It’s crazy how some people think medicine is just “take this pill” and nothing more. I had a severe blood test phobia, so bad that I even delayed getting cancer symptoms checked for a year because I was so scared of the needles.

When I eventually got it checked and my gp said I’d need a blood test, I went into a panic attack. He prescribed me three lorazepam. One for the morning of the test, one for just before the test and one “just in case”.

I didn’t take them because I know I have an addictive personality.

Another GP told me to self refer to the local talk therapy. After three sessions I went from crying at photos of blood tests to being able to get a two practice tests done with my therapist and then the actual test. Without getting dizzy or throwing up like I did as a child.

Medicine is and should always be about what’s best for the patient, not “here just take a pill.” Is anyone really going to say that I should have gone down the lorazepam route? Also the amount of times I’ve had SSRIs pushed on me when I didn’t need them. Once when I was 13 because I had autism related mutism. Instead of pushing my mum to get me assessed, I wasn’t even told that I could be autistic (aspergers back then), which is a big contributing factor to me being the basket case I am today.

This is not me deriding modern medicine, just pushing back against the argument that pills should always be the answer. Long term solutions are better than relying on quick fixes.