I know a lot of people, my sister included, who have a big issue with taking drugs prescribed by a doctor, but no issue with taking drugs purchased from a dealer.
No offense, but I'm not your sister, and I can articulate why I went this route.
I pointed out to her that it was completely my choice to take an SSRI, I could stop any time I wished, they aren't addictive, there is no court or medical order that requires me to take it, I continue to take it because I find it useful.
That's not entirely true. Some SSRI's cannot be stopped: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...
However it is silly to be ok with THC and LSD and the like, but not with an SSRI.
Now please don't anyone mistake me for saying "Everyone should take SSRIs." No, not at all. However if a professional suggests they, or another drug, may be useful to treating a condition you have, you shouldn't say "No I won't take drugs," but then go out and smoke a joint. That is just silly. That would be like then refusing to use marijuana if a doctor prescribed it.
At least in California, to get your certificate, marijuana has to be prescribed by a doctor. I just renewed mine last week. You have to fill out a pretty extensive questionnaire about other drugs you're taking, how it affects you, how much you're using it, and your health history in general. The doctor took my blood pressure, which was a little high, and she suggested I needed to move to a vaporizer.
I know a lot of people get their certificate for issues that aren't medical, but I see that as an unrelated issue having to do with the legal status of marijuana. You obviously won't see that issue in places where it's legalized. It just so happens it can also be used as a recreational drug, but this is true of a lot of prescription drugs, too.
I have a friend who suffers from chronic pain, and his doctor prescribed him Percocet, an incredibly powerful opiate. He quickly became addicted and went through an horrific ordeal trying to quit it. I'm super glad SSRI's are working out for you, but there are decidedly good reasons to be skeptical of what doctors prescribe. A lot of the drugs they prescribe have been promoted to them by large pharmaceutical companies. It's not exactly a virtuous circle. Doctors are not infallible, and it's always a good idea to do your homework, get second opinions- all that good stuff.
Particularly when it comes to mental health, you should feel confident about the medication you're taking. If your sister fears SSRI's, then maybe it's not conducive to improving her anxiety? Perhaps she just needs to find a doctor she feels she can trust? If you pull that off, then it could be as simple as giving her a placebo. You never know. The brain is the least understood organ in the human body, and to treat it by pickling it in chemicals (including marijuana) will probably be seen in the future as an incredibly crude approach, probably on par with how we view lobotomies now.
I've suffered from chronic depression all my adult life, but I didn't want to medicate unless it was a medicine which could cure me, which doesn't exist (yet). I've been an entrepreneur for most of my 20+ year career. Here's how I "self-medicate":
There's no one thing that seems to have done the trick, and it's not a perfect cure. I still have "down days," but I feel a lot better off overall than I used to. I think the hardest thing for anyone to do would be to cut their TV, cell phone, and car out of the picture, but I have to say, these were some of the most helpful things I did. Not only did they dramatically reduced bills but also reduced lots of stress and distractions. Granted, I can find plenty of distractions with my copious internet bandwidth, but at least they're more self-directed.
Solutions are obvious if one only has the optical power to observe them over the horizon. -- K.A. Arsdall