Medication or Meditation?

Photo by Danilo Alvesd on Unsplash

At 5:36 this morning, I woke up to the sound of the garbage truck clanging. It was particularly loud because, mercifully, it rained last night and so I had every window in the house open so I could smell the wet grass and listen to the crickets chirp.

I rather like to be woken up by the garbage truck. It means that you have two more hours to sleep before the alarm goes off.

But this morning, I did something miraculous: I threw off the covers and put my feet on the floor.

Not impressed? Well, what if I told you that I’d spent every day the last month or so struggling to get out of bed by 9:30? Or that I’d spent two entire weekends completely unable to get out of bed at all?

Yup, I’m battling a major depressive episode. The very next thing I did after my feet hit the floor was pop a pill in my mouth. I’m back on medication, something I used to be vehemently opposed to.

I used to think that the way to treat my depression was to live more mindfully. To change my life such that I no longer needed medication. Now, obviously, my opinion has changed.

Here’s how I arrived at that decision.

Medication without Meditation

I was on the very same medication about five years ago. I started taking it at the, let’s say…