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WHEN I TELL people that I have schizophrenia the usual reaction I get is surprise, followed by a line of questioning. The first most commonly asked is: “What do the voices in your head say?” This is understandable, people are naturally curious.
But the second question never fails to amuse me: “What happens if you ever stop taking your medication?” Hollywood films have led many to believe that coming off antipsychotics ends in disastrous consequences. This is not the case.
I’m medication free
In fact, I am currently medication free. For years, I started and ended my day with an array of tablets. Huge cocktails of drugs taken daily with horrific side effects.
Vomiting, dizziness, headaches, hypotension, weight gain and stiffness left my joints in agony. I also developed restless legs syndrome (RLS), temporarily lost my peripheral vision and was no longer able to drive.
Coming off medication was not a decision that I took lightly. My dosage was reduced slowly and carefully over a long period of time. The truth is, for me, the drugs don’t work.
Learning coping mechanisms
I have trialled many antipsychotics and the best result I ever had was the slightest reduction in symptoms. I have had psychosis for a long time, long enough for me to learn healthy coping mechanisms.
I live with schizophrenia without taking any medication, but my situation is an exceptional case. For most others, medication is completely necessary in order to live a fulfilling life. Also, side effects are on a case by case basis, many people can take antipsychotics without experiencing any adverse side effects.
Medication nation
Recently RTÉ One aired a documentary, “Medication Nation,” where Dr Eva Orsmond looked at Ireland’s apparent overuse of medication. Highlighting the issue of addiction to over the counter and prescription drugs is, of course, important and the documentary did an excellent job of bringing awareness about how destructive these addictions can be.
My only issue with the programme was the lack of balance on the subject of medication in relation to mental health problems. Just to be clear, if there was a magic pill to take away my psychosis, you can be sure I would take it.
I may not be on medication now but if my psychosis gets to a point where it is negatively impacting my life, and all my other recovery methods are no longer working for me, then I would go back on medication.
Not an “easy way out”
Antidepressants are not happy pills that solve your worries and prevent you from dealing with life’s problems; medication is not the easy way out. When I was on meds, I got the “easy way out” line quite a lot.
Looking at the side-effects I have listed above, does it look like taking medication gave me an easier life? No, but I needed it at the time. People who are on medication for any kind of mental health problem, don’t take meds because they want to, they take them because they have to.
My late mother was a reiki practitioner and my dad is a pharmacist, therefore I grew up with a balanced view of both sides. Talk therapies alone can be more helpful than medication for mild to moderate depression or anxiety. Everyone knows exercise, mindfulness and a healthy lifestyle are good for your mental health but the problem is all of this depends on personal circumstances.
Medication is a helping hand
When you are too mentally unwell to get out of bed, any thoughts of exercise and mindfulness go out the window. Medication can be the driving force behind what gets a person up in the morning so that they can bring the dog for a walk, cook a healthy meal or participate in therapy.
Medication is not a crutch but a helping hand towards stability. There is a huge stigma surrounding mental health problems, I do not agree with anything that encourages this and creates a sense of shame around taking meds to help with an illness.
Irish people are more mindful than ever of how effective a good diet and exercise is to our mental health. We now live longer than the generations before us. It cannot be ignored that medication plays a huge part in this too.
Nicola is an ambassador for See Change and Teenline. Using her personal experience of schizophrenia, Nicola writes about mental health for multiple news sources and also for her own blog prettysane.com. For more information visit www.seechange.ie.
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Just want to say how brave you are. I lived with my mam who was scziophrenic since she was 23 years old. The meds she was put on turned her into a zombie. She slept some days for 20 hours. In the last years of her life I barely got to speak to her. Nobody will ever get how it feels to see your mam in a state of total confusion, when she didn’t know who she was, or who her children were. The stigma we dealt with as a family will stay with me forever, her illness caused us to turn a blind eye to anything physical that occurred because we didn’t know if it was her or her alter egos. Finally she died 3 days after being admitted to hospital with a massive tumour in her lungs from smoking. She hated doctors and would never go, so it was too late. I watched her die on my 28th birthday 2.5 years ago. I am sending you positive vibes and hope that you can overcome whatever life throws at you. Nobody will understand, unless they have been there or have lived with someone with this cruel illness. I wish you the best of luck.
Very informative and thoughtful point of view.
Excellent excellent
Great article.
Thanks for that article Nicola a very interesting point of view about meds and there affects. Best of luck in the future. Respect!!
Best article on the Journal in months. Well done Nicola. Thoughtful and insightful.
I wish you the best in life for your brave decisions. My Mam suffered from schizophrenia from the age of 23. The stigma we dealt with as a family my whole life has shaped how I feel about people to this very day. The meds she was on left her like a zombie. I never got to have a drink with my mam, go shopping with her on a whim, or just have a “normal” life with her. People will never understand it, and I do feel like I was robbed of all those things that everyone else takes for granted. Her illness was ultimately what led to her downfall, she would not go to a doctors when sick. So the massive tumour that took over her lungs in her final 3 days went un-diagnosed and I got l few hours with her before I had to watch her die on my 28th birthday. The only people who will get what I’m going through are those who know someone with this illness. It destroys lives, it destroyed mine and my family’s. I wish you all the best in life and I think you are so brave. Take care x x
Nicola you’re article is dangerous. It could encourage people who need medication to come off it too quickly. The vast majority of people with schizophrenia need medication. People with schizophrenia have killed themselves and others after coming off medication too soon.
My family member went off her medication (clozaril) and it proved to be an absolute disaster for them.The anxiety attacks,delusions & the hallucinations,came back stronger than ever.Four years later and they are just starting to ‘improve’ again..Be very careful people…
Hi Nicola, how long are you now off medication please?
@Francis Mc Carthy: I totally agree, this article is completely dangerous for society at large. My sister is a schizophrenic and without medicine anyone who is near her is in physical danger. She is also highly educated and able to write as competently as the journalist today, because they have good days. What happens to society when they have a bad day with no medicine…especially someone who drives. My sister drives and had to be ran off the road for everyone’s safety when she decided to take to the wheel without medicine. My god, I am really horrified that this article got any space. Please, please print a responsible article on the subject. For clarity sake, my sister is not special, all schizo’s act this way and worse at some stage if not medicated.
@Jack Bowden and Amy M:
It clearly says she is an exception (a few times) and that she came off them slowly and gradually. Also that she would go back on them if needs be. It doesn’t glorify not taking meds at all. This is a considered piece of writing that may give some hope indeed to others but by no means says just stop taking everything everyone its all good.
Please do not use the term ‘schizos’. Your sister is a person suffering with schizophrenia, one of the toughest metal illness that can effect any of us at any time.
Editor should ensure that reader knows how long a person with schizophrenia is off medication to give some clue to this personal experiment’s effectiveness. I believe that the NUJ has agreed guidelines for responsible reporting of mental health issues.
Thank you Nicola, the voice of reason.
Courageous and honest account. More info on the non-pharma recovery methods referred to please. Others may find that helpful. I wonder often is Ireland’s economic dependence on pharmaceutical FDI, the unhealthiest close ties between senior government ministers (now enjoying numerous sinecures on boards of biotech companies as reward for her efforts) in past and doubtless future governments, the unhealthy relationships including massive junkets between the psychiatry profession in particular, and big pharma, have any causative role in the Irish over medication scenario? Correlation not always causation but..
Regards to the author of this important piece in any event. Doing her bit to help destigmatise mental illness in a country where attitudes towards it range from 19th century to downright medieval.
I have a big interest in the brain chemistry (biochemistry) of mental health. I try to minimise using medication by using nutrient therapy. The reality is that in anybody who has had an episode of psychosis the relapse rate is close to 90% and hopefully you will be one of the lucky 10%. I find that more than 50% with depression can get off meds provided they use the individualised doses of nutrients. Anxiety rarely requires medication long-term if they take their nutrients. Autistic children can do surprsingly well if the chemistry is sorted out in early childhood. The outlook is bad if they leave it until later.
You are promoting quackery – there’s no evidence that autism can be somehow reversed through “nutrition therapy”.
As for depression, sadly the best proven method we have of treating this affliction is through the use of medications such as SSRIs. You seem to think otherwise, do you have any published academic literature to support your claim(s)?
Interesting Ted Talk here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyrqBAICOXE
@Aoife Murphy: thanks for that Aoife. The pere nial question as to whether we are seeing dramatic increases in the incidence of childhood mental illness or an increase in their diagnosis aside, your speaker makes compelling arguments for improvements in nutrition leading to better outcomes.
I always say Home Economics should be as compulsory as Irish English and Maths for all students regardless of gender throughout primary and secondary education. No child should leave school without knowing how to select, prepare, and cook, wholesome and nutritious food.
Our Western diet has changed dramatically since WW2 and not to our good, but rather to the good of the corporates that provide processed sludge. We are sowing the wind and must reap the whirlwind. Diabetic storm incoming and worse besides.
Actually the NICE guidelines recommend psychosocial interventions or CBT first before considering medications for depression
@Tom the Bomb: In this country and others, CBT is ongoing whilst the medication is also being prescribed, not one before the other.
@Edmond OFlaherty: I am replying here as the voting was 4 to 1 against my point of view.I am doing this work since 1999 but went to Sydney in 2006 to get more knowledge. There was about 20 GPs attending the conference and the 2016 meeting was twice as large and also had several consultant psychiatrists attending. You can read about it at http://www.biobalance.org.au. I gave a lecture on this topic to the European GP meeting in Vienna later.Another useful website is http://www.walshinstitute.org. A good book is Nutrient Power by Dr William Walsh PhD. A London University psychiatist phoned me recently and told me that this is the way forwards.
Hey Nicola, So proud of you girl well done! I have bipolar disorder been off medication since 2011 and lead a normal life now with psychological treatment! People who have never suffered with a mental health problem have no right to an opinion on how somebody lives with mental health disorder and even commenting is pathetic because they have no understanding of what its like. Your inspiration girl, people with mental health issues have been hiding for far to long in this country due to stigma and discrimination. Don’t be listening to trolls on this! People are always afraid of what they don’t understand!!
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