Medication Isn’t Bruno, We Do Talk About It
By Lindsay Bissett
“Sometimes the family weirdos get a bad rap.”
-Mirabel, Encanto
By now, if you have little kids like me, I bet you’ve had the song We Don't Talk About Bruno in your head more than once. The entire soundtrack to Encanto is my new favorite actually, Lin Manuel Miranda is incredible, and the entire movie is magical.
As my family’s resident weirdo this movie resonated on many levels. I am definitely a Louisa, an eldest daughter perfectionist, but many times I’ve felt like the gift-less Mirabel or the exiled Bruno. About a year and a half ago I found there was a Bruno in my life, medication.
Anxiety is something I’ve battled for many years; upon reflection it’s likely I have battled it my whole life. I’ve always worked incredibly hard to learn about anxiety, how it impacts my life and how to thrive while living with mental illness. Although I have said I do not think anxiety is my super-power, I have certainly learned how to live with it. Up until this time though, I had been able to avoid medication. I didn’t recognize medication was my Bruno until my Doctor suggested I start taking it.
There are people I greatly admire who take medication for their mental illnesses and I have never judged that. But me? Stigma spiral.
After much reflection I came to terms with the fact that I needed to give medication a try; I had done everything else. After a few months, and combined with other changes in my life, I really started feeling better. Then comes the talking about Bruno. I’m no Lin Manuel, I didn’t write a song about it, but I started telling friends and family about my journey with medication, even the ones I thought might want to exile me for it. Talking about Bruno was freeing, as well as terrifying and a muscle I had to build, but ultimately freeing. Also, in taking medication I felt more connected with the mental health community I had built around me for years.
So now what? I had gone from not talking about Bruno to welcoming him into my life.
Fast forward a year later I was in a much better place and continued having regular check-ins with my doctor. One day she suggested I ease off the medication.
Wait what?
My curse, my stigma spiral, my Bruno, was now part of my life. I was terrified that coming off the medication would send me back to that difficult time. I thought the beautiful mental health community I was part of wouldn’t be for me anymore. Maybe that was my new Bruno, a potential division in this beloved community; I was worried my long mental health journey would suddenly be invalidated. I refused my doctor.
Three months later my doctor suggested again, with gentle firmness, that I come off medication. This time I did, and I was ok (insert big exhale). That was about six months ago, and what I want to share today is that I won’t let medication be my Bruno again. My family never exiled me for going on medication, and my mental health community never exiled me for going off.
Medication didn’t change me, or make me a zombie, or any of those fears, it just helped me get back to feeling like myself again. For Bruno I am so thankful. I know this is an important tool in the mental health toolkit, and nothing to be ashamed of.
I have been very fortunate. Going on or off medication can be extremely challenging, and I do not discount my blessings with this journey.
What medication can do:
Help manage many symptoms
Both mental and physical
What medication cannot do:
Remove outside sources of stress
Other mental health tools include:
Therapy
Group and/or individual
In-patient or outpatient
Selfcare
Exercise
Reading
Spending time with friends/loves ones
Boundary setting
Making changes in your life
If you are considering medication please discuss with your doctor, don’t let it be your Bruno and please do not make changes to your medication without a doctor’s support.
Resources:
To learn more about medications as a tool to manage mental illness visit, Medications for Mental Illness - CMHA National.
If you do not have a family doctor, consider using TELUS Health - Digital health solutions and technology in Canada
About Lindsay Bissett:
By day Lindsay is a Wellness and Disability Management Consultant, with a flair for social media and mental health advocacy. By night she is a mother of two, green smoothie aficionado, podcast listener, and active glamper.
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