Now that you’ve read the preceding posts about antidepressants, anxiolytics, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics, here are my final thoughts about medications.
Sometimes people assume that the higher the dose of a medication, the more severe their illness is. This is false. Each medication has its own dosage scale, with some being up to 1200 mg per day and others being as small as 0.5 mg. The dosage of each medication is unique, and dosage is also unique for each person because it varies by your age, biological sex, weight, medical history, body chemistry, diet, substance use patterns, and genetics (like the kind of enzymes you have that are involved in metabolizing the medications). It’s sort of like 3000 pieces of cake is a lot, but 3000 pieces of rice isn’t….1 mg of one medication might be a lot whereas for another it’d be nothing.
“Choose someone you feel comfortable with, someone who listens to you, and someone who takes their time in your appointments. If you don’t feel good vibes, don’t hesitate to find a different prescriber.”
Do not underestimate the importance of your relationship with your prescriber. We all know having a good relationship with your therapist is important – you see each other every week, you talk about really personal and sometimes traumatic things, you’ve gotta trust that person. Your psychiatrist (or other prescriber) is no different. Choose someone you feel comfortable with, someone who listens to you, and someone who takes their time in your appointments. If you don’t feel good vibes, don’t hesitate to find a different prescriber.
One of the most important things you can do if you are taking psychiatric medications or considering taking psychiatric medications is to ask questions. A lot of them. Download my “Questions to Ask at Your Medication Appointment” here.
I hope this series of posts has been helpful in demystifying some of the basics of psychiatric medications. Medications can be tremendously helpful for relieving some of the most severe symptoms, and for some people they are a critical part of long-term wellness. Remember, however, that medications are only part of a comprehensive treatment plan. It is very important and helpful to have a variety of other wellness strategies, including individual psychotherapy and peer support, to master your mental health.
Other posts in this series:
Hayden C. Finch, PhD, is a practicing psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, focused on helping you master your mental health.
