Confession #2: I've battled anxiety ...and I took all the meds

Today's post was inspired by one of the first things I read this morning as I scrolled down my Facebook feed. A poignant status from a friend came attached to a link to an article from The Huffington Post titled, What I Mean When I Say ‘I Have Anxiety’. I was immediately drawn the title and clicked. 

Anytime I see a post on anxiety I always wonder if it will be an accurate portrayal of the hell that it really is. I wonder what voice and point of view it will be written in. Will it be the view of the person living with a loved one with acute anxiety or will it focus on children or teens battling this crippling affliction? One thing is for certain, I will ALWAYS click.

I click because my heart still feels the pain that anxiety brings. I click in hopes to share with someone who might need that sense of encouragement and hope. I click because I don't want anyone to suffer from anxiety, or anything that impacts their emotional, spiritual, or mental health. I click because it's the demon I faced for so long (starting in my childhood all through my teens and most of my adult life). 

A meme because sometimes laughing about it is the best medicine.

Maybe I'll share my story of overcoming depression and anxiety in this space one day. It's a story I love to share because I know first hand the suffering that comes with living through anxiety but I also know what the sweet taste of freedom is like. Today though, it's not about that. This confession is more about one of things that bothers me that comes along with anxiety and all mental health issues and became very apparent today as I read this article and the comments that accompanied it---the stigma.

Though we've made huge strides in fighting the stigma surrounding mental illness, there's one area where people, yes even Christians, are very vocal about judging and ostracizing people about. It's cloaked in shame and secrecy for many. It's the fact about using medication as part of the treatment and road to recovery. 

I won't use this space to debate the use and efficacy of meds. The only purpose of this post is to do my little bit of helping de-stigmatize the topic. How do you start tearing down the walls of stigma on any topic? You remove the shame, by just opening up and talking about it. When you become vocal, and say "Guess what? Me too." you slowly start the dialogue, that brings forth, the healing that brings on the freedom. And freedom, oh freedom tastes so sweet. The more that people feel freedom from the things that shackled them in shame, the more they will share and the less stigma will exist. This is true for any topic.

So today I share, I battled anxiety...and I took all the meds.

Much Love,

Cristina

**This is part of the 31 day series: Confessions of a Faithonista**