Full disclaimer, I love Prozac. She’s the daughter I don’t have, the sister I always wanted, the
butter to my bread, the cheese to my macaroni. I’d be dead without my fluoxetine - probably literally. My PRN Elavil, whose function in regulating my emotional state is still a bit unknown, but seems to be
positive, is an extra security blanket.
Antidepressants have been a revolutionary turning point in managing mental health, and none of this is to suggest some mass anti-medication movement. When we look at depression, though, we often fail to see the factors causing it for many; financial strain, economic instability, the fact that a person working 50 hours a week on minimum wage still wouldn’t be able to afford a one-bed apartment in Burlington.
A free trial on BetterHelp isn’t going to magically ensure you can feed your kids. You can’t therapy your way out of constant anxiety over paying the bills. You can take medication to help the chemical imbalance, and unpick all the childhood issues that form the way you perceive the world, but until we start radically addressing the reasons people end up in poverty, we’re never going to truly be able to treat the huge rises in depressive and anxiety-based conditions.
Translation: "Record Economic Development: The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Get Poorer!" -Artist Unknown, Photo by Katie
There’s no college counselor in the world who can teach you to mindfulness your way out of a paycheck that barely covers the rent. Looking at glitter settling in a water bottle isn’t going to pay the electric bill.
Numerous studies have shown that suicide rates are highest in areas with higher poverty rates -
shockingly, in the UK, the British Medical Journal found in 2017 that children of people on state welfare benefits are twice as likely to commit suicide than their peers.
We can talk all we like about the dangers of putting young people on medication, but until we take actual, radical steps towards ensuring everybody has food, accommodation, and utilities, how can we expect anything else?
When we create and uphold a system in which the poor are left to fend for themselves - or die trying - why do we act so surprised when people struggle to deal with the unbearable feelings and thoughts that come with a cycle of unending poverty? How do we expect people to be okay when we aren’t meeting their most basic needs - and blaming them for the consequences?