The other week, as I was studying in the common area of my dorm, I listened to a student throw a temper tantrum and blame it on the fact that she ran out of her meds yesterday and thus was unable to cope with her anxiety.

There’s a lot wrong with that situation. First off, it seems that most of society today is obsessed with identifying themselves with psychological issues and the medications they take. Second, according to my doctor, it takes an average of two weeks for anti-depressants or anxiety medications to leave your system, thus allowing your body to function as if it was still on the medication.

We are not our deficits or our drugs; we are ourselves. There is no need to stop your life just because you’re diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADD or ADHD. Most of the "cure" that people are seeking through their medication can be so simply, and much more cheaply, achieved through self-talk.

The girl whose medication ran out wasn’t having her tantrum because she was out of medication; she was having a tantrum because she convinced herself that she needs medication to manage. You can’t manage if you make your medication and your deficit your crutch.

While medication is very beneficial, it is not your coping skills in pill form. Coping skills are in your head; it’s you telling yourself that you can make it through the day and that you are not dependent on medication. Medication is there to take care of the chemical problems, the physical imbalances that we can’t just fix with the flick of a neuron.

Your disorder is not an excuse to fall apart completely. While I recognize that the ability to function on a level without mental disruption is pretty much impossible, I don’t think that it’s acceptable to lean on the excuse that just because you’re depressed, ADD, etc. that it’s okay to abandon control of yourself. Is it really necessary to halt everything just because you happen to have depression or anxiety?

I would rather get to know you for who you are, not what you have. While I realize that these problems aren’t something to just shove under the rug and forget about, it shouldn’t alter who we are. I don’t go introducing myself like this: "Hi, I’m Laura. I have…" It’s not necessary for you to know me as a disorder.