why the stigma against mental health?

i stood in the doctor’s office, waiting for him to say something about my mother’s health.

“she is doing good”, he says, with a prescription to continue the medications at the current dose.

struck by a sudden question in my mind, i asked, curious, “will my mom never get off meds?”

“does it matter?” he continued writing on her prescription.

“well, her previous doctor said she would be off her meds after 3 years of the episode”

“but she is healthy now, isnt she?”

“yes, but she is taking meds”

he signaled me to sit back down, as he started explaining to me the same thing very patiently. it was the 4th time, this time around, that i had asked the same question.

“your mother takes pills for her diabetes, you never asked her to stop it. then why the psychiatric medications?”

i paused for a moment, thought, and said “probably the stigma”.

if this stigma werent there, would i have asked that question?

probably not.

and it just goes on to show how different mental and physical health are for us, despite being not that different in reality.

a diabetic is never told to try living without their insulin, an asthma person without their pump and a cancer patient without chemotherapy.

but we are quick to judge anyone who takes psychiatric medications.

it is a huge part of why i have come to hate my own medications as well, despite them keeping me stable over the years.

i fail to understand, though, how is a chemical imbalance in the brain any different from physical deficiencies in our body?

no one thinks twice before taking vitamin supplements and all those shitty commercial medications which do nothing but fill the pocket of corporate giants.

but when it comes to psychiatric medications, suddenly medicines are too expensive, have too many side effects, dont do anything and are not so essential.

i am not denying that psychiatric medicines have some serious side effects. i put on a lot of weight as a result of these medications.

however, doesnt chemotherapy also require the patient to sacrifice their hair?

dont other medicines cause any averse reaction?

averse reaction and side effects of the medicines are normal. we need to weigh the risk factors and benefits of taking the medications before we start their dosage.

see, telling someone to beat depression without medications is like telling a fractured person to walk without a cast, using only the power of their stick (or mind, in the first person’s case).

of course they can do that, but is the suffering worth the effort?

there are people curing cancer, diabetes and even mental health disorders using sheer willpower, or is it the proper resources and guidance?

whatever it is, good on them.

the rest of us need to realise that these medicines, therapies and the likes are not actually crutches, but they are all aimed at giving us a better life and a livable lifestyle.

nobody, after all, would like to suffer from suicidal thoughts for the lack of dopamine, just as no one would like to suffer from diabetes due to the lack of insulin.