David Karp in his book Is it me or my meds?: Living with antidepressants talks about how one's view of oneself is at stake in taking antidepressants. In an earlier paper, he described the initial resistance to drug taking; negotiating the terms of treatment; adopting new rhetorics about the cause of depression, such as "chemical imbalance"; experiencing a conversion to medical realities; and becoming disenchanted with the value of medication for solving personal problems. Adopting the view that one suffers from a biochemically based emotional illness can be an identity-altering view of reality.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Psychiatrists rarely think about the impact of medication on anything other than brain chemicals
David Karp in his book Is it me or my meds?: Living with antidepressants talks about how one's view of oneself is at stake in taking antidepressants. In an earlier paper, he described the initial resistance to drug taking; negotiating the terms of treatment; adopting new rhetorics about the cause of depression, such as "chemical imbalance"; experiencing a conversion to medical realities; and becoming disenchanted with the value of medication for solving personal problems. Adopting the view that one suffers from a biochemically based emotional illness can be an identity-altering view of reality.
oh my goodness! this is so true. Issues like weight gain and other physical ailments caused by the psych meds have always been downplayed in my case... there was always far more emphasis on taking the drugs no matter what. But I guess the psychiatrists are not the ones who are going through the experience... but in my opinion, the tiniest bit of empathy goes such a long way!
ReplyDeletethank you for this post.
Milo
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