[samcassell940]

Im seeing a therapist I really like, but the pill situation is measing us up She wants to put me on haloperidol and seroquel. She says she is required by her company to issue pills.. the problem is my dad used to be on those harsh meds and he got very maniacal at work and almost got fired If I say I want to be treated without meds, can she report me as being a threat and get me into a protective custody.it would look very weird if I terminate during our pill situation.

[avlady]

i think it is up to you yourself if you want to be on meds or not but i'm not really sure about that.

Oh geez, that's a shame if you really like her and think she's helping you. I'm a little confused about a therapist wanting to put you on meds. In the US, they're not allowed to prescribe meds as far as I know. Does she want you to see a psychiatrist or is she also a psychiatrist or other type of health professional who is allowed to prescribe medication (medical doctor, nurse practioner, physician's assistant?)

Unless you have a special situation that I don't know about or you have told her that you are specifically planning to harm yourself or other people, the usual psychotherapy laws in the US would not allow her to do anything if you don't want to take meds.

Do you have a primary care doctor or other doctor that you see and have a good relationship with? It sounds like you need some more advice.

Even if I liked a therapist, I would be very worried if they told me that they were "required" to put all their patients on psych meds.

[amandalouise]

samcassell940....the short answer is yes if a treatment provider here in the USA feels you are a danger to yourself and or others without medications they can have you involuntarily taken into custody, placed in a mental facility or local hospitals mental health unit for evaluation and medication.

long answer is here in america we have many freedoms but that freedom of how we choose to handle our mental or physical health can be taken away under mental health laws and the zero tolerance laws that went into affect years ago when america was faced with the hard fact that there were people out there who wanted to hurt their self\not take care of their mental problems and ended up taking as many people along with them through terrorist acts (9\11) and other self injury\suicidal\homicidal acts (school shootings by mentally ill people for example). treatment providers are whats called mandated reporters. that means if they know of anyone who is a danger to their self or others they have a responsibility to follow their state and federal laws and also the laws\ethics of the mental health agency that they work for.

Sometimes its hard to balance all those factors with the clients wishes, especially if a treatment provider feels their mental disorder or physical health problem is affecting that clients ability to think clearly and make an informed responsible decision. and unfortunately legally and ethically ...my father went nuts on meds so no way, no meds for me.... isnt grounds for not taking meds in the mental health system...if it was I would not be on medications,

heres a suggestion...how about a compromise...let your treatment provider know your fears and about where its coming from. then take a hands on approach to this medication issue by finding out what the medication options are, and with your treatment provider take time to research those medications. who knows meds and how to measure their effectiveness \dosages most likely have changed from the times of your father. After checking out in detail the medications they would like you to be on, give it a try for a couple months to see how that medication works for you. I say a couple months because in general it can take up to 4 to 6 weeks for a persons body to adjust to a new medication and really see whether that medication is going to work or not, what changes need to be made...

by taking this kind of open minded approach treatment providers usually are willing to work with someone who says ok enough no more meds, because that way its a client making an informed responsible decision based on their own body reactions to meds.

[-jimi-]

It seems like therapist requires you to take meds or she will not see you. That is her choice. But for a therapist to point out specific meds for you to take, that is wrong if she is not ALSO a psychiatrist. It takes a doctor to suggest meds. Also, a good doctor should be open to you trying something else than say Haldol, which is basically only used under very specific circumstances these days.

[Moogieotter]

Hi,

I understand your concerns. What symptoms are the suggested meds supposed to help with in your specific case?

moogs

[CopperStar]

Why would they want you to start on two antipsychotics at the same time? How would they even know which one is working or which side effects are coming from which one? That doesn't make any sense to me.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by CopperStar

Why would they want you to start on two antipsychotics at the same time? How would they even know which one is working or which side effects are coming from which one? That doesn't make any sense to me.

sometimes treatment providers start more than one medication at the same time. its called a "medication cocktail" (to wrap your head around this idea think about how some people to get a desired affect drink alcoholic cocktails which is a mixture of different alcohols in one drink) not all anti psychotics work for a whole mixture of symptoms. so treatment providers use a book called the PDR and other manuals that contain information on all the prescription medications. using these manuals treatment providers know which meds work best ...in general.... for which symptoms and dosages. they mix and match to get the desired combination that is best for the patient's problems then adjust the cocktail depending upon the feedback from the patient\client based on why they prescribed each of the medications in the "cocktail" both of those meds may be anti psychotics but they each have their own properties that work best in the way of which individualized symptoms is happening.