I had a shirt made that says, “The Meds Are Working.” It makes me laugh, and it’s true.
When the package came with the shirt, I ripped it open and put the tee on. It fit perfectly. I went upstairs, and as I was walking into our dining room my thirteen-year-old said, “The meds are working?”
Oh yeah, I didn’t tell my children I took anti-anxiety medication.
So I told my daughter, “I take medication for anxiety, and it’s been working. And I made this shirt so that others wouldn’t feel shame if they need to take something to help their brain.”
“I didn’t know you took medication,” she responded.
We walked to my bedroom, and she sat on my bed, and I told the story of why I started taking it. I told her how I fell apart after I put them in public school last year — that prompted by the Holy Spirit. I told her how I cried for days and felt so dark and so sad, and it wasn’t because the kids were in school. It was because the kids being with me all day covered up what had been there for years.
I told her how depression and anxiety were sisters, so it was the depression that led me to a doctor, but the diagnosis was anxiety that led to depression.
She told me her friend was on anti-anxiety medication, and we talked about how meds don’t solve everything, how it’s important to try to find if there is a source for our depression and anxiety and get help, counseling, and seek God on what’s happening. She asked me what my root was, and I said, “Honey, honestly, I think mostly it’s that depression and anxiety are in my family. Your grandma had it, and you might or might not have it, but I do, and I can’t explain it.’
She said, “I don’t think I have it; I’m too positive.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with being positive or not. I am a very positive, optimistic person. I’m happy. Even when I’m sad, there’s this deep down joy. I know God is with me, even in the dark. But all the truth and optimism and therapy can’t always fix a fallen brain, and that’s okay.”
She nodded, and I hope she never has to deal with this darkness, but if she does, she’ll know she can come to me.
_____
I’ve heard it said that you can’t have anxiety and be grateful, and that baffles me because I have anxiety and I’m grateful. I’m so grateful for my life and my family and my home and my God.
And I’m thankful for my medication because since taking it, I have been better. I don’t wake up in the middle of the night with anxiety crawling up my shoulders and my mind spinning.
So yes, the meds are working, and I’m telling you this not to promote pharmaceuticals but to get rid of the stigma that taking meds means you can’t be grateful or that you don’t trust the Lord or whatever other lies you’ve heard.
If it were true that you couldn’t have brokenness and be faithful and grateful, we’d all be sunk, because the human condition is one of brokenness. The good news is that it’s also one of redemption.
My hope for you today is that you would believe the truth that your broken places, your broken heart, your broken dreams, your broken childhood, can all be redeemed and that God can take what’s broken and put it together, making it new.
May God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, now put you together.
Inspired by Hebrews 13:16-21
The human condition is one of brokenness. The good news is that it's also one of redemption. -@sarahmae: Click To Tweet Leave a Comment