As someone who struggles with mental health issues that run in my family, medication has always been a conversation in my life. However, up until a few months ago, I was reluctant to take any. I am writing this article to prevent anyone from waiting as long as I did.
I’ve had anxiety ever since I can remember, and I ran into problems with depression around my junior year of high school. It wasn’t until then that I started going to therapy, but I refused to take medication. I thought that there were too many side effects, and I didn’t want to “depend” on it; I placed a stigma around medication for no reason. But, after a bad wave of depression, I finally added medication to my daily life 3 months ago; my mood, happiness and motivation have improved more than I ever thought they would. I am, for the first time in my life as a 20-year-old, feeling okay. I can start my day without an impending feeling of doom or difficulty getting out of bed.
Of course, a big takeaway from this is to continue therapy with medication. Hand in hand, therapy and medication can help you make great strides in your mental health. With medication, however, I have been able to start going to therapy less. I can’t believe that I made myself wait for so long to try medication. Seriously, if you’re struggling with a mental illness, consider therapy if you haven’t, as well as medication. I promise it can help.