During his time in prison, Mickey suffers a mental breakdown and is eventually prescribed antidepressants, to which he becomes addicted. Although Mrs. Johnstone and Linda try desperately to curb his addiction, he continues to take his pills, symbolizing how far he has fallen and how much he has lost due to his unemployment and prison time. After nearly overcoming his addiction for Linda’s sake, Mickey grows incensed and insane when he finds out that his wife and Edward have been having an affair. On a broader level within the play, antidepressants also symbolize the “quick fix” that psychiatrists believed such drugs to be in the early 80s. Rather than actually dealing with other underlying issues, many patients like Mickey were immediately prescribed powerful medications, which put them in a state of foggy numbness rather than actual helping their mental states. (It’s important to remember, however, that although Russell’s portrayal of antidepressants is wholly negative, they are necessary and life-saving medication for many people. In the case of the play, antidepressants are less a condemnation of these drugs themselves, and more a representation the struggles of addiction, and the tendency to turn to substances when faced with overwhelming difficulties.)
Mickey’s Antidepressants Symbol Timeline in Blood Brothers
