What To Take Into Account When Consuming Psychotropic Drugs?
There is a wide variety of drugs that help people manage thoughts and emotions
It is common to hear the word psychotropic drugs and relate this term to the concepts of “psycho” (from “mind”) and drugs (from “medication”), from which it follows that it refers to drugs for the mind.
While this is true, there are also drugs to stabilize emotions. Now, the vast majority of people who begin treatment with psychotropic drugs show resistance to taking a medication of this type, and that is why complete stabilization is never achieved.
Mental health support through psychotherapy and psychotropic drugs
When you are being treated with psychotropic drugs, it is important to have psychotherapy treatment at the same time, since if the taking of said drug is going to be withdrawn in a few months or years, With psychological support the person will not have relapses
And in cases where the person will have to be medicated for life, psychological treatment will also be carried out so that the patient can lower their dose of medication due to the reduction of symptoms (as long as they consult with the doctor first). psychiatrist).
There are medications that help keep patients in an optimal mood, and this is done through the consumption of mood stabilizers
On the other hand, there are some medications that help with thought management, such as quetiapine, olanzapine, or aripiprazole to mention a few; These are used in a variety of cases, what matters is that they work directly in the brain and this helps let thought follow an adaptive course
In any case, each psychoactive drug has its own way of working in the brain and its precautions and side effects to take into account.
Clarifying the roles in the use of psychotropic drugs
The person who medicates is a doctor; This could be a neurologist or a psychiatrist. The psychologist, for his part, does not have the role of prescribing any medication.
Psychologist
It is the person who studied a degree in Psychology and has been trained and trained in behavioral, emotional and mental treatment
The psychologist does not prescribe any kind of medication; On the contrary, he is trained to provide psychotherapy to his patients. In addition, the psychologist works together with the psychiatrist and neurologists in his multidisciplinary practice.
Psychiatrist
The psychiatrist is a doctor who has studied a degree in medicine and has subsequently specialized in psychiatry; he is the person in charge of reviewing the functioning of the brain and studying behavioral symptoms and somatizations
The work between a psychologist and a psychiatrist or neurologist
When a psychologist sees that the person is suffering, whether due to severe depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, to mention some psychopathologies, he must refer the patient to psychiatry immediately, since the person is suffering from some mental cause. where she herself cannot or does not know how to self-regulate, that is where she works as a team with psychiatrists or neurologists. Subsequently, the psychologist will apply a psychotherapy process to these patients and it will be more effective once the person has been treated in the medical field.
Psychology and psychiatry are not at odds; rather, these go hand in hand to bring the patient to an optimal state.
Stop using psychotropic drugs?
There are patients who will depend their entire lives on the consumption of psychotropic drugs due to alterations that are normally biological in origin.
It is common for a percentage of patients to stop their medication because they feel well; However, it is important to emphasize that if the person feels well it is precisely because of the medications, and that in no way should they stop taking their medication against the doctor’s criteria (having warned them about what to do if side effects occur). Regularly, When medication is stopped, patients relapse into their illness
Relapse can be avoided. In this sense, it is important to be aware of the health implications of taking the medication, and trust the doctor who is monitoring the medication. Relapses occur due to not following medical instructions and believing that without medication you can live well.
And of course, you should not play with the medication by oscillating in taking it from a mentality of “today I will take it, tomorrow I will not.”
The family and the patient
For the relatives of a person who has a disorder and takes medication, it is not so easy to understand the sick patient For this reason, among other things, psychoeducational therapy needs to be carried out for family members once a certain problem has been detected in the patient. There are also institutions that provide information to families about the problems or disorders that the patient member of the family has.
