Drugs - Let's ALL have some!!!!

I posted something earlier about being against giving drugs to kids. I think I need to clarify that I will medicate my son at some time if it turns out he really does suffer from anxiety or depression or any other disorders that sometimes come with the Asperger's. For now, he seems fine. Someone in my support group has a son very much like mine, even the same age, and the teachers at his school are hinting to the parents that they need to "put him on something to control his impulsiveness". Hello? He's SIX. MOST six-year-olds are impulsive. But it's easy for teachers to point at the ones with the IEPs and say, oh, your kid needs medication. He's got something wrong with him, see, it says so right here, so you need to drug him up for me to make my life easier."

DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE. And when I recommended before to find yourself a good psychologist, I MEAN "psychologist", NOT "psychiatrist", because psychiatrists are pill-happy and you will soon have a whole medicine chest full of fun colorful goodies you'll be stuffing down your kid's throat 2-3 times a day.

Go slowly. Asperger's itself is not a condition that a child can be "fixed" by giving them drugs. And when they're 6, it's usually way too early to determine if they are anxious or depressed or whatever. Let the psychologist work with you and listen to them. They will tell you if they think your child needs to be "on something". But don't start on drugs right off the bat. Even if your child's teacher, principal, case worker, etc, suggest it. Tell them you are working closely with a psychologist and they need to BACK OFF.

Now. Let's get to the grown-ups. I am three different medications - one for depression, one for anxiety, and one for sleep. The depression has been a lifelong thing. I actually should have started taking antidepressants way earlier than I did. The sleep problem - same thing. I have never slept well.
The anxiety ones? I started needing those when my son started getting kicked out of daycares left and right.
I have a good psychiatrist. He gives me my pills so I can get through my day. I need him.

This makes me the worst kind of hypocrite. I can do behavior modification. I can learn coping skills for my stress and I can exercise more. What I am expecting from my child and what I am doing are two totally different things.

I make this excuse - dealing with my son leaves me with very little time to work on myself. It's true. Someday I hope to get rid of the anti-anxiety pills and just COPE, like a real-live grown-up. but I am not pushing that either. I am big on doing what you need to do to get through life. As long as I am able to give my son my very best every day I do what I need to do. In my case, antidepressants help me to be a better mother, because I actually function as opposed to dragging around the house growling at people and thinking about the most painless way to kill myself.

I guess the point of this post is - do what you've got to do. If your child needs medication, do it. If you need medication, do it. They don't solve everything. They don't really SOLVE anything. But if you need them, you need them. There's no shame in that. There's no shame in helping your child if they need them.

There's too much freaking out going on about how everyone just pops pills nowadays to feel good. I'm lucky to just feel like not jumping off the roof of a tall building. I'm not looking for happiness, just the ability to get through life and raise my son.