ( a fact that pharma companies slaver over, no kidding) would plummet. You are a woman, a woman of color, my guess is that you deal with a slew of stresses that white women don’t, and women in general deal with issues of sexual assault the world over, just one of a million factors that make us angry, in a society that doesn’t allow a woman to feel rage. Those things lead to depression. There are millions of factors at work here, Ciela. I’m not arguing your point nor your personal story. But please don’t put words or intentions into mine, where they don’t reside. Thanks for your comments.