In recent years there has been a surge of people experiencing a wide variety of mental illnesses directly tied to the effects of the pandemic. This is not to say mental illness did not exist before the pandemic, but being stuck at home helped to have the conversation about mental health. Recently, there has been more of an emphasis on self-care and general wellness, but I believe that the conversation can go deeper. We need to talk about medication.
There has always been a stigma around taking medication for mental health reasons, especially within minority communities. There’s this impression that if you take mental health medication you are crazy or weak, when neither of these things is true. The general consensus is that asking for help in any capacity is considered weak. This ideology is something that we need to acknowledge and do away with. The first step is to know when you need help and actively look for it. How can you receive help if you are too afraid to ask for it? Getting rid of the stigma that surrounds help and medication is very important to open the way to talking about it.
I started taking antidepressants and it was one of the best things that I have ever done in my life. I was debilitatingly depressed; it was hard to even see myself as a person some days. I was at one of my lowest points when I decided to take the steps to get on antidepressants. When first talking about antidepressants and therapy with my family, they were not very receptive to the idea. It was a huge deterrent and stopped me entirely from getting the help I knew I needed. One day after a huge argument with my ex lover, I decided enough was finally enough. I was tired of not being the person I knew I could be. I went to the school’s counseling center and started taking Zoloft.
The medication gave me the ability to start being able to function like a person again. This is not to say that medication is the answer to everything, and medication is not always for everyone. It is not something that will magically fix all of your problems, meaning you still have to put in the work yourself to actively make your life better. Including working closely with a psychiatrist and therapist. Not all medications work the same way with everyone. It can be a very daunting process, but also a very rewarding one.
In the end, the main goal is starting the conversation. If I had started my antidepressants sooner maybe I would’ve had the confidence to leave my toxic relationship faster than I did. Maybe I would be closer to the goals I had set for myself. In the end though, these thoughts do not matter. We are all trying to be better versions of ourselves and medication has helped me get closer to where I want to be. It’s entirely possible that medication will help you the same way it helped me. Even if medication doesn’t help you or isn’t your thing; you can start a conversation with someone who may need it like I did.