Table 2 Additional participant quotes as evidence of themes

Effects of medication

… it stops me from going like real sad and like just to those dark places, like real dark … (P5)

I just start to get really, really, upset, and I just want to cry … I’m like damn it, I should have taken my pill today (P9)

… I was taking it and it tasted disgusting in the back of my mouth and I wanted to vomit afterwards, but like that was it really. (P10)

… it’s really hard to differentiate what’s the result of the medication and what’s the result of life circumstances in terms of my mood and anxiety (P11)

… it’s [Fluvoxamine; antidepressant] stagnated a bit, and I’ve gotten to the point where I’m improving in some fields of my life, but there are parts where um things aren’t getting better or things are getting a bit worse (P17)

Finding the right medication

… So I went to a different GP … she said that I was on the lowest dose of Lexapro® [Escitalopram; antidepressant], I was only on 10 mg which wouldn’t help a mild anxiety let alone my issues … (P11)

I’ve done some research into it and Paroxetine [antidepressant] is one of the worst ones to come off. Apparently, people have reported um discontinuation syndrome for 18 months afterwards and I was like, oh, that’s a fun fact [laugh] (P11)

I’ve been on so many of them that it’s like I sometimes have to think like you know just how many of them are actually available to how many I’ve actually been on (P13)

Um, the sheer anxiety of changing over to a new antidepressant, honestly like has - I would have done this much earlier if I didn’t have to think about it, because in the past I’ve had a doctor tell me just to go cold turkey … I honestly could not take the symptoms, so I just gave up and took it that day. Like I think I lasted like 3 h (P14)

The cost of being well

It’s annoying. Um, I wish I didn’t have to cause it’s just like I have to constantly remind myself to take it and if I don’t take it then, you know, I get all unbalanced and, my emotions are all over the place … (P9)

… I’m on sort of four different medications and it gets like you know - I’m like 24, like I feel like I’m 64 … I know people who aren’t taking any medication and it would just be nice not to have to remember all that stuff (P14)

… I believe in free healthcare. I think it should be through taxes and I don’t think that it should be something that people can’t afford. You know health is not something you should profit from (P17)

Routine medication use

… cause mum is really like you know wants me to get better and everything, so every night she’d give me my Zoloft® [sertraline], and I’d have to lift up my tongue and show her that I’d taken it so … I think I was like brought up kind of, you know, you need to take your medication it’s not like a one, two, skip a few type thing (P2)

… it’s also really hard for me take the medicine because I’m so forgetful, but, I also have my dad reminding me like every morning, he’s like oh have you taken your tablet and I’m like no and he’s like get in there (laughs) (P5)

… I was being stubborn, I was like I don’t need them I can just do well on my own but, I can’t (P4)

Being believed and supported

… I kind of just feel like I’m going to be judged because I’m a young person needing to taking it [medication] for my mental health (P3)

… [Mother] had a big go at me because she thought that they just mess with your head even more, and you have to rely on them all the time, and they don’t actually work or something … I stopped using them … (P5)

I don’t know I guess I just thought that after a little while I’d just start to go away and I wouldn’t need it, you know like when you get sick and you get antibiotics and you’re only on it for so long and then your problems go away … (P9)

I have a few people that have told me, no, don’t take it. Don’t go on it, and everything, but I kind of tune it out at the same time, because I feel like it is doing me like really well and stuff being on medication (P15)

I think when you’re so depressed that you feel like you could die any moment, you don’t have the luxury of being able to be like, what if? You know, it’s kind of like, this is my option and I’ve just got to do it (P17)