Would You Date a Woman Who Takes Psychoactive Drugs?

[kjmudd]

Many people in our society are on Zoloft, Prozac and other popular prescription drugs. I realize these are miracle drugs which correct many real and debilitating chemical imbalances and other conditions. There are probably some members of this forum who are on the drugs, and I have met a couple of people who would say I should be on megadoses (if not committed to the looney bin! ha ha).

I also believe psychoactive drugs are overprescribed in general, especially for children - and that there are a lot of people who should be on them who are not.

The last girl I dated said she was on a low dosage of some psychoactive drug for a chemical imbalance. She seemed totally "normal" and she told me about it right away during one of our many discussions about society etc., which showed her to be a person of exceptional character. I am VERY attracted to women who are open, honest and candid AND have nice lips and a nice butt.

However, I wondered if her underlying psychological condition played a part in our sudden break up.

Would you continue dating a woman if you found out she was on psych-meds?


KJM

[Phillyboy]

I used to be very against psych-meds. Years ago, when my ex-wife and I were still young and happy, she went through a rough period in life with some family issues, she was just finishing her degree but couldn’t get a job in her field and our daughter was growing out of the “mama’s baby” phase into “daddy’s little girl.” She started to get pretty depressed and suggested she talk to the doc about meds. I didn’t agree with it and though it was a cop-out, at the time. During our divorce she brought that up to me one time…I apologized and explained that I was immature and closed-minded in those days. Having done some further research, I found that for some people, meds really can be just enough to “lift the cloud” so they can get a little more positive perspective and they don’t have to stay on the meds. Perhaps had she gone that round way back then, things might have worked out different…more likely not though, but I know in the future should I be faced with a similar event, I will certainly be more open-minded about it.

[gregory]

Originally Posted by kjmudd

Would you continue dating a woman if you found out she was on psych-meds?

For me the answer really is - it depends. People can have different degrees of severity of a mental illness ... and some of those really are not any fun to be around. For example, I have a friend whose wife is bipolar - and she is a certifiable nut case. She often does not take her medication, and she makes everyone around her miserable during her manic or depressive moods. And she cheats on my buddy ... lies to him ... spends him into heavy debt ... but she is totally hot so my buddy puts up with it. [I would have given her the boot after dating her for a week, myself - but that's just me.]

So what I just described is a severe case. I don't have too many other personal data points. I mean - I've dated plenty of PSYCHO women but not too many that have fit a clinical definition of the term "psychotic". In other words, I've had many crazy girlfriends - but none that require institutionalization or strait jackets or heavy meds! ha ha

[Julie]

I'd almost certainly continue dating a man if I found out that he was on psych-meds. In fact, I have dated men in the past year who were taking medication. One guy had been diagnosed as bipolar; I don't recall what he had been prescribed. More important to me is how the person handles his situation. Dating someone who is on-again off-again with his meds is not fun and I personally wouldn't want to be in that situation. However, dating someone who is open about what's going on and who manages his meds is fine with me. Those men are generally more sensitive than men who have never had to deal with an illness.

[misunderstood]

society today has so many helpful tools at its disposal. Try not to overlook the benefits of phsych-meds. When prescribed properly and used in conjunction with adequate therapy and monitoring, the outcome can be amazingly positive. Yes, in today's disposable and consumable world, we have a tendancy to pop pills to aleviate any little problem that confronts us. Yes, it is not healthy to jump on the bandwagon and do the popular thing at the time. Would you date someone who used alcohol to deal with problems or someone who approached them with the attitude of recovery as a goal? I used to think that the use of antidepressants was a joke until I faced a divorce that I did not initiate. I am proud to say that with the assistance of the right therapist and some properly prescribed Zoloft, I was able to get through the crisis and even improve myself. I know that I am a much better person today and I attribute some of that to the drugs and therapy. If the person you speak of is being open and honest with you about this, please try to allow some understanding. A sudden breakup is most unfortunate and maybe her condition has something to do with it. Then again, maybe it is what it is and she simply decided to move on for her own reasons. "Mindreading" is a dangerous hobby to have.

[kjmudd]

Originally Posted by misunderstood

society today has so many helpful tools at its disposal. Try not to overlook the benefits of phsych-meds. When prescribed properly and used in conjunction with adequate therapy and monitoring, the outcome can be amazingly positive. Yes, in today's disposable and consumable world, we have a tendancy to pop pills to aleviate any little problem that confronts us. Yes, it is not healthy to jump on the bandwagon and do the popular thing at the time. Would you date someone who used alcohol to deal with problems or someone who approached them with the attitude of recovery as a goal? I used to think that the use of antidepressants was a joke until I faced a divorce that I did not initiate. I am proud to say that with the assistance of the right therapist and some properly prescribed Zoloft, I was able to get through the crisis and even improve myself. I know that I am a much better person today and I attribute some of that to the drugs and therapy. If the person you speak of is being open and honest with you about this, please try to allow some understanding. A sudden breakup is most unfortunate and maybe her condition has something to do with it. Then again, maybe it is what it is and she simply decided to move on for her own reasons. "Mindreading" is a dangerous hobby to have.

I totally agree.

I am reminded of a friend who went from job to job....never making much progress. He was diagnosed with some form of attention deficit problem and was put on psych meds.

His life improved immedietly and eventually put himself through law school at midlife! Now he is a succesful attorney.

KJM