Let’s avoid talk of ‘chemical imbalance’: it’s people in distress
<i>they struggled against the dehumanising notion that their thoughts, feelings or behaviour were mechanistically caused.</i><p>Finally, a thread where I can point out my own experiences.<p>Around four years ago, it would be fair to call me slightly crazy. It was a harmless sort of crazy, but it was quite self-destructive. I used to wake up wishing to die, genuinely, and not knowing why.<p>All of that changed after going on Prozac. I don&#x27;t know why, and I&#x27;ve heard from many others that Prozac was harmful to them. But from my point of view, it was nothing short of a lifechanging miracle. I can&#x27;t remember the last time I&#x27;ve had suicidal ideation.<p>Most people keep this sort of thing quiet, and I think silence is part of the problem. When I was younger, I might have looked down on someone for saying what I just said. When you have a broken leg, everyone notices and can relate; when you have a broken mind, no one can see it, and so no one can feel sympathy, let alone empathy.<p>So what&#x27;s the takeaway here? One: <i>do not lose hope</i>. I came very close to losing hope, and it would have denied me so much. Two: make a doctor&#x27;s appointment. There&#x27;s a chance that you&#x27;ll wind up on something that makes the situation worse; you need to make a followup appointment ahead of time.<p>Support networks only got me so far.