Psychotherapy and lifestyle changes are typically the first line of defense for any mental health issue. But at some point, you may benefit from pharmaceutical intervention – medication designed to help you manage your mental health so that you can get a break from your difficulties and make it easier for you to move forward with other steps to controlling your symptoms.
These medications are extraordinarily well researched. But they are also often misunderstood. Many people think that they’re dramatic, drastic medications that work immediately and cause a lot of side effects. These fears push people to seek out other treatments, despite medication being the best option for them. In an effort to help people better understand these medications and their benefits, consider the following things to know about these medications:
- They are different for everyone. One of the challenges – but also something that is meant to provide hope – in treating some of these mental health conditions with medication is that “restoring balance” can mean different things to different people. You may need more of one neurotransmitter than another, or a higher amount than someone else. There is a bit of trial and error. It can be frustrating at times to find that the treatment you tried did not work, but there are other medications and doses to try, and the process is designed to help you find the right balance. There is no need to give up hope if one medication or dose did not work, as there are many other options available.
- It takes time. Similarly, these medications are not designed to suddenly and quickly flood your system with the hormones and neurotransmitters you need to overcome your mental health. Most of them are, by design, expected to work slowly. Most mental health medications can take as long as two to three weeks of daily use before they start working. That can be frustrating for people that expected results right away. The timeline may be further complicated by the fact that the dose or medication you’re taking may not be the right one for you. The process itself to find the right medication can take quite a while overall, but once it’s found, the results can be very helpful.
- They don’t change who you are. Many people worry that these “brain medications” might change their personality in some way. Antidepressants and anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medications) should not cause any change to your personality with one exception – if your depression or anxiety changed your personality, then the relief of those symptoms might have you acting differently. But it would be in a way that is beneficial for you, such as feeling less anxious in social settings or feeling happier and having more energy at work.
- It’s not a cure, but it is a first step. Many people worry that they have to take these medications forever. While it is often perfectly acceptable to take these medications as long as you need them – and some people do take medicine for many years because it’s working for them – their primary purpose is to provide symptom relief so that you have the energy, mindset, and attitude to keep working on the lifestyle changes and personal growth needed to move forward.
One additional concern that people also have about these medications is that they may cause other symptoms, like stomach discomfort. Every individual is different. The reason you work with a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner is to make sure that you are getting a medication that is working for you. But most of these medications are well tolerated and, in cases where a person does have side effects, they are typically easy to solve with your psychiatrist.
Not everyone will need mental health medications. But those that do should not be afraid of them. They are highly studied, beneficial, and chosen because you and your practitioner decided that the benefits made sense for you. For more information, or to get started, please contact Skycloud Mental Health today.