By Nancy Virden (c)2026 AlwaysTheFight.com

People with a mental health diagnosis do not want to take meds. Meds are a bother, feel foreign, and sometimes have uncomfortable side effects. They can cost a lot and require refills and pickups.

We want to be whole and not need these things. Treatment-resistant disorders and illnesses can be the result of noncompliance. I used to have treatment-resistant depression because I was treatment-resistant. I didn’t want to comply. My mental illness and the irrationality that went with it told me I didn’t need medication. These thoughts still pop up.

It is a temptation to stop taking meds, but I have been through enough ups and downs with bipolar to know that I need the stabilization these medicines provide. I know now what life is like without them. I have been in the deep and do not want to go there again.

Each morning I take them, rarely with gratitude, but often with anger. Oh fine, I’ll take these, but I wish I didn’t have to. My attitude is a dangerous one in the sense that I could very soon be in the shallow end of my will to live. I am motivated by two things: I do not want to be a suicide statistic, and I want to honor God.

So, I take meds. This is not spiritual failure, but rather obedience to the One who has used doctors and therapies to help me fulfill His call on my life. I used to hurt people’s feelings in depression or a manic state; my stable self does not (hopefully). I used to wheedle away hours staring at the walls; now I do not as often. Great ideas abound when I’m manic, but not all ideas are actually great and can lead to trouble. With mania under control, I can be more reasonable.

Medications are not a cure-all, especially when the dosage or combination is not exactly right. Following a med change because I grew allergic to the one I was taking four years ago, I lived with a subpar med that didn’t lift my depression or control manic episodes. After this spring’s turn of events, I am finally taking the one that seems to work for me.

I haven’t felt sad or low for over a month. You don’t know how special that is for me.

Yes, I hate taking medications, but I recognize that they help me be who God wants me to be. I will take them for the rest of my life unless God heals me of bipolar disorder, which He has not as of yet.

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

Proverbs 17:22

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

If you are feeling suicidal or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S., call 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room; in the EU, call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here.) Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. 

NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional and speaks only from personal experience and observations. This website is not intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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