Depression sucks.

It sucks big.

No, I’m not even talking about myself. A friend of mine has been battling it for a while now and it’s finally reached the point that she really needs to talk to her doctor about it. Even lugging me and my baggage around as a friend doesn’t counter the stigma attached to psych drugs.

A person might fully understand, accept and support someone else who has to take these meds, but when it comes to their own lives and the thought of having to pop them themselves, it scares the living daylights out of them.

I understand. They don’t want to be “mellow.” They don’t want to feel drugged up all the time. They don’t want to be reliant on a pill to get them through the day…

It’s a stigma, a vile one that is based on people who are prescribed the wrong kind of medication (or any kind of medication in some cases) for the wrong reasons. My doctor has always told me that all he wants the meds to do is to give me more of an even playing field. That’s all I want for my friend. I just want her to be happy, to not get stuck down in the quick sand of depression where the more you struggle the further down you are dragged.

I tried to explain to her that the meds aren’t meant to keep you from getting down about life or angry. They’re meant to help you not get stuck in those pits. The meds are a ladder, a way back up to a world still filled with shadows but also filled with intermediate sunshine.

I pray that my friend will ask for that ladder.

I pray that I’ve led her to look for that help in the right direction….

On these kind of days, I just pray.

Now, to hopefully brighten your day, here is your daily chapter preview.

 
Chapter Ten: Heat

“Cane stopped, looked up and stared at his lover. “Did we just turn into a Lifetime Movie?”” (page 116)

 
Laughter…sometimes it’s a staunch ladder in and of itself.

Until tomorrow…

Chloe Stowe