Tag: Mental Health Awareness

Reading Roundup #8

Another month of reading is complete and my current count is 60 books! Still basically on a 12 book a month pace but am gearing up for that to slow down once my summer graduate school classes start in July. Now on to May’s top three!

If you want to see all the books I’m reading and rating check out these profiles and add me!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/101673175-rachel-hutchings

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/rhutch27

I definitely recommend checking these books out and as always, let me know what books you’ve been enjoying!

#3 The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

I knew absolutely nothing about this book when I picked it up other than I loved the cover and it was by the author who wrote The Boy in the Striped Pajamas meaning I was probably in for an emotional read. It is also quite a long book at 580 pages. It was so worth the length. It follows Cyril Avery through his entire life beginning and ending in post-war Ireland starting in the 1940s. He is born out of wedlock to a girl cast out of her strict, religious Ireland community and his life takes many unexpected turns along the way, both heartwarming and heartwrenching. It also follows his story of coming to terms with his identity and finding where he fits as a gay man first amongst this incredibly conservative Irish community and later during the AIDS epidemic in New York City. I realized I am talking about this book during Pride Month which feels appropriate as it gives an honest and eye-opening view of the struggles and prejudice experienced by the LGBTQIA+ community. As someone not a part of that community, but with friends who are, I think it is important to read stories like this and other works by authors in the community to gain a better understanding. That is just one part of this sweeping novel dealing with family dynamics, friendship, identity, and redemption. Will make you laugh as well as make you cry and by now you all know how I love a bittersweet book. Definitely, a book that surprised me in a great way!

#2 Happy Place by Emily Henry

This was our book club book for May as we have a lot of romance book girlies in our group. A lot of us had read her other books like Book Lovers and Beach Read, so we were excited she was releasing a new book this year! I really enjoyed this one because it dove into some different territory than her other works. There was still a love story at the heart of it between two characters who had broken up but neglected to tell their friend group. They end up all going on a last hoorah vacation to the place they summered together starting in college and they are forced to pretend they are still together. As you can imagine this results in some complicated feelings and general hijinks. But what surprised me about this novel was the heavier weight given to the friendship dynamics among the group. There were some very real moments of fighting and unresolved issues that crop up and made the side storylines sometimes more interesting to me than the main love story. It felt like a real look into transitioning from college friends to adult friends and how life changes can affect those dynamics. Definitely ranked high in my Emily Henry book rankings and is one I would recommend for those who are looking for a contemporary romance that isn’t as fluffy. Don’t get me wrong, I love a fluffy romance on occasion, but I really appreciated the extra depth in this book!

#1 The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Number one this month is this historical fiction novel written by the author who wrote The Alice Network. A five-star read for me that was even longer than the first book I discussed at 624 pages but I loved every moment of it. It centers around three female code-breakers at Bletchley Park during World War II and the spy that they must uncover after the war has ended. Taking place in 1940 is the story of how these three amazing women came to be code-breakers and their time working at this top-secret facility. The female friendship dynamics among the three of them as well as the ups and downs of relationships in a time of war provide their own intrigue outside the high stakes environment of their jobs. Woven in the midst of that story is a look at where these women ended up post-war in 1947, why they aren’t speaking, and the unlikely discovery of a mole giving out classified information to the enemy that brings them all back together. Expertly written with incredible character development, this book is everything I love about historical fiction. Bletchley Park itself is endlessly fascinating and I am now dying to go and take a tour of the place where women were celebrated for their minds in a time when society didn’t see them as valued outside social society and the home. I love this author because she creates complex female characters that give a voice to the women who have gotten lost in history. Definitely recommend any of her books if you are looking for a great historical book filled with intrigue!

Honorable Mentions:

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano: This is actually the newest book in the Finlay Donovan series and I highly recommend you read it from the beginning! It follows an author turned accidental hitwoman and that is as ridiculous and wonderful as it sounds. Funny, suspenseful, and with a touch of romance, it’s a wonderful and quick summer read.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub: I love the idea of time travel and how it would affect my life if I did it myself, so anytime that concept is the backbone of a book, I’m probably going to enjoy it. This book follows a woman who goes to sleep on her fortieth birthday with her dad dying in the hospital and wakes up on her sixteenth birthday with her father as vibrant as ever. It explores family dynamics, idealism, and hope in a beautiful way.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware: I’ve read all the books by this author because she always scratches that mystery genre itch that lives in my brain most of the time. This one takes place in two times of the main character, Hannah’s, life. One back when she met her friends in college at Oxford where unfortunately she discovers her roommate April’s body after she was murdered and one in present day where the man she helped put away for the murder has died in prison and has left questions of his innocence behind. She decides she has to be sure she helped put the right man away, and there are tons of twists and turns as she uncovers more of the story. Highly recommend this book and any other written by her if you just need a good classic mystery novel!

As always, I’m always looking for new books so send them my way and let me know what your favorites so far this year have been! I hope you have a great day!

Rachel (:

Fixation Mixtape #2

Summer is a time when everyone is releasing music and I am so here for it! So many of my favorite artists have put out albums or have them on the way. As work and grad school stuff starts compounding my anxiety is bound to increase so I’m happy it’s lining up with the boom of new songs. I’ll be updating this playlist every month or so and sharing why I love these songs/artists and I’d love to hear what music you are connecting with as well!

Songs I’m Loving at the Moment

Here are ten songs that I have fixated on lately. Definitely check out these songs and check out the other songs from these artists as well!

#1 Miracle/Little Bird by the Jonas Brothers: This is one of the new albums I was referring to in the intro and boy did they deliver summer bop after summer bop on The Album! I cannot just pick one song so I picked the two that have me the most in a chokehold but for different reasons. Miracle is an incredible, upbeat, opening track that sets the tone for the album and really shows what this new sound they created with Jon Bellion is going to be. On the other hand, Little Bird makes me emotional every time I listen to it and is more emotionally, and lyrically in-depth than the rest of their album. This will be everyone’s father-daughter dance at their wedding (including mine!) and there will not be a dry eye in the house.

#2 Curtains/End of Youth by Ed Sheeran: Ed’s newest album Subtract (-) is the second album I have been fixating on! My brother and I watched the visual album together and I highly suggest you do the same to get the full experience. There are simply too many songs I love, especially as someone who has experienced grief, but these two are my favorites at the moment. Both look at the concept of how grief changes you in different ways. One reflects on how it matures you immediately and the other about how it is something you have to work to move past inch by inch, even if that means just letting a little light back in the room. This is probably his most emotional album and I know it has been divisive, but I personally think it’s incredible. I think watching his documentary on Disney Plus helps you understand this album better as well, but be warned that you will need tissues as my roommate and I were a weeping mess on the couch when we started it last weekend.

#3 God Plays a Gibson/Mustang or Me by Megan Moroney: Okay, last time I cheat and pick two songs for one artist, but Megan’s new album Lucky also just has too many incredible songs to choose from. I had been anticipating Jonas Brothers and Ed Sheeran, but this album came out of nowhere. I had actually heard of Megan because I saw a video of her performing her song called Hair Salon (also amazing) at a songwriter’s night in Nashville, but I didn’t know she had released this project until my friend texted the group chat saying we all had to listen to it immediately. She is everything I love about country music. Catchy songs, storytelling, and lyrics filled with play on words. A perfect album to drive to or listen to on a rainy day. Both of these songs are some of my favorite lyrically and conceptually, but I really don’t think this album has a skip. One of my new favorite artists for sure!

#4 What Am I Missing by The Band CAMINO: I have seen them live four times and they are definitely one of my top two favorite current bands and this song is just quintessentially them. Upbeat and catchy! Looking forward to hearing their whole album and going to see them live once again.

#5 Changes by Joy Oladokun: I’ve really gotten into this local Nashvillian’s music this past year and her sound is so unique to her. She’s an incredible lyricist and this song really coincided with some life changes in my life and in the world and has been one from the album I listen to most. Go listen to all her music!

#6 Bad Blood by Trousdale: If you love groups with harmonies that will give you chills, this is the group for you! I love the sound these three women create and this song is just so catchy! I could have it on repeat and genuinely never get tired of it.

#7 Dancing in the Courthouse by Dominic Fike: His tone is so unique that a song by him could play in the background anywhere and I would instantly know who it was. He hadn’t released music in a minute and this was a great song to come back with!

#8 Someone You Once Had by ROSIE: This is from an artist that I found and fell in love with a couple of years ago and she is so consistent in terms of lyricism. She also loves writing sad bops which we know is one of my favorite things and this song doesn’t disappoint!

#9 The Feels by Labrinth (feat. Zendaya): I always love Labrinth’s production and this song has that atmospheric, ethereal, echoey sound I love from him while being really interesting lyrically as well. Plus any song that gets Zendaya back in the studio is a win!

#10: Favorite Kind of High by Kelly Clarkson: This one is brand new from this past Friday but oh man it is so good! Her first two singles were also incredible and I will be unwell when her whole album comes out, but this song is so catchy and so impressive vocally! If you were worried her album about the divorce was going to be more melancholy, this song disproves it. And please watch her sing this live here because she is just ridiculously talented!

Honorable mentions:

Play Dumb by Sam MacPherson

Thanks Anyway by girlfriends

When Does It Get Good by Chloe George

Street Noise by BLU EYES

Meltdown by Niall Horan

I’ve put all the songs mentioned in this post in my Pasted on Smiles playlist on Spotify so be sure to check it out! Let me know what you’ve been listening to. I’m always looking for new songs to fixate on for a while!

Rachel (:

Reading Roundup #7

Another month of reading is complete and my current count is 49 books! On pace to surpass my goal of 100 but we’ll see if I slow down once I start graduate school later this summer. Bought two new books yesterday at a couple of local bookstores for Independent Bookstore Day. Be sure to support your local bookstores! And if you are ever in Nashville, check out Novelette and The Bookshop. Now on to April’s top three. Fewer books to choose from since it was only one month but still a little difficult.

If you want to see all the books I’m reading and rating check out these profiles and add me!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/101673175-rachel-hutchings

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/rhutch27

I definitely recommend checking these books out and as always, let me know what books you’ve been enjoying!

#3 Slade House by David Mitchell

I picked up this book because the cover intrigued me: A hardcover, square book where only the yellow frame of the front cover lifts up to reveal even more of a maze on the inside page. I had never heard of this book or this author and going in blind made unraveling the mystery even more exciting. This book spans five decades from 1970 to the present and slowly reveals the secrets of the Slade House which only seems to appear down the street from a British pub every nine years. People investigate, people disappear, and people lose their minds a little as they try to piece together a supernatural-tinged puzzle. A bit of a genre-bender between fantasy, mystery, and horror and definitely unlike other books I have read. I liked that it felt like a short story collection with a common throughline because you read about a new character entering the hunt for the truth of Slade House every nine years. Inventive and definitely keeps you turning the page, I recommend it for anyone looking for something weird and brand new. I think this would make a cool miniseries one day if they did it right, but book adaptations always stress me out so maybe we should leave it on the pages.

#2 Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

This book is actually number five of a series but I haven’t read any of the others yet and didn’t feel lost in the slightest so don’t let that stop you from picking it up! It follows an eccentric family of private investigators as they track down leads, follow people from a safe distance, and for one client, check if they left their sink running in their apartment. The mystery of how several of their client’s cases end up working together is interesting, but the real fun is the family dynamic. It’s told from the perspective of the oldest daughter Isabel who has a habit of hiding from conflict and breaking into houses. She is observing the quirky behavior of her family as the stress of the business and life in general starts to take its toll. Her mother is taking up every new hobby known to man to avoid her mother-in-law who has moved in temporarily. Her dad and sister won’t stop speaking in codenames and secret passwords in order to add mystique to the family business. And her brother is at his wits end trying to keep his life afloat and get his baby to stop calling everything a banana. If that sounds nuts, it’s because it is, but in the most fun way. It’s conversational right down to the footnotes Isabel leaves for the reader and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a light-hearted mystery and some great laughs.

#1 The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

The recommendations came from all sides with this book. My mom, my therapist, and one of my old coworkers talked about this book and it has been on my list but I finally found it at my used bookstore of choice and got to read it! It’s a historical fiction book about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Esme, the daughter of one of the lexicographers, is fascinated with words from the time she can read the slips of paper being sorted to build the dictionary pages. As she grows, she collects words that she finds interesting and starts to realize that words used to describe the common folk and women’s experiences are going unrecorded. To fill this gap, she starts to build her own Dictionary of Lost Words to prove that these words do have value. It’s an empowering book for women and a wonderful read for lovers of words. There is also a bit of family drama, social commentary, and romance sprinkled in to make it an even more satisfying read. Set in the early twentieth century during the women’s suffrage movement, it brings up important conversations and fills in the gaps of history that didn’t make the narrative of history written by men. This is the kind of historical fiction I like. Character-driven and poking at the previously unseen or left out moments of history.

Honorable Mentions:

The Giver Series (The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, Son) by Lois Lowry: I reread this series for our nostalgia-themed book club this month and they still hold up incredibly well. Honestly, the messaging of the novels hit even harder as an adult. Definitely recommend going back to this dystopian world that is painted so vividly.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova: Read this book that became a movie and definitely cried in the back half of the book. It follows a woman’s journey through Alzheimer’s and is written with such care. Really helps you see the disease through the eyes of the one going through it, when I feel often we read books from a caregiver’s perspective. Heartbreaking but beautiful, I would definitely check it out.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid: This was another reread this month after watching Daisy Jones and The Six and it is still just a fantastic book. Character-driven like her other incredible books and taking place over the course of one night at a party thrown by rockstar Mick Riva’s abandoned children, it gets into the heart of family dynamics. The connection to her other books is wonderful here as well for those who read all of her books like me. I think it might be my favorite of hers.

As always, I’m always looking for new books so send them my way and let me know what your favorites so far this year have been! I hope you have a great day!

Rachel (:

Reading Roundup #6

It’s been quite a while since I did my last reading roundup and I have read a copious amount of books since then. Last year alone I read 134 books which is the most I’ve ever read in a year. And it was not for the bragging rights. It was because last year was a year of working on myself. That meant reinvigorating the creative side of me, working on myself physically, and working on my anxiety and self-esteem. I dove headfirst into the pages of books that inspired ideas, made me cry, made me laugh, and allowed me to explore the things that make us all human. Some of those things are not always pretty, but being forced to look at them always helps you grow. I got an idea for a novel. I found representation on those pages for my mental health struggles and a hope within that.  Books have been in my life through every up and down and are continuing to be a part of my journey as I grow even more this year. I decided to give you my top three books I’ve read so far this year. I’m currently at 36 books for the year so it was hard to pick but I will start doing these monthly again after this which will make picking easier I imagine. If you want to follow my reading journey this year and share yours with me feel free to follow me on Goodreads and Storygraph if you use either!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/101673175-rachel-hutchings

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/rhutch27

I definitely recommend checking these books out and as always, let me know what books you’ve been enjoying!

#3 Now Is Not The Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

I’ve read all the books that Kevin Wilson has written so I was so excited to see his new one in our local independent bookstore when I went in last month! He actually is from Franklin, TN which is right outside of Nashville where I live so it’s always nice to support local authors as well. He has an extremely unique writing style and I bet I could tell you if he wrote the book without ever seeing the cover, which is a rare quality to find in the sea of books released each year. His concepts are always super unique and I usually read them in a day or two. This one was no different! It follows two teens, Frankie and Zeke, in a small TN town who meet one summer and decide they want to create art together. After they create a poster and start posting it around the town, panic ensues as no one knows where they came from or what they mean. As the public creates more and more theories, the consequences of their creative spirit snowballs into potential danger. Years later, they have never confirmed it was them who made the poster, but someone calls Frankie saying she knows her secret and wants her to tell their story. It’s funny and weird and makes you think about the power of a creative mind. I highly recommend it as well as any of his other books!

#2 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

This book came recommended to me by my roommate Jess and she didn’t let me down! This was a beautiful book about the ends and outs of friendship, ambition, and ultimately how your priorities affect your relationships. It is all set in the video game design arena and gives subtle Ready Player One vibes, but the relationship between Sam and Sadie is the driving force. I actually realized partway through reading the book that I had already read The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by this author and didn’t connect the dots right away. Another incredible story to check out! Both of her novels lean on the bittersweet so that’s important to remember going into them. However, those are some of my favorite stories because it seems more true to life. The characters in her novels feel like real people with relatable problems and while escapism in books is great, it’s sometimes nice to feel like the people could be living right down the street. Definitely check this author out!

#1 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Okay, this is a classic novel that I missed along the way somehow and I’m so glad I was able to read it! I had seen the movie a long time ago but as we know, the book is usually better. In this case, both are wonderful! I actually got this book at a bookstore in Chatanooga when my friends and I were wandering through local stores during my friend’s wedding weekend and they happened to have a “Blind Date with a Book” section. Basically, the book is covered in brown paper with only a few sentences on the outside about what the book is about, but you don’t know what you bought for sure until you open it at home. I’ve always wanted to do one and was so happy it happened to be this incredible story full of humor, heart, and charm. I’ll leave you with the description I was given before opening it! “Read Me if you’re looking for: A book from the busy brain of a born storyteller. A thoroughly entertaining comic novel. A now classic tale of 2 women in the 1980s, as one tells her life story to the other.” Definitely piqued my interest and I hope it does the same for you. And as a bonus, watch the movie after you read it.! Who doesn’t love Kathy Bates?

Honorable Mentions to Check Out:

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I love all of her books and her newest was no exception. Fans of tennis will especially love it!

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary: Just a cute rom-com when you are in need of something light and fun!

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal: A really great story of sibling relationships and discovering unknown passions. Great especially for craft beer lovers like myself!

The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner: Felt like I was reading an episode of Criminal Minds and as someone who loves shows like that, it was great!

S. by Doug Dorst and J.J. Abrams: Crazy concept of a book where there is an entire second book happening in the margins between two people trying to figure out the true identity of the author of the actual book. Really fun and shout out to my brother for gifting it to me!

As always, I’m always looking for new books so send them my way and let me know what your favorites so far this year have been! I hope you have a great day!

Rachel (:

Reading Roundup #5

A lot has been happening in my life since my last post and I haven’t been as consistent with this blog as I wanted to be. After spending a month and a half at my parents house in Wisconsin during quarantine, I moved back to Nashville to start my new full time job at the place where I had been interning. That’s right; somehow I got a full time job right out of college! It’s very exciting but has also been quite the adjustment. I am living in an apartment with one of my roommates from college while our other two roommates are in the apartment diagonal from us. In a lot of ways, I still feel like we are all going back to college in August. I’m struggling to feel like a full-fledged adult and also struggling to be productive in the times where I’m not working. Hence, me not posting on here for the past few weeks. It also means I haven’t been reading as much as I thought I would. However, I did read enough to pick three of my favorites from the past couple of months. I definitely recommend checking these out and as always, let me know what books you’ve been enjoying!

#3 The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Most of the books I decide to read come from recommendations from people or Goodreads, but occasionally I scan the aisles of the library and see what jumps out. That’s how I found this book. I wasn’t expecting much, but I was proven wrong. It follows the main character Victoria as she learns to trust the people around her after having a lot of mistrust in her years being brought up in the foster system. One way that she communicates with people (whether they are aware of it or not) is with flowers. Every flower has a meaning. Some mean love, while others mean loss or hatred. That is how Victoria connects with the world. However, when she starts to find a purpose in life and finds someone who can speak her language, it becomes overwhelming. I loved this book because the emotions felt were never sugarcoated. It gave a glimpse into how going through the foster system can shape a person. It is also inspiring to read about a woman finding her passion and her place in a society that wants to undermine her skills and downplay her accomplishments. You are rooting for her happiness the entire time. A book filled with emotion and feelings that a lot of people can relate to on some level. By the end, I wanted to learn this new language so that I could apply it to my own life. Maybe you will too!

#2 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I had heard about this book and it had been on my list to read for a while, so I’m super happy that it lived up to the hype. The reason this book works so well is because of the impeccable characterization of the main character, Eleanor. She is depicted in such a specific way, that you can picture her vividly in your mind. The way she talks is unique, her look is perfectly described, and her feelings (or lack of feelings) make perfect sense based on all of the details provided. This book also has a bit of a mystery element, as you start to piece together the events in her childhood that made her into the person that she is today. There is also a romance component for people who enjoy reading about people finding their person. You want Eleanor to break out of her guarded shell and live life to the absolute fullest, and it is incredibly satisfying to read a book where you can almost see the walls around her crumble to the ground in your mind. I literally couldn’t put it down and finished it in two days. I had to know what happened to Eleanor and if you read it, I bet you’ll feel the same!

#1 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Everyone was talking about this book, so I decided to give it a shot and now I definitely understand what the hype is all about. Much like the other two books, the story revolves around a strong-minded and strong-willed woman. It follows Kya who lives with her family out in the marsh. She doesn’t have the best family life and eventually, at a very young age, is abandoned by her entire family and must survive on her own. Prejudices from the people in town abound, but she learns to get by with her own tenacity and a few friends. I love books like this that alternate between different timelines. In one timeline you read about Kya growing up, discovering what love is, and becoming a strong woman. In the later timeline, police in the area are looking into the death of a well-known man in town named Chase. These stories eventually intersect and the ending is definitely not what I expected, but it was perfect. The writing itself is beautiful as well and the description of the land shows a huge respect for the beauty found in nature. The best way I can describe how this book made me feel is by comparing it to the feeling I get when I’m on a long drive in the middle of nowhere, just admiring the vast land and enjoying the contrast of the music playing in the car to the silence that exists outside. I highly recommend that everybody read this book if they get a chance!

Bonus: Songs I’m Loving at the Moment

Here are six songs that I have been listening to a lot lately. Definitely check out these songs and check out the other songs from these artists as well!

– Die seems like an intense title, but it isn’t as somber as you may think! I’ve been loving Overstreet’s music for a while now, but this one is my favorite.

– Made It This Far is by Katelyn Tarver who is one of my favorite songwriters and also appeared on the show Big Time Rush which just makes her even better (haha). This song is super relatable. It talks about the fact that you may not know what your doing or your life may be a mess, but we can be proud of the fact that we’ve made it as far as we have. A tough mentality to keep in check, but definitely healthier than being weighed down in all the mess.

– Paper Planes is the ultimate driving song. It’s soft and airy and just makes you feel at ease. The songwriting itself is great too.

– betterman is an upbeat song about the artist wanting to become the best person he can be for himself and in his relationships. I found Virginia to Vegas randomly and really love all of his songs so be sure to check him out.

– Honey in the Summer just feels like summer. Upbeat and another great driving song. I also love the context of the song, because it talks about creating your own happiness instead of focusing on the fact that you’re not in a relationship. Super fun and perfect if you need a song to listen to with the top down flying down the highway.

As always, I’m always looking for new books and music suggestions so send them my way! I hope you have a great day!

Rachel (:

Mental Health Medication Stigma

I didn’t have a blog post idea today and then something happened that really made me mad. My friend was working today and was telling a coworker that her new medication was making her a little nauseous. Another one of her coworkers walked up and decided to insert himself in the conversation. He proceeded to tell my friend several things that made her angry (and subsequently myself and my roommates angry). I wanted to break down what he said and then talk in general about mental health medication stigma.

Things he said:

#1 Anxiety/OCD/etc. are “just personality traits.”

It really annoys me when people try and tell you that what you are dealing with in regard to your mental health is not valid. By saying this, he invalidates the seriousness of mental health problems. Mental health issues are not just personality traits. They are recognized as disorders by psychiatrists and medical professionals worldwide. It is something that is treated by mental health professionals. It isn’t something easily changed or something you can just move on from. A personality trait like getting nervous before a big event is not the same as having a generalized anxiety disorder. A personality trait like cleanliness is not the same thing as having OCD. Having a personality trait like pessimism is not the same thing as having depression. These disorders are not just personality traits and it fully invalidates someone’s struggles when you say that they are.

#2 “I know exactly how you feel.”

Unless you also struggle with a mental health disorder, this is false. This is another way to invalidate someone’s struggles. Even if you also struggle with anxiety and depression, you don’t know exactly how that person feels. It affects everyone differently. This is especially the wrong thing to say before you proceed to give your unwanted and unsubstantiated opinion on mental health in general.

#3 Medicine is just not the way to help. It basically is unnecessary for mental health disorders.

This is what the remainder of my post is going to discuss because my friend’s coworker is not the only person to think that mental health issues are not serious enough to require medication. People often try and tell you that if you exercised more, ate better, meditated, did yoga, or thought more positively you would be fine. That’s not how it works. Don’t you think that we would all do these things if it magically cured us? You can’t just think happy thoughts and get over depression or meditate and get over anxiety. There are a lot of different treatment options from medical professionals because it is an actual disorder. Therapy is an option and one I highly recommend. It has helped me a lot. But medication is also a valid option for people who are really struggling. Sometimes people feel like taking medication means that they have failed in some way or that they’re weak, but that isn’t true. It just means that you need some extra help in dealing with a disorder. When you take an Advil for a headache (physical health), you don’t have guilt, so you shouldn’t put guilt on yourself for taking medication that helps with your mental health.

It is always important to consult with a doctor or a therapist when you are thinking about medication. It’s important to make sure you are a good candidate for taking medicine to help. Once you and a medical professional have decided it is the right next step, it could take some time to figure out what medication works best. There isn’t one magic pill that is going to be an easy fix to your problem. There are side effects to medications and it is important to find the one that works the best in your body. But it is possible to find a medication that helps you a lot.

Saying it is unnecessary is an uneducated point of view. As our friend who is in pharmacy school who heard about this statement said, “there are decades of research and clinical studies that show how medications do what they do.” There are many medications that are proven to help with a variety of mental health disorders. No one should feel ashamed or judged for taking medication. If you feel the need to shame someone who does take medication, I would encourage you to put that energy into researching mental health disorders and research instead. I believe your opinion would change. Medication is not the only answer, but it is a valid option for those who are struggling.

Here are a couple of other articles that talk about mental health medication:

https://theoutline.com/post/5372/when-medication-is-essential-to-mental-health?zd=1&zi=uweeiplr

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-internal-debate/201812/breaking-the-stigma-taking-meds

Rachel (: