The Trials of Medication Roulette
I have recently re-entered the process I irreverently refer to as “medication roulette,” where the balance between relieving symptoms and managing side effects seems to have more to do with luck and fate than anything concrete. Those with chronic conditions will be intimately familiar with the dance of finding the combination of medication, doses, and timing that will suitably treat an ailment. My personal experience is centered in managing my own mental illness, but I have commiserated with so many people who have a variety of illnesses about this process. Medication is not the “easy way out,” and the assumption that someone who requires medication is somehow less strong or less disciplined than anyone else is false and harmful. While medication isn’t necessary or suitable for everyone, I explore how difficult it can be to find and maintain a stable balance in the whirlwind of diagnosis, side effects, symptoms, and stigma -- and why anyone would choose to endure