Before i start, I want to make it perfectly clear that the picture attached as well as the title are not intended to offend anyone- they are intended to make a point and it is one that I feel strongly about.
For most of my life I have suffered with..... gads... depression. Yes, that horrible affliction that I should just "get over", "shake it off", "get out of my slump", "stop it" and the dozens and dozens of ignorant yet well meant words of wisdom that are spoke by uninformed people that think they have something magical to offer by saying such things as "you have nothing to be depressed about"
I am not discontented by my illness. I am well aware of it's true nature, I know that it can be controlled by medication (for the most part) and while I would certainly prefer not to have it, I am pretty sure anyone with any disease would prefer not to have it. The problem lies with other people and their idiotic misconceptions of depression and for that part, many other mental illnesses.
The uninformed and misguided ignorance of the general public on the subject is not what I am really concerned about right now though- my intention in writing this is more directed toward other people who suffer from depression and their own lack of understanding that it is not a mental problem- it is not an emotional problem- it is a chemical imbalance in the brain that is beyond your control to, well, control no matter what your friends and acquaintances tell you.
When I first started taking anti depressants in the early early 90's I was one of those people who felt I should be able to just "get over it" my counselor at the time asked me would I feel the same if I were, for instance, diabetic? Would I expect to "just get over it:" or would I take the medicine that would bring me quality of life without even questioning it? The latter was the answer, of course. I have tried to use that same scenario to many ill informed people throughout my life but they still don't by it. Whatever-
Last summer I met a guy, a friend, that I went kayaking with. That's all it was- a brief friendship, and kayaking. Somehow the subject of prescriptions came up (he took many for blood pressure, and heart ailments and I don't know what else) and I told him I took prescriptions for anxiety, nightmares and depression- he totally flipped out. While all of his prescriptions were necessary in his book, none of mine were. I didn't even bother trying to defend myself to him- this was a man who I never once, NOT ONCE EVER saw sober and who would buy a fountain soda from the store just for the cup to drink beer out of in disguise... but the fact that I took "MENTAL" drugs, ended our friendship.
At that moment (and until now I guess) I learned to tell people that I had a traumatic brain injury and that's why I am often moody, or have extreme highs and lows, and why my temperament affects my life so much. Now instead of being ridiculed for not being able to "just get over it" I am spoken to more gently and with some empathy- and if you want to get right down to it, I have had plenty of trauma to my brain during my life.
Moving on- I know several other people who suffer from similar afflictions, and every single one of them, at one time or another has said, they don't want to stay on the medication for the rest of their life, they want to try something herbal, they want to quit taking it and see what happens, they are ashamed that they need something for DEPRESSION especially if they seemingly have nothing to be depressed about.
I have an issue with that on two levels- first, if the disease was called something other than DEPRESSION would anyone ever question it? If it was called "Serotonin Absorption Inability" would anyone judge a person for having it? Would there be a stigma attached to it? Would people who have it be able to be convinced that they could do without the medication if they just willed them self to absorb their serotonin more efficiently? I think NO, to all of the above.
My second issue that I hear all of the time is "well I have been feeling better since I stared taking antidepressants so I am going to stop taking them now" Well, c'mom, this isn't like a headache where once it goes away you can discontinue taking a Tylenol and isn't the POINT of taking antidepressants TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER? I have been there- I have had this train of thought shoved down my throat too many times- I have been one of the ones who has been convinced that since I feel better I don't need the medicine anymore and I have hit rock bottom so hard that now I feel certain that I do have a traumatic brain injury just from the impact.
This blog may sound like a ramble- I am a little out of practice but I want to leave everyone who takes antidepressants or criticizes someone who does with this one hopefully poignant thought:
If you lost a leg for some reason, and you learned to walk again using a prosthetic, would you be grateful for regaining some control back over your life, or once you learned to walk with it would you say, or listen to someone say, "well you are walking fine now, I don't see why you still need that fake leg" ? Yes it is, the same thing.
