Annie Murphy: I didnt want to need antidepressants but I recommend them
In July, Annie Murphy discussed how she was approaching her mental health. She knew there was a problem when seemingly everything was going the right way in her life, and she could not find happiness. She was unable to emerge from her depression and realized she needed help. Annie said that medication and therapy saved her life. A lot of people are still wary of antidepressants and many shy away from discussing them. Annie isn’t, though. She told HelloGiggles recently that she, “didn’t want to need antidepressants,” but now that she’s seen the difference they can make, she absolutely recommends them. Us Magazine has more.
Annie Murphy recalled doing some mental “spring cleaning” after her role as Alexis Rose on Schitt’s Creek came to an end in 2020.
After six seasons on the comedy, the Canadian actress, 34, landed the lead role of Allison McRoberts on Kevin Can F**k Himself, which premiered in June. Ahead of filming the dark comedy, Murphy remembered thinking she made a “terrible mistake,” because she wasn’t in the proper headspace to deal with reporting to work.
“When I got the part, I was not doing super well in the mental health department,” the actress told HelloGiggles on Friday, September 24. “I booked the part and they said, ‘You’re gonna be in Boston next week, No. 1 on the call sheet.’ And I genuinely was like, ‘I can’t do this. I’m not in a place where I can show up to work with a smile on my face every day’ — and then the pandemic hit, like, four days later.”
Murphy recalled in a “very selfish way” that she felt grateful to have filming put on hold amid the COVID-19 crisis, because it gave her time to focus on herself and her well-being.
“I didn’t want to need antidepressants,” she admitted, noting she now takes pills and goes to therapy to deal with her anxiety. “But I could not recommend them more. It doesn’t mean you have to be on them forever, but they truly helped me get through a very difficult chunk of my life.”
“I think that if you’re a feeling human, of course you’re anxious and of course you’re sad, [because] it’s a really scary and really wonderful world that we live in — and it’s hard to process that a lot of the time,” Murphy said. “It has been really encouraging for friends to casually say to me, ‘Time to take my anti-anxiety meds,’ because you take pills for everything else.”
I know a couple of people who felt glad like Annie did when the pandemic sent everyone home and kept them there longer than expected. They were struggling and didn’t feel like they could go back out in the world yet so when lockdown orders were extended, they were grateful as well. I hope everyone who needed it got the chance to do some mental “spring cleaning” like Annie did.
Annie did not say that there is a stigma around medication, those were my words. I think we have come a long way in the discussion of medication, but there’s still work to be done. Someone in my life went on antidepressants during the pandemic. I did not know they needed them or the extent of their suffering. Hearing now that they feel better – I can’t put that feeling to words. I echo Annie. I may not have wanted myself or those I love to need medication, but meds help. And I highly recommend them if they will improve someone’s life.
Photo credit: Getty Images, Instagram and Avalon Red
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