Medication has a stigma attached to it. There will always be somebody who skeptical of medication, and somebody spreading their concerns about ‘Big Pharma’. However, mental health medications – psychopharmacology – definitely carry a lot more stigma than other medications, for example, diabetes or blood pressure medication. Part of this is to do with the stigma that surrounds mental health problems in general. There are ways to detect diabetes, heart problems and high blood pressure. There is equipment that can help detect exactly what’s wrong. With mental health problems, it is a lot more complicated to identify the issue. Due to this, some people genuinely believe that mental health problems don’t actually exist. Some people even claim that your mental health can be ‘fixed’ by changing your lifestyle. While changing your lifestyle can have a beneficial effect on your mental health, it isn’t the answer to a lot of mental health problems.

Let’s start with antidepressants. There are loads of different kinds of antidepressants, but regardless of the type, there are a lot of myths surrounding them. Some say that antidepressants turn you into a ‘zombie’ – incapable of feeling anything. It’s important to acknowledge that some people who take antidepressants may feel this way. That is their experience. The reason for there being so many kinds of antidepressants is that everybody is different, and everybody responds to medication differently. As there is no way of ‘measuring’ depression or anxiety, even schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, psychopharmacology treatment requires a different (but careful) approach, including a lot of observation to ensure that the patient is responding in the correct way. So, just because somebody might have had a bad experience with an antidepressant, it doesn’t mean that you definitely will too.

The above is similar for any drug used to help with a mental health condition. Just like any medication, there are side effects to most. Depending on the way your body and mind works, side effects can range from minimal to extreme. This is why mental health professionals will monitor mood and behaviour over the first few months of taking a new medication. They need to ensure that the medication is the right one for you. Side effects can be hard to deal with. Some include weight gain and fatigue, with a more extreme side effect being suicidal thoughts. Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts as a side effect to medication should speak with their doctor as soon as possible, as it puts them at more risk. It’s all about balance and what is right for the person taking the medication – does the medication help them enough mentally to justify the other side effects?