TW: Mental illness, suicide // Destigmatising medication for mental health illnesses.
By Mhairi Claire Lynch
22 August 2020
Once, when I mentioned to a friend that I was taking antidepressants, they looked at me like a second nose had suddenly begun to grow in the middle of my forehead. This reaction is not unusual. The conversation surrounding medication when attempting to treat or manage mental illnesses is often not a positive one, and more importantly, it is one seldom had. Society has a problem with medications like antidepressants, and let’s face it, mental illness treatment in general. We have grown up with narratives of nervous divorcées taking a Prozac with their glass of wine before their ex-husband's new girlfriend comes over or the stressed office worker who just needs some time out from life. This is not real life. That is not how the medication works. It’s not as simple as people assume to be put on medication, and when you are prescribed it’s usually done in small doses.
Here’s a personal example: from the ages of 14-18, I saw adolescent mental health specialists through the NHS service CAHMS. I was there for two years before medication was even mentioned. Since the age of 16, I have been on and off antidepressants in different doses. It has become the new normal for me. I have also been prescribed through GP practices in more recent years upon moving to university.
And the reason I take them, you may ask? Well, it is because, in varying ways, they work.
No one takes fluoxetine, for example, for a cheap thrill. The only high you will get is heartburn. Yet unlike any other medication I have ever been on, from antibiotics for a rogue ear infection or painkillers for a damaged ligament, none of them meet with the same questioning and awkwardness as antidepressants. There is often a mentality that has been inherited from older generations that ‘pain is a part of life’. They put on a pedestal those who are depressed and manage to have a miraculous recovery out of ‘sheer guts and inner strength’. I am not, however, saying that anyone who faces mental health difficulties must seek some sort of chemical solution; but, that anyone that does choose that solution should not be seen as weak.
In fact, admitting that you cannot function without something that is so heavily stigmatised is often one of the hardest things to do. It would be wrong of me to argue that pain isn’t part of life, but just as an ear infection is painful, so too is a mental disorder. No one praises someone for not taking antibiotics to aid an ear infection. Mark Brown, writing for the guardian in 2017, asked the question that has often crossed my mind: ‘antidepressants work, so why do we shame people for taking them?’ And well, it’s true—why the shame?
Now, antidepressants are by no means perfect, and they do not always go to plan. I have known people who didn’t find them beneficial. I have also known people to go through dozens of different types and amounts of medication until they have found something that works for them. This is not a one-size fits all scenario. Along with NHS guidelines, medications tend to be more effective in conjunction with cognitive behavioural therapy or differing types of medical therapeutic practice. I found that for me, antidepressants got me to a place where I could work on strategies to help my thinking. It is very hard to take part in therapy when the thought of leaving bed seems like climbing Mt. Everest.
Let’s debunk some myths.
Sometimes knowing the science behind the seemingly mysterious pill can put medication like this into a far more rational place in our heads. Fluoxetine (the green tablets I take three of each day) is a type of antidepressant known as an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor). To translate, it boosts the amount of serotonin going to the brain, which is the hormone that helps to boost your mood. When we are depressed, one of the reasons for this is that we have a significant drop in this hormone, usually along with other factors. For me, it is essentially chemically rebalancing the scales in my head. By reducing bouts of anxiety, as well as lifting my mood to a steady place, it can help me sleep better and in turn give me more energy.
Sometimes there are side effects that aren’t very pleasant—such as suicidal thoughts, or what is often described as a ‘restriction of mood’, in which you feel neither euphorically happy nor deeply low (you just sort of stay in the middle). There can be physical consequences like weight loss or gain and dizzy spells (to name a few). I think the thing to remember is that even with the possibility of these side effects or the medication not working at all, those odds are still better than the utter despair of feeling you have no hope of improving your low state. Look at it like this: say you were standing by a moving train, attempting to get on, and someone offered to pull you in. To the people safely on the train, this might seem too dangerous. But if that’s your only chance to get on the train, surely it’s worth taking.
As I challenge myself to talk more openly about being on medication, each time I do, there is a small stone that falls away from the wall of stigma surrounding the topic in our day to day lives. The more stones that fall, the more chance there is of people who are on the brink of suicide being supported by friends, family and general society in seeking help. Moreover, for them to be more open to whatever help is offered, no matter what someone’s personal preconceptions of that help may happen to be.
Sources:
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/fluoxetine-prozac/
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/01/antidepressants-work-shame-people-ssri
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/
Mhairi is a 20-year-old student going into her third year of International Relations and Philosophy at the University of St Andrews, but she is currently at home in Glasgow. Mhairi is really interested in art and music. She is running an art Instagram shop (@makingforgood) to support the bail project; using art and creativity to support different initiatives to help make the world a better, fairer place! In the upcoming year, Mhairi will be studying feminist and gender philosophy which is a real passion of hers. Mhairi has had on and off treatment for her mental health since the age of 14 and hopes to help normalise talking about mental health in everyday life.