Wednesday 10 January 2018

MEDICATION.

Medication is an effective treatment for mental illnesses. The disease may be caused by many factors, a chemical imbalance in the brain, hereditary, prevailing circumstances or the person's nature. Whatever be the reason, mental illness can be controlled.
One of the chief ways of controlling mental illness is by medications. These medicines not only bring an end to the disease but also prevent them. Of course, there is no guarantee that the disease will not occur again. Mental illness is like Malaria. Even if you get rid of it, it may happen again. Thus you have to keep up with your medications. It is a disease that is controllable, but not curable.
Before you do anything else, have your meds. This is an advice given by my doctor and it is very wise to do so. If you miss out on your medication you may have a relapse. Then you are back where you had started.
Many people believe that they are cured when there disease comes to an end. This is a terrible mistake. They stop taking their drugs and they relapse. And the agonizing process of controlling the illness starts all over again. 
But there is a big disadvantage. These meds have side effects. Sometimes severe side effects may cause a physical disability in the patient. When I took Lithium, after a few years my hands started trembling. These tremors were so acute that I could not lift a glass of water. The water would spill out each time I raised the glass to my lips. My doctor was very concerned. He put me on a drug that controlled my tremors. But that brought on depression. So much so that I told my doctor to discontinue the drug. I could bear the tremors, but I couldn't handle the depression any longer.
There are other side effects like constipation, weight gain and hair fall. They are all distressing.
But there is no alternative to medicines. You either bear the side effects or find ways of dealing with them. My advice is to consult the doctor.   

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