This year has been a challenge for everyone, and I’m sure many are happy to see the back of it.
For me, it has been a year where I haven’t stopped. It has been hard, unrelenting, and full of change.
Over the last few months I have been on a personal mission. Small in nature but big in significance.
On Monday I took the last 35mg of the prescription medication I was using to manage my depression.
This has been a long time coming. I’ve been struggling with my mental health since 2012, and have been on medication for eight years. I’ve quietly been taking steps towards weening off the medication, with advice from my GP, for the last two years.
I hope and pray that I can remain medication free and maintain my mental health better now than I did a decade ago.
To those who have helped and supported me in the past; Thank you. Thank you to those who walked with me for a time, but couldn’t continue on. Thank you to those who tried, but who I scared off or was too much hard work. Thank you to those who offered but who I turned away.
But a special and heart-warming thank you to those who have remained strong in supporting me day in, day out week in, week out; month by month and year on year. I know I’m not easy to deal with and listen to as I continually rant and rage over the same issues again and again. Thank you for standing up for me when I couldn’t stand on my own. Thank you for believing in me when I had lost faith in myself. Thank you for encouraging me as I stumbled along trying to make sense of myself and my life. I can honestly say, I wouldn’t have been here without you. I cannot put into words the appreciation I have for you each.
YOU MATTER. To me.
And thanks to those who will continue with me on my journey as I go medication free and deal with my demons without prescription assistance. May this year be the start of a new journey.
