Oy, twice today I’ve had psych medication drama and questioning and turned into a nurse again automatically. It’s like I’m a sleeper agent and the KGB phoned me up and said the control word or something.
Anyway…
Issue One: If someone suddenly stops their psychiatric medication cold turkey… you should expect them to start feeling completely terrible and having behavior and mood changes. Basically if they really need the medication, it’s because they are to some degree crazy. So all that crazy is probably going to come back, plus coming off the medication so suddenly means you’re going to get… ahhh… “Crazy Blowback”.
Yeah I just made up Crazy Blowback as a term. Shit gets real here lol.
You can’t force them to take medication… well that’s not entirely true, you can force them to take medication, it’s just a “human rights violation” and after a while they wise up to why you’re giving them pieces of cheese wrapped in bacon three times a day.
What you should do is immediately inform the prescriber of the medication being stopped. They may want to see them promptly to evaluate them, or they may want you to dial 911 depending on the situation. Sometimes, depending on the medication and the dose in question, they just say, “Okay, just hold tight and observe them, it shouldn’t be that bad.” Whatever the advice is, that’s the advice and you should feel reasonably confident it’s what you should do.
Like any other situation, if they become violent, aggressive, threaten self-harm or harm of others… then 911 can be called, and/or transport them to the Emergency Room. Also in some areas you can call Mobile Crisis – normally it’s a 211 number – and you have a psych responder sent to the house to evaluate them, which if you have it is often the best option.
Issue Two: You decided they didn’t need their psychatric medication… and you flushed it all down the toilet.
This is called you being a total dumbass at best, and abusively cruel at worst.
Oh actually that’s not true…
If you happen to destory your spouse’s controlled medication – and plenty of psychaitric medications are controlled substances – that’s you performing a criminal act. When your spouse calls their doctor up to get more of the medication, they aren’t going to be able to get any more of it… at least not without throwing you under the bus… which frankly they have every right to do. After that it’s up to the doctor / pharmacist / police as to how it all plays out. Stressful, huh? Want an Ativan?
So yeah… not expecting to hear back from that guy…
And for the record, I am extremely hesitant to feel comfortable about anyone being on psych meds. I think they are way over prescribed, but some people really do need them and like a rollercoaster, you need to wait until the ride comes to a full and complete stop before popping the seatbelt and trying to get off the ride. Being on the meds is always the lesser of two evils.
Carry on.
Related posts:
- Work Stopping… Ok I give up. I’m not 100% happy with the...
- Chicken Monkey Duck You are required to watch the following short safe for work...
- Lame Duck Beta Male Becomes Global News I suppose even worse than being a Menses Boy is this...
- Red To The Dead, Black Back Reader: Athol, long time reader here, occasional poster. I was...
