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I want to share something very personal about my #MentalHealth because I am hoping it will help someone else.
This year, I've been struggling mentally & emotionally (like so many of you.) I recently decided to get back on anti-depressants and it has helped enormously.
This year, I've been struggling mentally & emotionally (like so many of you.) I recently decided to get back on anti-depressants and it has helped enormously.
This is not my first depressive rodeo. I've been on meds for mental health before. I don't believe I carry much stigma against taking psychotropic medications, or seeking mental health care. And yet, I resisted going back on anti-depressants for months.
I hesitated for many reasons. So much of *why* my mood has sucked is situational (Hi, 2020 in the US, I hate you.) I figured meds wouldn't fix current affairs, and so they couldn't help. I was worried about unpleasant side effects I've experienced in the past.
Possibly most powerful of all, I just had no hope that anything would help. It didn't feel realistic to expect anything better. When I realized that hopelessness was a symptom of depression - not an objective fact - I decided to restart the meds and I am SO GLAD.
Barriers to accessing mental health services and receiving really effective, helpful support are myriad. They are daunting. When you're struggling, those barriers can feel completely insurmountable. It can feel like anything approaching happiness is an impossible fantasy, naïveté
For me, meds have helped set me on a better path, and have helped me get to a place where I can even contemplate doing and asking for the other things I need to be healthy and whole. They haven't fixed everything, but they have made a world of difference.
Anti-depressants have made the prospect of feeling better feel possible.
I want to thank @phileil, whose transparency about his own experiences & beautiful writing about this subject really helped me get over my hesitations and make a positive choice for myself. I hope these words will help another fellow passenger on the strugglebus.
