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Last Updated on July 17, 2025 by Pen Pixel
I didn’t want to take it.
Not because I didn’t need it. But because I didn’t wanna feel like a walking science project.
You know that quiet fear? That once you start medications… you’re never really you again?
Yeah. That one.
The Key Takeaway.
Medication for mental illness is not a savior. It’s not a scam either. It’s a TOOL. But then, a tool is only helpful if you know what you’re trying to fix. Medications won’t raise your self-worth. They won’t fix toxic friends. They won’t hold your hand at 2AM. But sometimes… they will keep you alive just long enough to do the rest of the work.
What Even Is Medication for Mental Illness?
Let’s keep it 100. These are not “happy pills.”
- They’re not magical mood potions.
- They’re chemical attempts to balance what’s out of whack in your brain.
Too much sadness, too much fear, too much noise in your head? The medications try to soften that noise.
But they don’t delete it.
They just… give you space.
- Space to breathe.
- Space to try.
- And space to NOT drown the second your feet hit the floor.
How Medication Works for Mental Illness (Pros & Cons).
PROs.
- It brings the volume down: You know how depression can scream and anxiety can tell lies to your bones? Sometimes, meds turn that radio wayyy down so you can actually hear your own voice for once.
- It gives your brain a fighting chance: Like imagine trying to heal with a fire alarm ringing non-stop. Meds don’t solve your trauma, babe. But they can let you sit still long enough to actually face it.
- It shows you how ‘bad’ you really were: It’s weird, right? Sometimes you don’t know how deep the hole was till someone throws you a ladder. Suddenly you’re breathing and you’re like, “Wait… so THIS is what normal feels like?!”
- It saves time during a crisis: Let’s be honest, when you’re one more sleepless night away from snapping,
- you don’t always have time for journaling and green juice. Medications can be the emergency rope when everything else feels like too little, too late.
- You don’t have to feel better to start getting better: Sometimes you just need to stop spiraling long enough to think straight. Medication helps you pause the panic. And in that pause… healing gets a chance.
CONs.
- It’s like walking into a pharmacy blindfolded: Finding the right meds feels like trying on 13 wigs in a pitch-dark room. You don’t know what fits. You don’t know what messes you up even more. You’re just hoping the next pill isn’t the one that gives you night sweats and makes you cry over toothpaste.
- Side effects are real and unfair: Weight gain. No sex drive. Numbness. Twitching. Sometimes the “healing” feels like a whole new problem.
- People act weird when you say you’re on meds: “Oh, are you okay?” “Do you HAVE to take it?” They look at you like you’re fragile glass with a timer taped to it. And you’re like, “Dude. I’m literally more stable than I’ve ever been.”
- You can get dependent… without even meaning to: This is the part no one wants to touch. Sometimes meds make you scared to function without them. Like, “Who am I without this?” Will the sadness swallow me whole again? Nope, I’m just gonna get some more pills.
- They don’t fix your life: You can still be toxic. Still self-sabotage, still text your ex and still binge Netflix instead of showering. Still ghost your therapist. Medication balances chemicals. Not character.
Common Things People Have Said About The Meds.
- Crying in the bathroom because the 3rd medication STILL made you feel like a ghost in your own body.
- Wondering if maybe the meds were dulling you so much you couldn’t even feel joy anymore.
- Feeling guilty because you’re taking meds and STILL struggling. Like “what’s wrong with me if even the meds aren’t enough?”
- Feeling like a fraud. Like: “Am I faking my mental illness if I’m functioning now?” Or worse: “Am I faking my recovery if I still need pills to keep it together?”
We cannot talk about this part enough. But I promise you, someone else out there feels that same ache.
Medication is not the enemy, your pain is not imaginary. And your healing doesn’t have to look romantic. And if anyone tries to shame you for taking meds? Tell them this: “I’d rather be chemically balanced than emotionally bankrupt.” Let them chew on that.
