An Irrelevant Criticism Of Psychiatric Medication

One of the most common arguments against the use of prescription medications for the treatment of mental health problems rests on the premise that they are either damaging to one's health or incapable of actually resolving problems.  There may or may not be references to specific medications that do seem ineffective or harmful, but, in either case, the argument leads to an irrational conclusion.  Unless every single psychiatric medication is demonstrated to be dangerous or unhelpful, the conclusion would never follow from the premises.

Some medications may not have a positive effect on some people, but that does not mean the same will be true of other people.  Even when a mental health issue is solvable by means of medication, there is no guarantee that the right medication(s) will be identified and used quickly.  In some cases, it might take months, years, or even decades to be prescribed the medication with the intended results.  There is not a fixed amount of time that must pass before a given prescription must work by logical necessity.

Even a prolonged wait, though, does not mean that medication itself as a whole is useless.  Perhaps a particular medication is useless to a particular person, but it does not follow that the same medication would not be helpful for a different patient or that a different medication would not solve the initial patient's problem.  Thus, even a string of negative experiences with medications for mental health issues never proves that only completely natural or spiritual methods of addressing the issue are valid.

It follows that someone who has not had any positive experiences with medication for mental health issues leaps into illogicality if they dismiss all psychiatric prescriptions as unhelpful.  Admitting that one's own experiences with the subject have not been pleasant or healing is one thing, but discouraging everyone from using any medications at all reeks of non sequiturs.  Thankfully, one person's lack of success with treating mental illnesses with medications does not mean another person is fated to have the same experiences.