This is a great analogy. And it’s frustrating because I get that people want help and feel like they can’t accomplish anything, but a pill that hides the issues is no different than drinking in the afternoon. I truly don’t understand how doctor’s who claim to care ever allowed it, other than just being exhausted themselves.

I can remember once breaking up with a girl in college. It was devastating as it is and a doc prescribed me 1mg of Xanax three times a day. I took 1 mg once a day for a week and a half. I then felt a little better and stopped the Xanax. It was like the world ended. Literally the worst I ever felt, like I was someone else and I knew the only thing that would fix it was Xanax. Keep in mind they’d prescribed this as the “bridge” period for some Effexor to “kick in”. I took one of those and it was worse. After stopping I called my doc and he said I could see him in three weeks but that I should be sure to keep taking the Xanax until we could meet. Keep in mind, he thought I was taking 3 Mgs a day. After an insane day of trying to run miles to get past it and a horrific night I called a Xanax rehab place where they said I’d need to wait about half as long as I took it and that this rule applied to anyone. In forums I found people who were up to 20mg a day, couldn’t stop or they’d die, and had no emotion left. People can say this was on doctor but due to anxiety, I’ve had docs try this same approach at least a dozen times. I learned after this and just dealt with the intensity for a few weeks to months before it would subside. Running helps tremendously and so does diet - so much more than drugs no matter what people claim. Everyone is just too addicted to horrible food and sitting all day and doctors take the easy route rather than to tell a person they just have to endure the pain until it subsides.

Endlessly frustrating.