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When people go to a doctor and receive medical treatment, it’s not unusual to have blood drawn and have the sample analyzed. Laboratory tests will evaluate levels of Creatinine, Potassium, Glucose, Sodium, Chloride, Albumin and Bilirubin, etc. The test result can usually help a Physician fine tune a potential diagnosis. For the patient, there is some certainty that a condition has been discovered, i.e. high cholesterol.
When a person is diagnosed with Diabetes, they probably will be prescribed insulin; high blood pressure then they might get blood pressure medication. The patient is likely to view this medication as being important to the process of their recovery.
However, when a person suffers from a mental health disorder, what is the significance of the medication? What is the meaning regarding the therapy? If someone suffers from Bi-Polar Disorder, they might be prescribed Lithium. If someone suffers from Depression, then they might be taking Prozac or Sertraline. Here the medications again are designed to help people get better; in this instance, to help rebalance brain neurochemistry and help neurotransmitters to function better.
Some people will report that experiencing a mental illness produces a feeling of shame. They might feel like they are a burden to their family and to their friends. There are also concerns about fear of loss of self, and fear of being out of control.
What can be done to help people who are taking psychiatric medication? There is the understandable stigma that people may feel that “something is wrong with them “. Medical professionals need to advocate with patients, families and with organizations like the National Alliance for The Mentally Ill (NAMI), through media campaigns, that taking psychotropic medication is no different than taking any other type of medication.
Dr. Bob Kalter M.D. CGP has observed:
“The therapeutic effect and the meaning effect of medication may be in opposition. Symptoms may help manage intolerable feelings. Yet taking a medication can generate for people feelings of paranoia, anxiety and yet the purpose of the medication may be to control those feelings. “
How do we promote mental wellness? A very wise Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner once told me:
“We are more than our disorders “.
Her observation is completely true. People are more than their Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or Anxiety. As people, we are comprised of our physical, emotional, social, psychological and spiritual selves. We have a lot of self-states that we negotiate in our lives. Dissociation. P Bromberg - 2000 - psycnet.apa.org
People suffering from a mental disorder need someone that they can talk to and with whom they can build a therapeutic relationship. Just being able to talk to someone can relieve a lot of anxiety and can validate a lot of feelings and can help a person gain perspective. Recently, there has been the movement towards Technology Assisted Services (TAS), i.e. online psychotherapy. This development has been motivated in part by providing services to those who live in isolated areas, and who cannot leave their home; but there is also a lot of financial motivation regarding insurance reimbursement concerning online services versus providers seeing people face- to -face in an office.
The real miracle of healing occurs when someone can provide a “presence “to someone who is hurting. That presence might be psychological or spiritual, but nonetheless is the interaction of one person talking to another. It is an I-Thou relationship.
Indeed, the lab report doesn’t say everything.” We need to be advocates of holistic healing for all in our lives and in our world.
May it be so.