We live in an age where everything is wanted NOW. With mental illness that doesn't happen. You end up playing russian roulette with medication until something works, then it stops working and the process starts all over again.
We are not taught how to deal with or cope with these issues. Some people do better than others. I fought for years on taking regular medication. At 21 I did not want to take pills the rest of my life. At that time you saw a therapist, they blamed your issues on a parent, then it was never dealt with.
About 8 yrs ago my therapist at the time said, "give it up you're going to be on medicine the rest of your life" I have tried eating right, exercising, mediation, yoga. Mediation has had the most success...the problem comes in when you aren't classified as disabled, you are at work and you feel the anxiety starting....then what?
Regardless of everything medicine only works to a point. If you don't learn the skills to change your thinking or learn to cope better, you will always been at it's mercy.
I recently did a post on coping and basic grounding skills you can do while you're at work. Again everyone is different and needs to find out what works for them.