The Art of Psychiatric Medication

One of the most frustrating things about getting treated for a postpartum mood disorder is the fact that you can't take one single magic pill and get better the next day.  When I first went to see my psychiatrist, I had the expectation that he would give me something that would begin working immediately.  I was pretty surprised to find out that prescribing psychiatric medication is both a science and an art.  ("You mean to tell me I have to wait two weeks to see if something will even work????!!!!!!" )

Each of us has a different brain, and thus different medications work for different people.  If I took a medication and it didn't work, or worked but had unpleasant side effects, I became concvinced that I'd simply never get better.  Of course, when you're depressed, it's easy to become convinced that you'll never get better.  Now I know that is simply not true.  You WILL get better.  You simply have to find the strength within yourself to accept that treatment is a process and expecting to get better in a week is unrealistic.  What you can expect is to get less sick over time until you get back to who you were before you got sick.  For some people that takes a couple of months, for some people longer.  However long it takes you has nothing to do with the kind of person you are -- it's just biochemistry.  I've taken many medications, including Effexor, Celexa, Seroquel, Risperdal, Wellbutrin, Luvox, Cymbalta, etc.  Throughout all of them, I was on the road to recovery.  Some just worked better than others at treating my symptoms. 

The most important thing you can do is to take charge of your health and march into your doctor armed with all of the information that physician might need to fine tune your medication.  If you're not eating, tell the truth.  If you fall asleep well, but wake a lot in the middle of the night, tell them that.  If you can't fall asleep to begin with, tell them that.  If you're having intrusive thoughts, or they've gotten worse, lay it on them.  If you feel jittery, or alternatively you feel sluggish, let them know.  If you feel like you want nothing to do with your husband or your children, don't be embarassed to say it.  Nothing you can say is going to shock them or me -- I know exactly what you're going through because I've been through it myself.  I remember I used to drive right through stop signs (with my baby in the car!) -- it's like I was in some kind of dream world and I had delayed reaction time to everything.  I made sure to mention it.  Every detail is important and you can't hold back.   In this way, you help both yourself and your doctor. 

You will find the right medication for you, and you will get better. 

Comments

[Stacey]

Thanks Katherine for such an important message! Too many women give up quickly when the first med doesn't work or when they don't feel better immediately.

[Andie D.]

This was the hardest part of my recovery at the beginning (I'm still in recovery).

I had no idea that one pill wouldn't automatically do the trick. Now that I'm more educated and have switched meds a couple of times, I realize that it may take a while to come to the point where I'll "be OK".

But I will be OK.

[James Kronefield]

You are absolutely right. Most people think the depression medications are like headache pills - take one and half an hour later the problem is gone. You need to be patient with this kind of therapy.