My own philosophy of treatment is to
approach the patient as a person and try to solve the problems they
present with. I completely agree that stress factors, changes through
life and the person's inability to completely deal with them,
accumulates and cause these disturbances. My first advice to patients
is to try and reverse or change the habits that have led to this
situation- as is the classic advice given by HIPPOCRATES Himself.
However, by the time the patient reaches me- which is usually after
years of waiting and trying every other method- the person has a
medical problem like a mental illness. Now at the stage of mental
illness, medical treatment becomes essential to restore the person's
ability and comfort. At this stage the damage is done and medical
intervention is required to just cope or compensate the damage.
Patients tell me 'I dont want to take medications'. This scenario is
problemmatic in two ways.
Firstly, if you dont want to take
medications, why come to a doctor at all? It is a well known fact
that doctors, particularly those like myself who have an MD degree in
Psychiatry from the Modern Scientific Medicine tradition are trained
to give medicine only. If you expect natural treatments you should go
to a Naturopath, if you need Yoga approach a Yoga Trainer, diet
treatment is given by Nutrition consultant and Exercise treatment is
give by Physiotherapists/ trainers. Psychiatrists can advise about
these only as complementary to mainstream medical treatment. So it is
really waste of your time and money to consult a Psychiatrist if you
expect any of the above. If you come to a Psychiatrist, be prepared
to be prescribed medication and you can discuss your fears and
concerns. If that doesnt make you confident to try medications, you
are free to not take them. A Psychiatrist's recommendation is not
binding at all. (Unless in very few scenarios of mandatory mental
health treatment). But surely it is worth consulting a Psychiatrist,
to know what your treatment options are. Some patients discover
treatment to be not so frightening and get the correct information
and proceed with it.
The Second problem is the belief that
one has the choice. As I mentioned earlier; by the time a person
reaches a Psychiatrist, the stage of reversible mental turmoil is
long past and the stage of irreversible mental illness has been
already reached. At this stage medical treatment is the only
effective option. At this time one has only two options actually-
either treatment induced recovery or continued progressive mental
illness. This is a difficult thing to explain to the person who
cannot accept one's true situation. Most Psychiatrists will try to
convince by saying 'take medicine for some time', 'I am giving mild
doses' 'I am giving mental vitamins' etc. The truth is that patient
has reached a level of mental damage that absolutely needs medication
for recovery. The sooner the patient and family members accept this
fact, the better it is in the longer term. When treatment is started
the patient not only recovers, but further damage is also halted.
Anyone who doesnt want to take medication, should seek opinion from
another Psychiatrist. If two or more Psychiatrists agree that you
need medical treatment, best is to accept medical treatment. Start
treatment with the Psychiatrist whom you were most comfortable with
and continue till the Psychiatrist advices you to stop.
