It's no secret that millions of people in the world suffer from some kind of mental illness. For a good number of us, medications such as anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics are what help us to be fully functional members of society.

With that being said, there is still so much stigma around taking medications to help balance the chemicals inside of the brain. It's 2019 — that shit isn't going to fly anymore. I happen to take more than one medication to deal with my mental illnesses, and I refuse to apologize if someone thinks, "medication is not the answer."

Newsflash: Essential oils or yoga won't help the chemical imbalance in my brain. That requires medication.

Thinking happy thoughts doesn't fix my low points, and going for a walk doesn't fix my excessively high points, either. Medications help to create stability so that I can properly function. It would be super great if neuro-typical people would stop commenting on "what I need to do" to magically make my mental illnesses disappear — it doesn't work like that.

I don't get to wake up one morning and decide that I don't want to deal with these issues anymore, that's not a choice that anyone with any kind of mental illness has. But, I do get to make the choice to take my mood stabilizer and try to have the best day that I possibly can.

Anyone that has anything to say about my choice to keep myself mentally healthy can kindly shove it. There should not be a stigma around people taking medication(s) to let them live healthy, stable, and ultimately happy lives. We're all human and we're all just doing the best we can with the life that we've been given, so don't be a jerk.