Check out the video for Shame on I swoon over fictional men’s Facebook page.
Yoga, mindful breathing, positive visualisation; tried them all but here I am still popping that daily pill without a moment’s hesitation
It’s crazy how dependent I’ve become on this pill not even the size of the nail on my thumb
How having Monday’s pill still in its foil covered plastic recess on a Tuesday can spell the difference between feeling worthwhile and feeling worthless
But I refuse to be shamed into throwing my box of pills away, these teeny tiny pills that keep the negative thoughts at bay
These teeny tiny pills that take the edge off the anxiety while I search for the treatment that’ll work best for me
I refuse to listen to that small minority – apparently close friends with the anti-vaxxers – who make other people’s medicinal choices their priority
Spouting bullshit claims about how mental illness is a luxury of the 21st century
They sit there, smug smiles plastered across their faces, laying down their weak, nonsensical cases
With what they imagine to be clever questions like “What do you think they did in the olden days before these pills, they had no time to sit around pretending to be ‘ill’!”
My reply? They committed suicide or, worse, were institutionalised
Hell, go back far enough and they had their heads cracked open to release the demons within, each clunk of that tool against their skull driving them further from sanity and closer to their coffin
So no, mental illness is not a luxury of the 21st century
As long as there has been humanity there has been mental illness and what is the true 21st century luxury is better scientific understanding and treatments that don’t involve a trip to an asylum with a ticket granting ‘life-long boarding’
So don’t try to shame me, don’t try to shame us, for trying yoga, mindful breathing, positive visualisation and meditation or popping a daily pill without a moment’s hesitation
Take your warped, dated ideas, lock them away ’cause they’re not wanted here
No treatment path is paved in shame because what’s shameful about doing whatever makes us feel whole again?