Two years ago I posted a YouTube video explaining that I’ve started taking antidepressants and why I started taking antidepressants.
Posting this video made me really nervous. I’d never been this transparent or vulnerable on the internet before. But the responses to the video totally outweighed the nervousness. Since going live, so many people have commented on the video or DM’d me directly to tell me how much this video helped them. Some have even told me that the video saved their life.
This experience made me realize how important it was to speak authentically about my own experience with my mental health. Medications for mental illness (and mental health in general) are still so stigmatized. If it wasn’t for my mom, then I’m not sure I would have sought treatment. If it wasn’t for me mom, then I’m not sure if I would have even known that I was unwell.
Unfortunately for so many people, they don’t have a mom like mine. So many people don’t have a support system. So many people are suffering in silence.
Whenever I post something about my mental health & medication, my intention is always to help mitigate the stigma surrounding mental health. To show that people are not alone. To show that what you see on TV isn’t the reality for everyone with a mental illness. There aren’t very many nuanced depictions of how depression can exist in the media, so I figured I’d share my own experience to highlight a different perspective.
I’ve officially been on antidepressants for two years now. I asked you guys on Instagram if you have any questions about my experience and there were tons of them. Hopefully with this video, we can help mitigate the stigmas surrounding mental health even more.