guest post by Tatiana Gill
This is my story of 24 years on psychiatric medication, and how I discovered behaviors that help my mental health in sustainable ways.
I’ve taken many anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications throughout my life and I hoped other people on their own “head med” journeys might benefit from my story. My original intention was to create a comic that depicted the medications I took, why I took them, and their benefits and side effects. To this end I combed over old medical records and journal. Instead of a single narrative I found a hotbed of intertwined causes, effects, and forgotten incidents. I wanted to tell my story honestly, so along with medication changes I included mitigating circumstances such as alcoholism, health insurance problems, and major life events.
While researching this comic, I remembered how many people I’d hurt with my past behavior, and was ashamed of myself. As I drew this comic I remembered that past me was doing the best she could, and I’m glad she made it here.
Full comic can be read here.
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