To the Professor Who Told Me I Didn’t Need Medication

Dear professor,

I missed your class last Tuesday because I was in the Emergency Department for a bipolar disorder-related incident. You pulled me out of your class upon my return to talk to me because I appeared “depressed.” I told you about my condition, but I did not anticipate your reaction.

• What is Bipolar disorder?

You started talking about my metal illness as if it wasn’t “psychiatric.” You called all mental illness and psychiatric drugs bullshit. You told me that medications are harmful and unnecessary. You even sent me an email with the link to a “friend of yours” who is a therapist; suggesting that I try therapy instead of a medical approach.

Let me tell you this: you do not know my condition.

You do not know how much I already struggle with medication adherence. You do not know how much I hate having to rely on a medication just to feel stable, have an appetite, focus and be more “myself.” You do not know that I probably wouldn’t have been in the hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday if I hadn’t stopped my medication a month ago. You do not know that I am slowly but surely becoming more and more manic, more out of control.

So, don’t ever tell me that I don’t need medicine.

Sincerely,

A severely mentally ill bipolar student

Thinkstock photo via nazileom