One Less Person Overmedicated \o/

As many of us know, being overmedicated is a terrible thing. It can prevent us from using our Personal Medicine and doing the things that matter to us. Trembling hands can make it impossible for a peer to succeed at their job as an auto mechanic. Sleeping too much can make it impossible for a young mom to awaken for her baby's feedings. Being emotionally numb from medication can make it hard to be in a romantic relationship. When we are overmedicated, psych meds can actually work against our recovery.

Psych meds should support recovery, not hinder it.

Today I got some great news from one of our CommonGround Software sites that I would like to share with you. As a reminder, people use CommonGround Software prior to seeing their psychiatric care provider for a medication appointment. Paid peer supporters have been specially trained to support peers in getting prepared to participate in the appointment. So today, a peer came into the peer-run Decision Support Center (DSC) and here's the story of what happened:

Today I had a peer come into the DSC before her appointment. She is an avid CommonGround user and when she logged onto the site, the first thing on the homepage was "Are You Overmedicated?"  She felt she was. From the video resources, my peer was able to self-advocate about her concerns. Thank you for making this a topic!" 

This success story made my day today. No one should be overmedicated. Here at PDA, we devote ourselves to creating tools that empower our peers to have a voice and a choice in what medications, if any, they use on their journey of recovery and healing.

If you have experienced being overmedicated, I'd love to hear your story and what helped.