Dearests,

I fucking LOVE anti-depressants.

I will shout about this from the rooftops. Yep, I’m an essential oil loving hippy… but DAMN am I grateful for allopathic medicine too!

Anti-depressants have been an essential part of my self-care for the last 9 years.

The difference they make to my life is night and day. Without them, I’d be on the kitchen floor curled up in a panic attack. I take them because my ancestors couldn’t even when they desperately needed them.

My anxiety and depression are a part of my DNA, just the same as my weak eyesight and abundance of moles. I take care of my eyes with glasses. I take care of my moles with regular skin checks. I take care of my anxiety and depression with medication.

Here’s some misconceptions I often hear about anti-depressants from friends:

Anti-depressants stop you from feeling.

Nope. Not at all. I still feel in full colour both happy and sad. They just stop my capacity to hit rock bottom. Rock bottom = constantly crying behind sunglasses at the grocery store.

Anti-depressants stop you from being creative.

Try telling that to the 12 books and 140 workshops and hundreds of artworks I’ve produced in the last 10 years. In contrast, when I’m in the throes of anxiety or depression, I can’t fucking create shit.

Also… THIS:

Anti-depressants make you less “you.”

Nope. Nope. Nope. They help you to actually BE YOU. Instead of feeling completely submerged under the anxiety and depression.

Anti-depressants prevent you from learning your soul lessons.

Nope. Not at all. You can still learn them, deeply and fully. Anti-depressants can help bring your brain back online again to actually be present to them.

If you just meditated or did therapy enough, you wouldn’t need anti-depressants.

NOPE. I’ve done both extensively. For me, anti-depressants work hand-in-hand with therapy. I feel like anti-depressants can take the bottom out for me to actually be able to heal things, instead of constantly scraping the bottom of the barrel.

It’s unspiritual to take anti-depressants.

LOLZ NAH. Is it unspiritual to get your arm sewn up when it’s been cut? Is it unspiritual to get your leg cast when it has been broken?

If you aren’t coping right now…

Please do what you need to take care of you. You are so very precious. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to have your cells and hormones supported to thrive.

Your journey might be different. You might have other tools that are essential for your mental health. And that’s totally okay. You get to make the right choices *for you*.

And I will always firmly celebrate anti-depressants, and advocate for people to tend to themselves in a way that truly *works* for them.

Big love and blessings,

P.S. Addendum to this post to discuss sharings and feedback:

– Some souls have shared they had side effects on some medication, or felt numb on them. I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you and I’m hoping you’ve found something that works for you. And you probably already know – there are many different kinds of anti-depressants and they all work differently for different bodies. A medication change can often make a huge amount of difference. I have one that works better for me than others. I’m grateful for it. (Your body might be different though!)

– Some souls shared they have medication resistant depression. I’m so sorry they didn’t work for you and I’m hoping you’ve found something that works for you. 

– To reiterate, if you’ve found a different healing path, I’m thrilled for you. And I will also continue to destigmatize medication for mental health for those who need it. 

– Finally this quote even though I’m not religious… ha!