Maybe in the past being on anti-depressants may have been an embaressing piece of information, but not anymore. After hearing numerous friends tout the effectiveness of their anti-depressant favor of the month, I decided toas k my doctor for something to help me feel more like myself. When I asked, I still did so with a wince. I squinted y eyes and lifted my shoulders because I still felt a tinge of apprehension and weakness because I needed something to make me feel human again. I can still remember my dad and mom discussing the fact that my Aunt MAry Alice needed "something" to get through the day. They talked about in whispered tones I still remember - even though it was almost 30 years ago. Never mind that my uncle Frank, Mary Alice's husband, had died and left her to raise four children -all of them teenager's- by herself. I guess my family considered her weak for needed a pill to feel better. I guess carry that shame - and feeling of weakness - for needing something for myself.
However, after two weeks on Lexapro, I could care less if I am weak. I feel really good again. I am optimistic and I feel like the old me. I can't wait to get up everyday and I have more energy than ever. It's too bad that Aunt Mary Alice did not feel she could shout from the rafters that she needed a little help to get through life. After her kids graduated from high school, my aunt took a gun and shot herself one morning. It's too bad that she did not feel accepted for asking for a little bit of help.
4 comments:
Just this very day my mom told me I needed to get back onto Lexapro. It did work wonders and I should probably get back on it. I have a terrible time controlling my anger lately. And I'm not even surrounded by rotten teenagers anymore. I, too, marvel at the number of people who use similar medication and who benefit from it. I guess before the days of Lexapro people just drank . . .
I think it's fabulous that you are taking control of the seemingly uncontrollable and sharing your story with it! I know how much medication can help a person and it is so incredibly important that others see fantastic, intelligent people struggling and handling the stress of life! You are a role model my dear!
I don't feel bad for being on drugs; perhaps it's because most of my family is. It helps that they see it as a real problem that can actually be treated with medicine.
I have been on pills since August and I now feel like a real person. I look back on my life and am sorry thatI didn't get on them sooner. I really do feel like a new woman. I feel human again.
I don't know why my last comment posted as anonymous, but it was me.
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