In my discussions over the years with clients there is generally a lot of anger and blame associated when the topic of medication comes up. I can understand the frustration and anger surrounding mental health medication. At first, lets face it…it sucks - Big time! Over the years I learnt to accept that I actually do need to take lithium otherwise I will go off the rails. It took three devastating episodes to accept this. This is true for me, and me only. Medication affects everyone differently. I remember once being in a Bipolar support group and as soon as the topic of medication came up, everyone began debating and arguing and the facilitator soon lost control of the group. In one group I said that lithium had worked really well for me with blood test monitoring every 3 months. It was then that another peer with bipolar spoke up about how lithium gave him terrible acne all over his back, and then proceeded to show me. It was a horrible sight. And a sober reminder of the side effects that can come with medication that attempts to stabilise the mind. At the time, I went home questioning the effectiveness of my own experience with lithium. But continue to take it to this day.
If you are taking medication, whether it be anti-depressants, mood stabilisers or anti psychotics, please research your drugs. I saw a play years ago which starred a friend of mine from acting school. It was about the life of John Cade, the inventor of lithium. Lithium was invented by trialling the drug on war veterans showing signs of mood dysfunction. It was a fascinating play, which made me think about the original good intentions of the drug.
A few important points are worth remembering about medication:
• What works for me, may not work for you, and vice versa.
• Tussle, assert, ask questions. Let mental health clinicians know that this is a major component of your life, which needs careful consideration.
• Understand most mental health clinicians have good intentions. They certainly don’t go into this industry for the money (some psychiatrists may be an exception here). Overall, I have met some very capable psychiatrists.
• Understand your rights. If you are too sedated by meds, find someone who can speak on your behalf, or write down your questions before you meet with mental health clinicians.
• Mental health clinicians will need to be reminded from time to time that it is ‘your mind’ these drugs are affecting. Fine tuning. Fine tuning. Fine tuning…until you are satisfied with the outcome.
I want to reiterate this point. I will never tell a client or peer to change medications or their dosage because they are the expert on their own health. I will say, that it was only working very closely with Psychiatrists and GPs over the years that I have found a balance that works for me. Psychiatrists are not the enemy. As peers we must find a compromise with psychiatrists. When I was a carpentry apprentice I witnessed immense frustrations between the architect and the builder. The builder saw the practicality of the process and the architect saw the design and the theoretical nature of the process. However, the best wrestling and compromises produced the most amazing builds. As peers we are called to work with, educate and be assertive with the resources we have. Not fight and blame those human resources.
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