The sense of community that some users find on TikTok has led to very frank discussions about mental health. Many advocates have used the platform to encourage people struggling with mental health or to offer information as mental health professionals.
Others have used TikTok as a way to start conversations about the impacts of medications for mental health issues, both good and bad.
In a video that has since garnered more than 1.6 million views, a user shared her experience taking Wellbutrin, an antidepressant. Musician June Henry (@junehenryawesome) says taking the medication made her reevaluate her life and make big changes, like dying her hair, removing a facial piercing, buying a bed frame and even leaving a polyculus, a polyamorous group of three or further. people.
“I was always afraid of taking medication because I thought it would take away from who I am, but I started taking medication about a month ago, and two or three weeks later, I woke up one day and looked around, and I was like, why Damn am I polyamorous? she says in the video.
Henry then explains the changes the medication has caused in him.
“I started wondering, why am I polyamorous? And then I dyed my hair brown, removed my bridge piercing, broke up with the cule and have never been happier,” she says. “I feel so fucking stable and so normal.”
He then jokes about Big Pharma’s intentions to break up the policules.
“So maybe they did,” he says. “Perhaps the only objective of big pharma is to break the ‘cule’. They did it. Whatever, now I have a bed frame. I’m no longer a pink-haired polyamorous bitch who sleeps on a mattress on the floor. “I’m stable and I have a damn bed frame.”
The Daily Dot contacted Henry via TikTok direct message.
Some viewers shared how they had seen their daily lives improve after taking Wellbutrin and other medications to manage the symptoms of their mental health issues.
“I take Wellbutrin and now I go to the gym regularly and I can pick up my things and is that right?” wrote one commenter.
“Three weeks after starting Wellbutrin, I looked around the room I moved into three years ago that was still full of unpacked boxes, and I tidied it up,” said another.
“I’m a lexapro girl and I’m telling you it’s like swimming in the deep end and suddenly you stand in shallow water and wonder why I was drowning,” another user aptly said.
@junehenryawesome #wellbutrin #thankyouwellbutrin #normalgirl #regular #monogomous ♬ original sound – june henry
Others shared that they had had different experiences with medication that were not always positive.
“Wellbutrin made me not recognize my own reflection in the mirror, but I’m glad it’s working for everyone,” said one commenter.
“Unfortunately, Wellbutrin did the exact opposite for me, but I love this for you!!” another shared.
“Wellbutrin got me almost 20 miles in 2 weeks,” another user wrote.
*First published: November 30, 2023, 11:00 am CST
Brooke Sjoberg
Brooke Sjoberg is a freelance writer for the Daily Dot. She graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020.
