As a person that has the challenge of suffering from a mental illness I am caught in a bit of a catch 22. Some people believe that medications are being almost literally forced down our throats by the pharmaceutical industry and truly not all that necessary. On the other hand there are many that strongly advocate the use of medications along with therapy in treating mental illness. There are definitely many examples where someone has gone on medication and their condition has dramatically improved. Also, many others have had the unfortunate occurance where they decided they were doing so well that they didn't need medication any more and ended up much worse. Some of these individuals have ended up incarcerated, institutionalized, or in some cases they have ended up dead. Since I prefer to be alive for a variety of reasons I have consistently stayed on my medication.
If I was a paranoid individual I might believe more strongly in the pharmaceutical conspiracy. Don't get me wrong I am not saying it is not clear right now that there is not a pretty clear over medicating of our society. However, I do believe they do more good than harm. I was in my psychiatrist's office a number of years ago where he proceeded to give me a large amount of samples for a new medication he said I should try. I was there because I was having trouble with my old medication so there was a clear reason for him to try something knew on me. However, as I started to leave the office I noticed a ton of notepads with that product's name on it as well as a very nice lunch brought in by a sales rep. When I opened the door to leave, a stunning woman rolling her products around walked through the door. Drug reps are usually easy to identify because they tend to pull a bag behind them and they look like they just came off the cover of Vogue or G.Q.
Do I know the answer? Heavens no! I know only that there was a time when I didn't take bipolar medication due to a Doctor's belief that I was fine. However, after 3 plus years, adding ADHD meds, and a large amount of stress I was majorly screwed up. What I have found though in the last 6 plus years since then is I need to work through my issues better. I have found strategies to do so and this clearly has helped.
This leads back to the problem of knowing which is the better route to take regarding mental illness. First, it is important to make sure a diagnosis is done impeccably, second. the person needs to take the medication long enough to see if it works right, third, adjustments need to be made to have the medication work best, and lastly the medication level should be followed by a team of doctors including a psychiatrist and therapist.
What if it is felt or decided that medication isn't really necessary? Maybe it is determined that counseling is all that is necessary. This is fine as long as the therapist maintains a close watch on the behavior of the patient. What happens in these cases? The problem I see is that a human is not someone you should experiment on. I go off my medication because a doctor thinks I might be ready then I end up in the mental hospital. The general belief I have heard is that the more often you go into the hospital, the harder it is to come back to your previous mental agility. I don't want to take that risk. Age has already made it difficult for me to think at times, I don't need any more hinderance.
So what is my answer? As the title of my blog indicates I was asking a question and didn't state I know the answer. It is important to look at all the data and not being driven just by one's personal experience. What will help is not making a rush to medicate. It is important to find other ways of helping out individuals who a re suffering. Let's see if there are issues in how stress is being handled that can be altered so that problems don't get to the point of long term hospitalization. Further research into genetics and their effect on mental health will be highly beneficial. I am not naive enough to think that we will have an answer in my lifetime let alone one that all will agree on. However, we have had made a lot of progress in mental health research over the last 40 years and the next 40 should be even more successful.
Hi Raphe. This is a great start. Thank you for sharing and opening the dialogue. In diabetes education we say "treat to normal blood sugars". That might involve diet, exercise, stress reduction and when necessary, medication, despite the great efforts the client is making with lifestyle. It makes the goal be about the blood sugar and not getting or staying off meds. That might be a set up that the client cannot achieve. So, perhaps in mental illness, treating to functional and even better, is the goal...and that may include many different treatments in conjunction together....and yes, medications too, should they be necessary.
ReplyDeleteBest, Jenifer
Raphe Very much to the point but these doctors use the meds and see witch ones get better repor by the way their acking after they use them . im sure its not just lunch or the way the rep looks that gets the useage. My brother has not found anything to keep him safely on the groung yet and won't talk to me cause he think mom loves me more than him. i hate that and would love to have my brother back in my life .
ReplyDeleteThere are so many type of mental illness that it is hard to make general statements about medication use. Mental illness in general is harder to deal with than physical ailments. Physical problems are more visible. Sometimes it is difficult to even determine when someone qualifies as mentally ill.
ReplyDeleteJenifer..thanks for your input from your experience with diabetes education. Maintaining blood sugars is not just part of diabetes, but also important for those with mental illness to help them stay more stable..
ReplyDeleteTed...so sorry to hear about your brother. I agree with you that doctors use medications to determine what works. Some people refer to it as a cocktail which is the combination of meds that works best for the patient. The 15 minute medication management sessions that many insurances follow make it difficult to get a true sense of a person's state of mind when dealing with illnesses dealing with a brain changing throughout the day.
Paul ..It truly is a challenge to identify who is mentally ill as opposed to someone with a broken bone. However, this is where stigma lessening and understanding need to happen. Many diseases such as diabetes can't be seen, but if somebody says they have the disease most people would accept that and not ask for a blood sugar test.