Mindful about Medication: A Therapist’s Take
I know that my readers are used to conversations about meditation, but for this post, I’m pivoting to a conversation about medication. As a therapist, I often ponder the varied stances on pharmaceuticals, and I'm eager to share my perspective. I should be clear that Therapists are not qualified to prescribe pharmaceuticals of any kind. Additionally, I acknowledge that this topic can be controversial, and I will begin my thoughts by stating that psychiatric drugs have life saving and life changing potential without question, and if you or someone you know is facing a mental health crisis, don't hesitate to reach out to a psychiatrist or a crisis center promptly. However, I am speaking to those who feel unsure of how to start or what to expect. Here are a few things to consider when contemplating psychiatric medication.
If you find your symptoms becoming overwhelming to the point where you’re noticing your daily living tasks being impacted for more days than not, you might be in a position to consider medication.
Another marker might be the feeling that you are struggling to get caught up or the feeling of drowning when trying to manage your symptoms.
If the coping skills you currently have are not cutting it or are making you feel worse and more helpless as time goes on, it might be a good time to notify your therapist.
I recommend opening up a conversation about diagnosis so that you can have practice describing your symptoms before you’re in the Doctor’s office for the first time. Additionally, it can narrow down and better specify treatment. When receiving a diagnosis, it’s important to remember that it is not a life sentence. It can be a gateway to understanding and connecting with others who share similar experiences. A diagnosis can be relieving and validating. It can also feel intimidating and embarrassing to have a label that you might not like or understand. All of these feelings are normal, and temporary. Once a diagnosis is made, the work towards living a life where that diagnosis is no longer present begins. Your therapist can usually point you in the direction of a psychiatrist or you can make an appointment with someone you already know and trust.
Once you have a conversation about diagnosis with your therapist and been prescribed a medication by a psychiatrist, brace yourself for a trial-and-error phase to find the right dosage. Usually your body will integrate the medication in the span of two weeks. In these two weeks, it’s a good idea to do some reflection with your therapist to determine if there has been any changes positive or negative in your mood, sleeping, and eating patterns and in the original presenting symptoms. Again, it’s helpful to find the words that most accurately describe how you feel before entering the doctor’s office as those visits can commonly feel rushed and rote.
Once you have a medication and dosage that feels comfortable, you can begin to implement a treatment plan and make some goals with your therapist that will build skills to sustain yourself once you taper off of medication at some point. The medication will free up some mental resources for you to utilize for your growth and stability. Certainly you can take some time to relish in the relief that you might feel initially, and then set some intentions on skills building. Maybe begin some preventative practices like exercise, journaling, or meditation that you can get into a regular routine with. This is also a good time to evaluate what you can off load or change in your life’s circumstances that might be causing your symptoms. It’s common that you might not be able to make those decisions or see those things clearly until you have the medication working in your favor. You might find some low hanging fruit life changes to make that will massively improve your mood.
Life will continue to throw curve balls, and dish out difficulty whether we like it or not, so when that happens, you can practice your routine skills in addition to deeper more customized skills that you decide on with your therapist. While medication can be a valuable tool, it's wise to aim for eventual independence. Once you are feeling confident in your goals and your coping skills are feeing easily accessible to you, you might consider talking with your medical doctor about tapering off your medication gradually. You can always adjust the dosage back if you end up feeling that it’s premature.
Modern medicine has brought so many amazing resources to us and while there may be a lot of overwhelming emotions surrounding psychiatric medication, shame should not be one of them. We live in a world where caring for ourselves is not prioritized and it is not your fault for struggling to cope on your own without assistance. We also live in a world that likes to make us dependent on things that don’t actually benefit us. Keeping both of these things in mind can help to create a healthy mindset when approaching the idea of medication.
I recommend that most people anticipate trying not to be on medication for a lifetime if possible. If you are currently on medication and haven’t evaluated your relationship to it, it might be worth some thought. Perhaps you need to revisit your dosage, or maybe you find some resolve to make some goals with the intent to sustain yourself without it down the road. I had a professor in college whose motto was “Never take a pill without a skill!”
I hope this was helpful and as always, I’m wishing you wellness!
Janessa