I Repeat, Thank God for Drugs

(I wrote the following to someone whose friend said anti-depressants are no different than alcohol:)

Depression is, to a large degree, for many people, a physiological disability - one that can be moderated only through administering changes to the body. Your friend is discussing two approaches:

One is using a generic drug (alcohol) to cover one's problems by ignoring and suppressing them, while the other is using targeted drugs (prescribed by someone who, hopefully, has a better understanding of the big picture) to alleviate and address the actual condition that causes the depression. Alcohol causes multiple other issues, particularly since it is being self-administered. It's like using a shotgun to kill a fly without considering what else is being killed in the process. The difference is simple and clear and important.

As gently as I can say this, your friend's concern comes across as an attempt to justify her choice of drug rather than an attempt to deal properly with whatever is causing her to drink. If I were you, I would suggest to her that she should let someone who can address the actual symptoms help her. "Self-medicating" is rarely a good idea; it's much better to use prescribed drugs (in the vast majority of cases addressing depression) than it is to try to drink away the depression - for many reasons.

To those who cannot understand why Mormons would (I believe, should) use prescription drugs, I would say, "Depression is a natural result of the Fall - of mortality - for many. We are commanded to strive to overcome the natural (wo)man. We are NOT commanded to do it on our own, as individuals, without the help of medical advances. Why would we not use those advances?"

A friend of mine was diagnosed with leukemia a couple of years ago. My second son has Type I diabetes. Almost everyone would call them completely stupid if they refused the chemo and insulin and other treatment medicine now can provide. Depression is NO different; not a bit. Anyone who chastises someone for taking prescribed anti-depressants just doesn't get it.

You Heard Me: Thank God for Drugs

The use of prescribed drugs is a soapbox issue for me because of my experiences growing up (my mother's schizophrenia), studying at an intensely competitive college (with its attendant issues of pressure and depression), counseling women dealing with various depressive issues and trying to get members to look differently at perfection and repentance. There are things we can do to lessen the stress that contributes to depression, but criticizing Mormonism is not one of them.

Teaching uplifting messages about divine potential (for men and women), teaching people to strive to be better than they naturally are, teaching people to follow the teachings of Jesus, ad infinitum - that is NOT a bad thing, especially if it leads people to accept medical help, to be better people and closer to what they want to be, to accept other people despite things that "the world" classifies as marginalizing disabilities, to allow those with expertise to serve others through that expertise, ad infinitum.

Yes, this is a soapbox issue for me, since I have spent decades trying to heal the wounds that misguided criticism and condemnation and unrealistic expectations have caused and continue to cause. Categorizing anti-depressant use as a bad thing stigmatizes those who use them - not just the organization to which those who use them belong. The broad brush touches all within its strokes, and it is a destructive and debilitating brush that should be discarded and burned.