Why Consider Seeing a Psychiatrist and Taking Medication?

Why consider seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication?

Let me be clear: I will not serve as a shill for the pharmaceutical industry. Indeed, I strongly agree with the psychiatrist blogger who said: “Psychopharmacology without therapy is like treating an infection with Tylenol”. We clearly agree that medications do not cure a “psychiatric disease” and that psychiatrists are “not even sure what the disease actually is”.  

            So why take a medication then? One might take them because medications reduce symptoms. Symptom reduction can give you an opportunity to look at your situation without feeling overwhelmed with symptoms; allowing space, time and energy for understanding and learning a new point of view and new more helpful behaviors.  This is usually when I suggest that a client seek a psychiatric assessment and considers taking medications. 

            For instance, treating depression with an antidepressant is not the solution. But consider, one prominent symptom of depression involves a feeling of having lost or not having enough energy. Other symptoms include a lack of concentration, sleep, and self-care, and any of these can make new learning more difficult than it needs to be. The correct medication(s) can help with these while you figure out how to handle depression in the long run.

            Change almost always requires learning new ways of interpreting and coping with one’s environment. According to Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) depression can involve, amongst other problems, a lack or loss of both a focus on what life-directions one regards as important and the commitment to pursue those valued directions despite those discomforts which we often regard as uncomfortable symptoms of depression.   This may not represent the entire story for all depressive symptoms. Bipolar disorders in particular appear to have a strong biological component with symptoms that result from biology or chemical imbalance, and may require ongoing medication and special care regarding sleep, schedules, exercise, diet and stress.

Does that mean that medications are always required? There is evidence that changing behavior can lead to changes in brain chemistry similar to those linked to taking medications, so in the long run medications are not always required for a lifetime. And even when ongoing medication is necessary, as in the case of bipolar disorder, medication without other support is a bad choice.

            Of course the choice of whether or not to even consider taking medications temporarily is ultimately yours, but well informed consideration may prove more helpful than blind prejudice. For this reason I have written this little essay inviting you to weigh out the pros and cons of your decision, and to honestly discuss the decision with the people in one’s life who know who your moods and behavior impact your life as well as a qualified professional.