Jan
12
2012
I Am One Of The Lucky Ones: My Medication Helps
Author: siggyI am one of the lucky ones. My medication helps. The medication, though, is an aide. I take it and then forget about it. For many medication does not help. And doctors keep wanting to put others who are diagnosed mentally ill on them. And the medications just mess up their patients. There is definitely an over emphasis on medication to treat mental illness. For many the side effects are intolerable. Or the medication does not really help.
I remember one doctor telling me he could eliminate all my symptoms with medication but then I would be a zombie. And too many doctors keep trying to do that. Often you can’t function. And the side effects are worse than the symptoms the doctor is treating. If you are a patient and your doctor puts you on a new med or increases the dose of one, you need to question the doctor about everything–the side effects, how long it takes to work, whether or not it works (the time frame), everything. After all, you are putting the drug in your body. You need to question everything. The doctor relies on your feedback.
Tags: ask questions, doctors, give feedback, medication, mentally ill, patient, psychiatry, question the doctor, side effects, symptoms
February 11th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
I’ve been attending a family workshop for those who love people with borderline personality disorder, and there is talk of meds, and how there are personality disorders (like bpd) for which meds don’t seem to help. We work with dialectic behavioral therapy, learning how to communicate better, and how to not let our own feelings escalate situations. Siggy, I thank you many, many times mentally for your openness about mental illness. You are a gift!
February 17th, 2012 at 11:23 am
Sara,
Meds don’t help a lot of people. In fact, mess them up: they can’t think clearly and there are other equally bad side effects. And doctors keep using them on those patients. I am just one of the lucky ones. They actually helped and I was not given a drug cock tail. I still remember in the sixties and seventies being forced to take Thorazine in manic episodes and how awful it made me feel.