Is There Purpose In Happy Pills?

Big Pharma, one of America’s top industries - praised, shamed, hated, loved, and everything in between. The pharmaceutical industry has harmed more than it has helped, but millions still rely on some type of little pill daily — are they helping us?

Mental health is a topic that went from taboo to mainstream in the last decade or so. From apps like Better Help, to Olympic superstar Simone Biles sitting out the Tokyo Olympics for a mental health break there have been tremendous strides in bringing awareness to this very real subject. It is not just athletes, most of the general public suffers from an unbalanced mental state at some point in their lives whether minor or major, diagnosed or undiagnosed.
The thing about the pharmaceutical industry is that it feels like there are never-ending options for any diagnosis you may have. Anxiety, depression, bipolar, ADHD, OCD, you name it. Unfortunately, there are also never-ending side effects that come along with those medications. Those so-called “happy pills” sometimes make you even less happy, they come along with potential weight gain, insomnia, headaches, libido loss, feelings of sickness, acne, and I could go on.

I began family and individual therapy at the age of 12. It wasn’t my decision, my mother decided at the time (going through a divorce with my father) that we could all benefit, I disagreed and was reluctant to partake fully. From a young age, I was rebellious, if I didn’t feel like talking I wasn’t and you would get the bare minimum - a peek inside my mind and nothing more. I wish I could turn back time to tell the younger me I should just let it out, especially in the safest of spaces.
By 15 I was diagnosed with depression and being pushed onto medication. A year later, I was taken out of school to spend weeks at an inpatient mental hospital - *Trigger Warning* - I was suicidal. So much had changed so quickly that I shut down and became someone unrecognizable, my mother had exhausted all options and this was the last stop. There I started on lithium and I decided I would never be back or feel that low again.
I was out of it there and to be honest, the years following feel like a blurry haze, I don’t remember much. I gained a lot of weight, my face and shoulders broke out like crazy, and I never truly felt like myself. Something about that period felt so robotic like a part of me was shut down, and looking back now, that most definitely was the case.

I am five years post relying on any treatment or medication. After I turned 22 I felt in a safe space, and I was, and decided to consult my NP (nurse practitioner) to help wean me off. Since then, I’ve completely rediscovered and found who I am and developed techniques to help cope with anything that will take me out of balance.
I have learned that in this life you will be thrown off balance, your train will come off the tracks at some point in time — it’s inevitable and just a part of life. Imbalances happen, but they can be balanced and usually do not need an artificial supplement pumped through your system to convince you otherwise. Nature itself goes through its seasons, some sunny, warm, and bright, and others dark, cold, and harsh.

Almost 70% of all adults in the United States are on some type of pharmaceutical, with around 20% of that being prescriptions specifically for mental health-related issues. There have been several studies related to the placebo effect and anti-depressants specifically.
The placebo effect, in layman’s terms, is being prescribed and actively taking a pill from a bottle daily with the expectation it will do what it needs to do — in this case, decrease symptoms of depression. Now you are dependent on said pill for all the days you decide you need it and are better off with it. Of course, this is the case for so many of us, and is a sad reality that’s what it’s become.

Our minds are very powerful, if we tell ourselves something enough, it will come true. Depression itself is only a manifestation of overwhelming stress, burden, grief, sadness, etc. We don’t give our thoughts enough credit for how much they affect our lives. Now bring in a doctor or other professional who has knowledge and experience and prescribes you a medication promised to relieve you of your symptoms. Without any knowledge or research of your own, you automatically subscribe to that notion and take that pill every day, not surprised when you start feeling those symptoms relieved. Now why would you ever stop taking something that relieved you of said symptoms, regardless of any side effects that arise? You are happier, feel lighter, or have a significant increase in your energy, you can’t go back to the sluggish ways before.

There are so many factors at play in the mental health epidemic here in our country, but in my humble opinion, the real epidemic is in what is not being said - the natural alternatives.
Sunlight, diet changes, exercise, or any type of movement daily. Dancing, writing, singing, being playful, smiling, spending time with loved ones (and that’s only to name a few) — these are natural endorphins, stronger than any dosage of the best drugs you could find.
We are a flawed species, and it is not expected that we are happy all the time. Just like mother nature has her ebbs and flows. Just as it is not expected that you pop a pill for any ailment in your life. Just like a cut heals in time, so does all the rest of us. With proper care and dedication to the roots of the issues, we are magnificent at repairing the damages within us.