A Case For Antidepressants

Medication is not your enemy.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor or a mental health professional by any means. Everything said in this article is based solely on my own experience with antidepressant medication, experiences of people I know, the information provided to me by my doctor(s) and my degree in Drug Synthesis and Manufacturing. If there one thing to take away from this piece, it would be this — to be able to make an informed decision about how to treat your depression, please go visit a specialist.

Furthermore, by “antidepressants”, I mean specific chemical substances that are designed and prescribed to treat depression. That does not include psychopharmaceutics meant to treat other mental illnesses such as antipsychotics or anxiolytics, even though your doctor might prescribe them to you in support of your depression treatment.

I first started taking antidepressants when I was 15.

Against my will, because at 15 years old, you don’t get to make decisions about your own health, your parents do. And my parents decided that I needed to be medicated.

As a teenager, I didn’t believe I was sick because the concept of mental illness was never explained to me in a comprehensible, non-judgemental way. I was wholeheartedly convinced that there was nothing “wrong” with me and that my family was the sole cause of my unhappiness and self-harm.

I believed that I was taken to the doctor for punishment, not help, and I still partially believe that to this day because I was threatened with being sent to the mental hospital more times than I can count. “You do this one more time and you’re going straight to the loony bin!” My parents seemed to believe that under the right threat, I would be incentified enough to stop all my “inappropriate” behavior and become “normal”.

The first time at the psychiatrist’s, I got drug tested. My parents thought that I was on something and that’s why I was acting so “crazy”. That hurt me deeply and made me not trust anyone, my parents or my doctors, from day one. I wouldn’t talk to the doctors, I wouldn’t talk to the therapists.

Then I was put on Zoloft.

I understood it as further punishment for not complying with my doctor and an effort by my parents to “numb” me down, change my personality and artificially transform me into the child they would be OK with having to raise.

Needless to say, I boycotted it as much as I could. I would skip my pills for days, hide them, take four at once to see if it would get me high or give them to my non-depressed friends as an experiment to see what happens.

I was allowed to discontinue Zoloft at the age of 17.

Since then, I got re-diagnosed and went back to medication twice as an adult and though it took me a long time to make the decision for myself and acknowledge the fact that yes, my parents might have been right and I might, indeed, need the meds, it improved my life drastically each time and allowed me to focus on becoming my best self.

Please don’t adopt the mentality of the 15 years old me.

Nobody explained this to me until way later in life and maybe nobody explained it to you either but medication is not your enemy, it is certainly not a punishment and it only exists to help depressed people live normal lives.

In fact, if you have been diagnosed with any kind of depressive disorder, meaning your depression is not simply an emotional reaction to something going bad in your life but rather is caused by your brain’s inability to regulate certain neurotransmitters, medication might be the only thing that is going to effectively help you.

I understand, it’s a scary idea, taking brain affecting pills designed to alter your mind. Especially when many people I know are so vehemently against modern medicine that they are scared to take even a common painkiller to deal with a hangover and would rather suffer the headache.

I myself refuse to take contraceptive pills for the very same reason so call me a hypocrite if you must, but as someone whose moods are already all over the place due to my depression, I am not excited about the idea of adding another hormone-affecting pill into my life. Luckily for me, there are many other contraceptive methods just as effective as the pill.

When it comes to antidepressants though, that is unfortunately not the case.

We all know what doesn’t work. That “just thinking happy thoughts” doesn’t do anything for our depression. So why exactly are we so desperately avoiding the one thing that does?

The importance of diagnosis and treatment

I only have one piece of advice for everyone who is feeling mentally unwell and is not sure what to do about it — please go see a doctor!

And by a doctor, I mean a psychiatrist or any other kind of specialist that is certified to give mental health diagnoses and suggest treatments in your country. The prejudice against the word psychiatrist is still huge and in many people, it still evokes the idea that seeing one means that you are “crazy” but really, it is just a word to describe the one person that is qualified to help you.

To dismantle the still very much present stigma around mental illnesses, I believe that we must stop self-diagnosing and self-medicating and instead start seeking out the help we need.

I know, it’s scary, I’ve been there. Seeking out outside help and “choosing to rely on meds” often makes us feel weak and like a failure when it’s, in fact, an act of remarkable bravery. It means that we have acknowledged our problem, decided to fix it and responsibly sought out professional help to guide us through the process. What more can we do than that?

I firmly believe that the right medication, accompanied by therapy, is the best way to start getting your life back together when battling depression. Sure, some people will try medication and decide that it is not for them. But the most important thing is to try it before condemning it as a “solution of the weak” or worse, a “Big Pharma conspiracy”.

Some myths and facts about antidepressants

Myth: Antidepressants will alter your personality and you won’t be yourself anymore Antidepressants are made to target specific areas in your nervous system that are responsible for handling certain hormones your organism is lacking when you are depressed. They should only influence your mood and they do not affect your perception of reality or the way you interact with your surroundings or other people.

Myth: Antidepressants are addictive and once you start taking them, you are hooked on them for life None of the chemical substances typically used to treat depression are known to cause physical addiction. It is, however, absolutely possible to form a mental dependency on them, like on anything else. Because of that, both the start and the discontinuation of using them should be done slowly, gradually and under the supervision of your doctor.

Myth: Antidepressants should be your last resort if all other “natural” methods to cure your depression failed As of today, there is no known cure for depression, only treatment to manage the symptoms. Of course, things such as healthy eating, exercising, practicing self-care, yoga, meditation and other lifestyle choices that are often recommended for depression can help and give you that temporary boost of serotonin or dopamine, but anyone can tell you that when you are severely depressed to the point you can barely get out of bed, doing some yoga is the last thing that’s on your mind.

Antidepressants are there for you to get out of that initial low point so you can start implementing other healthy lifestyle choices into your life that will, in turn, further help you to keep your mental health in check.

Myth: Antidepressants are only for people who are too weak to face and fix their problems Antidepressants are for people diagnosed with depression, just like chemotherapy is for patients diagnosed with cancer. Choosing to treat your disease with available and legal modern medicine is completely logical and normal and there is absolutely no shame in it. Of course, it is best to support your medication journey with therapy to uncover and solve your underlying issues, but therapy itself doesn’t “cure” depression.

Myth: Antidepressants have too many side effects for people to be able to live comfortably while taking them Nowadays it is perfectly possible to be on antidepressants while experiencing minimal side effects. If the side effects complicate your life too much, talk to your doctor about changing your type of medication, as there are many types and formulas to choose from and it is important to find one that works for you. That being said, you need to wait at least 3 to 4 weeks until your body gets fully used to the medication. During those first weeks, it’s normal to experience various side effects, but they should eventually disappear.

In conclusion

I am writing this to let everyone know that seeing a psychiatrist and taking antidepressants if they are prescribed to us is not only perfectly fine and not anything to be ashamed of, but it is the brave, right and responsible thing to do.

Please don’t let anyone prejudiced, inexperienced and uneducated on the topic to tell you otherwise.

Let’s all fight depression along with the stigma around mental illness together.