Awareness Reframe Assumptions: Myths & Facts about medication used in mental illnesses

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Volume 6 Issue 7 July, 2016

❌All the medicines used in treatment of mental illnesses are addictive

✅Most of the medicines used in treatment of mental illnesses are non-addictive except a few like Benzodiazepines and stimulants which have potential for addiction.

❌Once started, psychiatric medications cannot be stopped for lifetime

✅Many psychiatric disorders, except few severe, recurrent and those diagnosed at late stages, do not need lifelong medication for symptom control and gaining back decent functioning levels.

❌Psychiatric Medications always produce serious and disabling side effects

✅Excluding few like potent conventional anti-psychotics, many other medications have milder side-effects. Many medications when judiciously used especially for long term, benefits often outweigh side-effects.

❌Psychiatric medications result in weight gain and disfigurement

✅There are very few medications which have serious weight gain as a long term side effect but many times weight gain is more often due to reduced physical activity, which may be a part of illness by itself

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