Getting Help

Friends, I’m here to talk about the very challenging process of “getting help.”

Getting help DOES NOT MEAN:

- trying a medicine for a few months, not feeling any better and quitting. (Me in my 20s)
- being off meds to prove that you can do it without help. (Me in my 30s)
- pretending your brain doesn’t cycle into depressive (or manic) bouts and denying that you need help. (Also me in my 30s)
- and it doesn’t mean staying on meds that help a little but you’re still experiencing depressive days several times a week. “We’ll, it’s better than it was so…maybe this is as good as it gets…” (Me last year)

For me, GETTING HELP HAS MEANT:

- acknowledging my brain does this weird cycling thing.
- charting my mood cycles so I can actually look subjectively at what’s going on and share that info with a doctor.
- not settling for a half-assed medicine regimen that isn’t actually making me feel better.
- taking the time to wean off one and try another (or two) until I have lots and lots of stable days in a row. That is a sign of feeling better.
- asking myself the basic question of: “Do I feel like doing things I care about (seeing friends, making music, designing a quilt)?” If the answer is no, I am reminding myself and others to KEEP LOOKING for help.

💛,
Suz

P.S. There are so many support modalities— psychiatric meds are just one of them—but they have been a key part of my own stabilization. My focus on meds is because they have the biggest stigma. Yes, eating well, sleeping regularly and moving your body are key to brain health but they’re not put in this weird stigmatized box, so that’s why I don’t talk about them as much.