One of my all-time favorite analogies is Taylor Tomlinson's "arm floaties".
It's about her realizing that she's bipolar through getting treated for anxiety and depression and having to take medication for it.
"Being bipolar," she says, "is like not knowing how to swim: it might be embarrassing to tell people and it may be hard to take you certain places, but they have arm floaties. And if you just take your arm floaties, you can go wherever the hell you want."
I saw this when it came out, in 2022, and it changed the way I saw my medication. I take arm floaties for Depression, Anxiety, and ADHD. in some ways, I was happy to have the diagnoses and corresponding meds to help treat it, but I also was embarrassed about taking them because there are people in my life who judge me for taking them. But that's another part of this fantastic joke.
"'But Taylor, what if I take my arm floaties and people make fun of me for taking them?' Well, those people don't care if you live or die, so maybe who cares? Maybe fuck those people a little."
She really changed my whole perspective on this and I am forever grateful for that. Love you, Taylor ❤️
Don't forget to take your Arm Floaties
