Almost one in five American women aged in the early to mid-forties are on antidepressants. The older the focus group, the higher that statistic goes. We are prescribed antidepressants nearly twice as often as men. I have been prescribed antidepressants off and on consistently since I was sixteen years old.
This piece confronts the intersection of mental health, gender, and control. Women are often prescribed medication not just to manage mental illness, but often to manage their behavior. This is meant to soften us, calm us, and to make us more compliant.
“Take the pills like a good girl” is not medical advice, but instead is a command. It is a demand for silence, neatness, and emotional regulation under the weight of a sexist system.
The scattered capsules and drug warnings are not just visual clutter, they are the fine print. They outline the cost to our bodies and our voices. They speak about a culture that medicates discomfort while ignoring the root cause. These medications are an easy and quick method for doctors to dismiss women and their complaints, as they have been dismissed historically. Women who complain or reach for help are often gaslit, turned away, or may not be believed about the severity of their symptoms.
Adding to the conversation, women’s bodies go through numerous changes throughout their lifetime (menstruation, pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause), and it is easy to see that underlying issues are often at play. However, these symptoms often go overlooked or misdiagnosed for many women. This piece speaks to the current inequity of healthcare in our country, and the attempt to silence complaints from women who suffer by altering brain chemistry that may not be in need of a pill.
