As it has been widely reported on my blog over the past several years, I have struggled to take one particular medication until nearly a year ago. I have had a relapse and still at times never really wanted to accept things for what they were until I seen the reality be portrayed in the media. After seeing, researching, and realizing how it looks in others I started to realize that medication is an important tool in mental health treatment.

Throughout life the importance of taking medication has been stressed to me by my loved ones but then there has been the times that things have happened that give me the feelings that I shouldn’t have liked, however reality eventually sets in and it has been hurtful too, but there is a reality that when I am medicated I am my best self and am able to manage the things that happen in my life.

As I have learned that medication is an important tool for my mental health and should not be ignored, I found that my life functions much better than it would if do not care for myself and that my thoughts can be flawed to believe that everything is fine when in fact it wasn’t. The reality is that others notice when I am not myself and they raise concerns. There have been times when I would worry what it would take to have them raise that concern flag and I would constantly flirt with disaster. But life shouldn’t be that way.

It has been a long time since I had to be placed in a psychiatric hospital or residential setting to get the care to find the right balance of medication needed for stability. Things go well as long as I am the one responsible and care for myself in the way that I need to. It may mean taking abnormal steps to assure that I am able to function in society but by making sure that those steps and precautions are put in place, then I am sure to succeed.

I have been down a long road and that is for sure, but there is a sense that it has also been a long road of not caring for myself and seeing that there are issues when I don’t and benefits when I do. It takes always being cognizant of my mental well-being and knowing that it is important to always be aware of taking my medication properly and effectively so that issues don’t arise.

Instead of always worrying about what could go wrong because of not caring for myself there is a greater relief when caring for myself doesn’t cause those issues to arise because of things happening the way that they are supposed to happen. There is no shame in needing medication or having mental health conditions. In fact, the stigma arises mostly when mental health is not treated, and medication is not adhered to. I have learned that medication is an important tool in my mental health recovery and makes me able to function often in a world where at the same time it can be difficult to manage the uncertainty of the world. Medication is a necessary in my life and I have accepted that.