Psychotropic Drugs - Lifelines? Or Better Left Alone?
Note: the words below were written by a woman diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. She was kind enough to share this dilemma with us, with the hope that it would let others know that they are not alone with this serious decision. And now, I turn the floor over to her....
This article hopes to address the stigma attached to persons with mental illness who stop taking their medications for one or more of many different reasons, and help to shed some light on why so often it happens. When it comes to medication for bipolar disorder, there are many reasons why people quit taking their bipolar medications.I don’t remember what it felt like to not have to wake up in the morning and take six different pills to start my day off. It’s routine now and I accept it for what it is, but I don’t think that I’ll ever really accept it for what it means to my life. People often speculate as to why the mentally ill tend not to take their medication on a regular basis, or often stop taking it altogether at some point, after having done well on it for long periods of time. In my experience, it’s always been because when I really think about the medication that I am taking, the health risks associated with them in the long run, the way I feel at the moment, and just the good ‘ole bipolar person’s adage of “eh, I’ve been feeling pretty good lately, I don’t think I really need the medication anymore.” There’s no doubt, where there is a bipolar person, there’s an optimist, if not for at least a moment, who thinks that they can do just as well, or better, off of their medication. Trying to understand reasoning from a bipolar person’s point of view is very difficult. It’s not to say that all people with bipolar disorder are the same and many live very full productive lives with the help of medication, but in my experience this has just not been the case.This article is really not written to allay blame or make excuses for people with bipolar disorder, however what it is aiming to do is to bring awareness and to explain to others why so many people with bipolar disorder and many other mental illnesses choose (and yes, it is a choice), not to take their medication or to stop taking their medication. First, antipsychotic and psychotropic drugs can have a devastating effect on the body. All body systems including the brain are affected by these drugs. Also, every single one of these medications come with a gigantic load of side effects that are very difficult to suffer through for at least two to three weeks and sometimes up to three months while your body gets used to them. These drugs have not been around long enough to know the long term effects that they will have on the human body. Second, bipolar disorder is not an exact science in any way, shape or form. No blood test will tell a doctor what medication is going to work for what individual. It’s simply trial and error (a lot of trial and error). A cocktail of medications usually works best for the patient, however finding that cocktail that works best for you can take a very long time, and even when found, there is no guarantee how long this particular cocktail will keep working for that individual, therein spiraling that person into a new search for the correct medication that will either bring them down from a manic episode or help them recover from a very deep depression. Third, there are no answers for bipolar disorder or even mental illness at this point in time. Have we become more advanced in the way we treat these disorders? Yes, of course! However, much more investigation and awareness must be brought to the table in order to truly understand and help the mentally ill person. While the brunt of the responsibility does lie with the mentally unstable person to be vigilant in taking their medications and not become complacent with their disorder, the doctors, pharmaceutical companies, health insurers, researchers and the general public need to become aware that mental illness is every bit as disabling as any physical illness and just as fatal as many of these illnesses can be. Statistics show that bipolar disorder, when left untreated, has an approximate 15% risk of death by suicide. It is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 - 24 years.In summary, there is a great deal more to be done in the treatment of bipolar disorder and mental illness, and it needs to be done promptly. Stigma attached to mental illness goes very far in that it is still as misunderstood and ridiculed as it was years ago. People do not understand that it is an organic disease just as a physical ailment is and that the disorder, while it can be treated, can never be cured. With the correct medication management there is hope for persons suffering from mental illness but there will always be stigma attached to the disorders of the mind, and one day I hope that others will be more accepting and understanding of this, as well as many other issues that people with these disorders face on a daily basis.
StigmaHurts is part of the Mental Health Awareness Committee of Ocean County, NJ All comments and questions should be directed to mail@stigmahurts.com