Hi @abigail-dantes

Thank you for your outstanding post. Since joining Steemit I have been looking for quality information that I can use to increase my own knowledge of various subjects. I have followed both you and SteemSTEM. Mental health is an area that is near and dear to my own heart.

I suffer from an anxiety disorder and associated depression, and I also have a niece that suffers from anxiety. I think your post raises some interesting questions about resilience and the use of medication amongst other things.

In the case of my niece (aged nine) the resilience comments are very pertinent. She was having significant difficulties at school and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder about two years ago. What was most disappointing about this sequence of events was that upon presentation to a doctor, she was immediately prescribed antidepressants. I was somewhat shocked by this, as at this stage in her treatment she had not seen either a psychologist or a psychiatrist. My own experience is that medication should only be used in conjunction with regular therapy. On its own it is really just a Band-Aid solution that provides limited long-term benefits. Potentially this is oversimplifying some situations where medication is the only solution, however I think in her case some more formal assessment and specialist advice would have been warranted. Your comments on resilience rang a bell with me here. It makes me wonder how a child is to develop resilient behaviours when at the first sign of difficulty she is medicated. To put a silver lining on the situation, prior to this event occurring I had not disclosed my mental health issues to my immediate family. As a result of this situation I discussed my own background with my brother, and was able to provide some feedback and opinions. As of as a result of this he was able to take a more proactive role in his daughter’s treatment, which I think in the longer term has been beneficial.

The above notwithstanding, I feel that medication can play a very important role in treating some of these disorders. I know that in my case it has been a game changer and has significantly improved my quality of life. I think that the tendency to over prescribe medication that is identified in some of the comments to your article is a real problem. I think not only does the over prescription present a problem in its own right, but also leads to misinformation being spread in the broader community. Many people have a fear of psychoactive medication and this can interfere with them receiving quality care. The way it was described to me by my doctor was that the medication itself was not a solution to my problems, but was simply a tool to be used to allow me to manage my symptoms better. My anxiety manifested as frustration and anger, and my coping strategies were inappropriate. Going onto a medication enabled me to better manage my behaviour and in conjunction with a psychologist, work to develop more appropriate coping strategies when feeling stressed, frustrated or anxious. The medication was positioned as allowing me some breathing space to reassess my existing behaviours and to modify those without fear of being overwhelmed by pre-existing patterns of negative emotions. I haven’t fully conquered the beast, but medication has certainly played a key role in allowing me to maintain a healthy life.

Thank you again for your outstanding post. In addition to the thoughts that you prompted above, you have also motivated me to consider blogging on STEM related topics. I think I will start with ways of engaging young girls in STEM related to play. I have a wife who is an engineer and two young daughters, so this is pretty much mandatory in my house :-). My wife and I have put some significant thought into how to engage the girls in this fashion, and I may use this forum as an opportunity to provide some insights. Hopefully the SteemSTEM community find them useful.