Do meds make it worse?

So I've always wondered something. I started out with a bipolar diagnosis, right? And they say the sooner they catch it, the less the swing in your range, and the less likely you are to have a full blown episode (because the drugs ward it off). And if the meds create more dopamine into your system, does taking meds mean that your brain is now generating less dopamine because it's getting it from another source? And so if you go off meds, your brain no longer produces it? Is this why we have to start taking bigger and badder meds every time they stop working, because we've developed a tolerance?

Apparently, it's disputed in the psycho-pharmacology world, too.

"They also mentioned the possibility that, however, antidepressents might 'sensitize neural tissues resulting in a continued dependence on their neurobiologic effects and, in fact, prolonging the syndrome."

So there's a possibility that taking drugs makes the disease last longer? Does that mean that kids who have mental illness diagnosis could grow out of it? Apparently, "'Some 12 to 13 percent of children and adolescents have a diagnosable mental disorder – and in 3 percent of those cases, the disorder is serious,'" But there's no evidence that one can just "grow out of it."

I think early diagnosis is important. Like alcoholism, why wait till you hit rock bottom to find the cure? I'm all for medication, even if it changes the way my body creates certain substances. I know I'll be on medication for the rest of my life, and I've come to terms with that. I think it's really important to heed the advice of doctors and pharmacists, and not the internet. Though I love the unsolicited advice the internet gives.