“As always, it’s a miracle you’re alive,” Alex remarked.

Josie’s mouth turned up in amusement. “Thank you, I think.”

“As for what I’d recommend… um…” He stopped to stroke his chin. “We could see about requesting an increase to your dose of Tramadone, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“Oh fuck,” they muttered, already reaching for their purse, “I forgot I’m supposed to be taking that.”

Um, good question! It’s complicated! First off, this is based on real experiences I’ve had as an adult, listening to loved ones talk about struggling through being bounced from drug to drug with disastrous side effects. I wanted to write a story that would reflect their experiences as much as my own.

But yeah, in the original story I wrote as a teenager, it was based on my fear of taking antidepressants and becoming ‘boring’, so that wasn’t a very nice view of things. But I also wanted to go on medication more than anyone else I knew, so it was somewhere between horror and fantasy. It’s kind of like Animorphs, where the kids turn into animals and it’s cool but it sucks.

Mental health is insanely (haha, hehe) personal for every single person. But it’s true, at least in America, that drugs can be equally helpful and harmful. I would suggest not projecting too hard on these characters if it’s just going to hurt you in the long run, because their experiences are very individual and not intended as any kind of advice, and they’re also very naive compared to us humans.