Antidepressants Gave Me My Life Back

Sometimes, medications are needed

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

I’ve been seeing a few articles lately about how mood-altering medications, particularly antidepressants, may be (mostly) unnecessary. One recent article says that the food you eat can influence whether or not you have depression.

Yes, your diet can absolutely influence your mood and your health. But it’s not the whole story. There’s an implication here: if you have mental illness, it’s your fault.

I have a diagnosis of anxiety, and I’ve been struggling with it all my life. When I was a kid, I was “shy.” When I was growing up, I had no frame of reference for mental illness. Nobody discussed it. Everyone just seemed to deal with their life on their own.

So for a long time, I just tried to deal with it. Of course, this didn’t go very well. I had panic attacks. I’d miss out on social activities because I was too nervous to go. I dropped out of college once because my anxiety was too overwhelming. No amount of healthy eating can cure a generalized anxiety disorder.

It took more than one try to find a medication that worked for my anxiety, and when one worked, it was like flipping a light switch. The medication is usually prescribed for depression, but also works for anxiety. Suddenly I was going to parties and enjoying them, not…