In my post, “Coping With Hearing Voices,” I mentioned that one of my coping strategies was the use of prescription drugs. In this post I am going to discuss in more detail my use of prescription drugs to treat schizophrenia and some of my thoughts around the use of drugs to treat this supposed disease, briefly discuss the medications I take, and finishing off by noting a couple of the side effects of taking the medication.
As it was explained to me some time after my diagnosis of schizophrenia and the beginning of medical treatment for that disease, in the simplest sense, my condition was brought on by a chemical imbalance in my brain. The use of anti-psychotics then was meant to correct that chemical imbalance. This view takes almost no interest in what has happened to you in life and focuses solely on treating the disease. The prognosis indicated that my affliction would last a lifetime and therefore the use of medication would necessarily last a lifetime as well. Without medication I would be unable to function and further, I could be construed a danger to myself or others. So sayeth the medical model. Halleluiah. Amen.