Labels hurt. We are surrounded by them and we even use them ourselves sometimes without thinking about it. They can be self-defeating thoughts.

For example, when I stepped on the scale the other day and saw that I gained weight after a 45-day bout with a depressive episode…My first thought was I was a “fat, disgusting pig” and that “I was worthless for even thinking I could lose any wight.”
Dangers Of Labeling: You’re STEW-PID
I’m not worthless! At least not all the time, anyway. Throughout my childhood my father called me many different names…the one that hurt the most was being called stupid when he compared me to other children. “What’s wrong with you, are you stupid or something?” or, “You have to be the dumbest S.O.B.”  My favorite was when he would call me names in front of my friends – good times, good family memories!

The end result was I believed him. All I ever wanted was his approval, his commendation, his love… all I ever got was his abuse, his belt and his rage.

Pill: [skull and bones]

Title: Psych Meds ‘a Necessary Evil’.

Psych Meds: ‘a necessary evil’ or a magic pill?

The answer to this question comes down to the individual. My recovery started with a slue of medications being thrown at me. The first year of “getting professional help” felt more like I was a pincushion or guinea pig.

Over the years, I like most, have gotten to a point where I wanted to give up on meds. For me, it was not due to the side-effects, it was the cost.  I know what I’m like without medication.  I know how my reality gets twisted to a point where my family suffers.  After a period of being off meds for 2 years (my wife calls that time “two nightmare years on earth.”) we agreed that I need to stay compliant. Well, it was more like “if you don’t take your meds, I’m fleeing.” 

Medic Pill: Bravo one, this is tango four, I’ve located Prozac 24… Still not sign of the Wellbutrin XL!

Title: The Hard Truth About Taking Medications

The Hard Truth About Taking Medications

This cartoon is more of an illustration made up of 3 different cartoon segments.  I’ve had the idea for over a year.  I  just did not have the skill set to bring it all together in a way that would convey my vision of what happens to meds when we take them.

Yes, the hard truth about taking medications is that the capsules are going to one of the harshest environments known to man…the human xtomach!  I started thinking about what happens to our meds once we swallow them.  So after a year, this is the cartoon that popped out.

I could go on and on about the Prozac and Wellbutrin and all the ups and downs about these meds, but, then you would miss the joke.