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The Importance of Personal Medicine We are hearing a lot about recovery these days and many mental health systems are seeking to transform themselves to a recovery orientation. However the whole area of psychopharmacology and psychiatric medications remains stuck in an outdated medical model where the emphasis is too often on compliance rather than choice, and obedience to medical authority rather than self-determination. I have become very interested in exploring what a recovery based approach to using psychiatric medications would be. Through a research contract with the University of Kansas, I have had the opportunity to conduct qualitative research on how people who are diagnosed with major mental disorders use psychiatric medications. One of my major findings has been that people who are recovering do not simply swallow pills in a passive way. Instead they get active and they understand that recovery is about changing our lives, not just our biochemistry. I have learned that psychiatric medicine is not the only type of medicine that is important to recovery. Personal medicine, or those things that raise our self esteem and make life worth living are vital to recovery. Fishing, meditating, exercising, having dinner with a friend, being a good mom, - all of these things and more can be vital to our recovery. All are forms of what I have come to call personal medicine. PLEASE NOTE THAT PERSONAL MEDICINE DOES NOT REFER TO PERSONAL CONCOCTIONS OF OVER THE COUNTER MEDICATIONS OR HERBAL REMEDIES OR STREET DRUGS. When I interviewed people about their use of psychiatric medications, I expected that they would tell me about using pills. To my surprise, they spent most of the interview hour telling me about a myriad of things they did to feel better. They challenged conventional understanding of medication... When asked to describe their use of psychiatric medications, they described using pharmaceuticals but also spontaneously reported a variety of non-pharmaceutical strategies that served to improve mood, outlook, thought and behaviors. That is, when describing their use of psychiatric pharmaceuticals or “pill medicine”, research participants also described a variety of personal wellness strategies and activities that I have called “personal medicine”. I think there are a lot of other things that are medication, that are not really considered medication. There's things that you can do that changes what your body does. And it may not be medicine…I still think that one of the best mood stabilizers there is in life - maybe not for everyone but for me - is math. That stimulates your intellectual process. (Joe) All of the research participants identified unique types of personal medicine that they used in addition to, or in place of, psychiatric medications. Personal medicine fell into two broad categories: those activities that gave life meaning and purpose, and self-care strategies. Both increased feelings of wellness and decreased/eliminated psychiatric symptoms and/or undesirable outcomes such as hospitalization. Examples of personal medicine included the importance of being a good parent, singing in a gospel group, helping peers, fishing, laughing, going to school, working, taking care of a pet, and cooking for an appreciative spouse. I think that in a recovery oriented mental health system, the importance of personal medicine would be recognized, honored and supported. Comments
"Spirituality is like medicine. To heal the illness, it's not sufficient to look at the medicine and talk about it. You have to ingest it." Sally, thanks for your post. Very wise words indeed! One of the challenges that has been raised about this idea of personal medicine, has been: "Pat, by calling this personal medicine, aren't you just encouraging the whole mindset of finding a pill for every ill." The intent of the idea of personal medicine is actually to do the opposite. In a sense, we have allowed the multi-national pharmaceutical companies to take over the idea of medicine and to delimit its meaning to that of a pill. I see the notion of personal medicine as an effort to reclaim the word medicine and restore it to its fullness. It is only in more recent times that "medicine" came under the purview of physicians. For instance indigenous peoples have long known the power of this broader sense of medicine. With the idea of personal medicine we are reclaiming the word medicine and acknowledging the healer-within each of us. Posted by: Pat Deegan at July 25, 2005 01:33 PMI find that being a community activist is great personal medicine. I am a disabled veterans whose mental illness is in remission. I have reached a state of recovery and activism is one of the reasons for this success. I also am followed by a staff psychiatrist at the VA Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. I see him for ten minutes once every four months. Under his wise counsel I take 10mgs of zyprexa a day and I don't plan to stop this. Ross Fortner Posted by: Ross Fortner at July 26, 2005 11:05 AMDr. Pat Deegan: that truly was a educational and inspiring felt article. As the tide so goes our agency, our agency also is beginning to see assertive community treatment as a fundamental element towards the future of health services systems. We are in the early stages of understanding and beginning to acceptance and diligently working at incorporating this concept as a way of delivering effective services to individuals. It/we are experience many snags of resistance from within the system, due to changing a system that many felt was not broken. Some ideals and thoughts on continuing to make this transition as smoothly as possible while keeping our system indicators productive? Thank you, Pat, for appreciating what people gave you about "medicine", and for not rejecting responses that didn't meet the intended, narrow definition. I just began reading "Appreciative Inquiry"Cooperrider et al (eds), 2000. It seems to be about organizational change based on EVERYONE in the organization interviewing each other and, ultimatley, acting on their curiousity and appreciation for the POSITIVE past, present and future of the group. This practice fits with what I've found in personal recovery and professional work as an expressive arts therapist. I look forward to more of a positive focus in MH improvement efforts as well --- It seems that you have hit (again) on "medicine" as an image with deep and powerful roots in the human expereince of healing. Images are created by people and hold our hopes and fears, and everything in between. They are at our service if we can engage with them, amazing! A great quote from "Appreciative Inquiry": "… the artful creation of positive imagery on a collective basis may well be the most prolific activity that individuals and organizations can engage in if their aim is to help bring to fruition a positive and humanly significant future." (p. 30) You have a gift for expressing and creating positive, whole, images for us to work with, thank you! Posted by: Marcia Webster at August 2, 2005 06:29 PMMedicine: 1 a : a substance or preparation used in treating disease b : something that affects well-being I know that when my son (who is Bi Polar) would get into and enjoy his exercizing, it would give him a feeling of being able to accomplish something for himself, he liked the way he looked, and he felt empowered. I am so grateful for your research on personal medicine. I will pass this article on to my son. I had the opportunity to hear you speak in Toronto in May. When you spoke of personal medicine I totally understood. I had noticed that I was feeling much better since I got my dog in mid-April. How much of that was cause I was getting off my admittedly very ample ass and walking and how much was simply the joy of unconditional love on four legs I don’t really know and I don’t really care. Also, I have always been interested in the spiritual traditions of our aboriginal peoples and I’ve often thought about looking into how I could go on a vision quest to meet my animal spirit guide. It struck me recently that I’ve already met him. His name is Eeyore....lol. I heard another wonderful phrase during your presentation. You said live your life, don’t live your diagnosis. That was great advice for me, as I wouldn’t know where to being living attention-deficit-hyperactivity-borderline-personality-type-II-bipolar-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-disorder. BTW, I'm the one that told you about the wonderful bill of client rights that a local patient council got through. It can be downloaded from www.camh.net . Namaste.
Dear Patricia, Thank you for all that you do and for continuing to educate through your writings and your wonderful spirit. As an advocate here in NH it has been inspiring for me to be part of a recovery movement and to have had the privilege to know you and other Leaders that had the courage to go where no one dared at the time. Have an amazing Summer and Fall. |
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