Hi.
I am KK, and I take antidepressants.
This is the second time I've been on antidepressants in my life. The first time, I felt like a failure. I took them for a few weeks, and just stopped. I read that the benefits of antidepressants were similar to having a good diet and exercise routine. A psychiatrist I knew socially, who did not know my situation, told me that although she believed in antidepressants as a professional, she would never put her own children on them. My boyfriend at the time told me that in controlled trials, people did better on placebo. I felt stupid and weak.
I am not a scientist, or a researcher. A am not saying that antidepressants are beneficial for everyone. What I am saying is that I chose not to take medication that my doctor prescribed to me for a serious condition that was debilitating to my professional and personal life because of taboos surrounding mental illness. People were telling me, even a psychiatrist, that I should just try harder.
Mental illness is a real disease. Mental illness is a real disease.
So, I HEART DRUGS. My drugs make me able to live my life. Reader, please support people who are taking drugs for mental illness. Do not make them feel guilty or silly, because it might really, really be helping them.
Go hug somebody.
