Endpillshaming

Oh the ableist comments about taking medication! I've heard them all! "Do you know the long-term effects?" or "Have you tried meditation?" or "Have you tried herbal medicines?". They might be all coming from a good heart, but trust me, when I say, that I have done all of these things. Without my asthma meds, I'd be either dead or coughing my lungs out. Without my thyroid medication for my Hashimoto, I'd be lethargic and tired all the time. Without my psych meds, I'd be dead, as I used to be chronically suicidal plus I'd be hearing and seeing things nonstop. I don't get why people assume, we haven't tried everything in the book! I have tried herbal medicine for my schizoaffective disorder, but its a chemical imbalances in the brain and you need something that gets the serotonin, endorphine, and stuff going! Herbal stuff won't do that! The same with asthma medication! I don't wanna know, how many people have died in the past, when asthma medication wasn't there yet. I know that me still smoking exacerbates my asthma, however I am working on quitting. I just never thought it'd be as hard. But for my parents to say "You don't have asthma, it's from the you smoking. You don't need meds, you just need to quit". I tried to explain to them a hundred times, that my pulmologist did a specific asthma test and it showed that I *have* asthma. I know my asthma would be a hundred times better if I just quit and I know I should be able to do so. But having multiple mental illnesses and quitting is just a ton harder. For me smoking is a zen moment. I am not thinking about the 10.000 other things, that are going on in my life. I am in the moment, focusing on my breathing. I know it sounds dumb but it really calms me down. I have yet to find something as effective as this. Sorry for rambling! Btw I didn't smoke more than 10 cigarettes yesterday! So I went down from over 30 to 10! I see that as a big win already! My next goal is 8/ day and then 5/day and so on.
Have a good day! :)