The Reassuring Message Everyone Who Takes Antidepressants Needs To Hear

In case you needed a reminder: There's nothing shameful about taking antidepressants. Although that should be obvious, the stigma surrounding mental illness still makes the diagnosis and prescription of medication for depression, anxiety, or any other mental health issue stressful for many people.

A new post from Laura Mazza, the blogger behind Mum on the Run, to the Love What Matters Facebook page breaks down the thoughts behind that stress — and reassures those who have been recently prescribed antidepressants that taking them is the same as taking any other medication.

"Maybe life has thrown some curveballs at you," the post reads. "Maybe it wasn't what you expected at this time. Maybe everything is a little bit too much. Maybe getting out of bed every day is hard. Maybe being a friend, a partner, a mother, a father, a daughter or a son is just getting to you. Maybe the wires in your brain have a hard time connecting to each other."

"So... You're missing some serotonin levels and that's gotta be hard. That's you, and that's your brain. It doesn't make you or your brain any less wonderful. it just makes things harder, makes things feel bigger... kinda makes you feel small in a big cave of worry and sad. Sometimes you might feel like you're irrational, maybe at times you might be, but hey! That's okay. It's not your fault. Who isn't?"

The post goes on to argue that needing antidepressants is no different than a diabetic person needing insulin:

"So you need medication, and maybe you'll be on it for a few months or years or maybe forever. There's nothing wrong with that. You have an illness. No one would tell a diabetic to just get off the medication and stop thinking about sugar, so it'll all go away. You wouldn't tell someone with heart disease to just snap out of it...

You need the meds to help those wires connect, to keep you feeling like the cave isn't so big, to keep your head above the water. No one is perfect...But we all do what we need to do to be healthy and happy."

Mazza also tackles critiques and feelings people with depression often face — such as feeling alone or annoying to other people.

"It might seem crappy now, but I promise it gets better. I promise you're not annoying. You are definitely not alone.

You don't have to be strong all the time. You don't have to sweep it under the rug, and carry on smiling for everyone else.

It's not a problem to not be okay, it's only a problem to pretend to be okay when we are not.

So, you need to take antidepressants... and there ain't nothing wrong with that."