Oct 10th is World Mental Health Day. I want to help end the stigma against mental illness and more specifically the stigma against medication to help cope with mental illness.

I am not ashamed of this handful of medication. Living with chronic illness, chronic pain and mental illness, these are the magic beans that keep me alive. When I was first diagnosed as clinically depressed, I felt the stigma of being medicated as meaning there was something wrong with me, that I was crazy, that I wasn’t good enough. Well, it’s true there is something wrong with me – my brain doesn’t function the way that a “normal” brain is supposed to. It doesn’t use serotonin the way that it is supposed to, so I fall into deep pits of depression without my duloxetine (Cymbalta).

A couple of years ago, I was finally diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder 2 – a less severe version of the bipolar disorder that often makes its way into movies and TV shows. It’s less severe, but to me, it can wreak havoc on so many parts of my life, that it needed to be treated, so I count on my Aripiprazole (Abilify) to keep my moods balanced. It helps blunt the manic phases, and keeps the depression from becoming all consuming.

I also take synthroid for my underactive thyroid, without which I would be sad and sick and unable to metabolize anything. I take Amitryptaline to help the Duloxetine and to keep my chronic migraines at bay. I take CBD to help with my anxiety and chronic pain. I take the Celecoxib to manage breakthrough pain from my ankylosing spondylitis. And I take supplements recommended by my doctor to help me sleep.

Every one of these pills and tablets serves a purpose and each one together saves my life every day. I hope that by sharing this, if you, or someone you know is struggling with mental illness that you will feel less alone, or will feel some compassion for the friend who flakes out of plans, or can’t get out of bed, or relies on pharmaceutical interventions to keep themselves afloat.

Mental illness thrives on isolation and shame. It feeds on fears and loneliness. So please, don’t be ashamed of what you need to do to keep your sanity. You deserve to be here.

#worldmentalhealthday