Research Paper on Medication Treatments for Mental Illnesses

There are various treatments for mental illnesses; however, what do we know about medication treatments for mental illnesses. According to NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health), there are several different mental illnesses that people receive medication for. However, the goal of these medications is not to cure mental illnesses but to help with the symptoms and increase the performance of other treatments. Also, not all of the medication prescriptions are not the same it really depends on the type of mental illness and how the person's body will react to the medication.  Ultimately, I believe that medication is helpful for mental illnesses; medication is just not the cure for mental illnesses. 

A person's body can react and have other side effects from someone else but there are general side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, restlessness, weight gain, dry mouth, or vomiting. However, these side effects don’t apply to everyone and all medications, the side effects depend really on our body. Your body and type of mental illness will determine the type of medication you get, how much you get, what brand you get, and if you need other treatments. 

Although you are on medication it most likely won’t be the only treatment you receive, NIMH recommends that psychotherapy be another treatment that gets suggested by your doctor to go along with medications. Again you would only get this recommendation for psychotherapy if it was needed for your situation. These other treatments along with your medication help with your mental illnesses and the treatments can help improve the effects of the medication; as said before medication is not the cure for mental illnesses. 

As previously stated NIMH states that there are several mental illnesses that people will receive medication for, theses mental illnesses consist of attention-deficient hyperactive disorder, severe depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and psychosis. These are all mental illnesses that receive medication to help treat the symptoms of those mental illnesses, however, there can be side effects from the medication. These side effects can be worse than the mental illness itself,  the most common of these side effects is nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, lightheadedness, excitement,  and lack of sleep. The side effects may be worse when you first start your trial of medication but as you continue to take the medication after three weeks the side effects may get better. Because of side effects, this may be a deterrent for people not to take medication however as previously stated the side effects should get better and if they won't you should consult with your doctor. And there are different variations of medications that can be prescribed if side effects don't get better again it all depends on how your body reacts to the medication.

Every person who has a mental illness is different from one another is it because we all have different bodies and different mindsets. Also because of your mindset, it may change how the medication helps you, I personally think that if you believe that you think the medication then it will be helpful. Medication for mental illnesses can help the symptoms but will not cure you of the mental illness so this should encourage you to consult with your doctor about the best medication for you. 

However, some people may argue that medication for mental illnesses is fake, a placebo and that what is helping them is that they are having the mindset to get better. As someone who was constantly sick as a kid, I disagree that it is just in the mind. As a kid, you may want to get out of school but I wouldn’t just get sick for school it would also be celebrations such as my birthday, Christmas, easter, any holiday you can think of I got sick on. So with this being my history and having lived sick, I don’t agree that it is just in people's heads. Also, science has proven to us that mental illnesses can be passed down genetically. 

According to Martha McLaughlin, another reason people don’t take medication for mental illnesses is that people have a fear of being labeled with something that is wrong with them. We generally see this in elders because they grew up with being tough and being able to get over it, But not to worry as you get older there is no increase of chance that you will get a mental illness, according to Angelike Gaunt. There have just been signs of more of a sense of pride and denial in people who are older than 40 this may just be because they don’t want to be labeled with something that can be seen as wrong. I know that people don’t want to be judged however this should not be a deterrent to your health because your symptoms could make your life harder than how your life could be if someone were to judge you.