NYAPRS Note: The following comes from Peggy Swarbrick of Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey, a nonprofit “directed, managed and staffed through the collaborative efforts of mental health consumers, survivors and non-consumers” that “strives to provide individualized, flexible community based services that promote responsibility, recovery and wellness.” CSPNJ operates a substantial array of self-help centers, supportive housing and advocacy services.
CSP-NJ has just released a position paper regarding medication optimization.
This paper states a clear position:
“CSPNJ believes that mental health services should be designed from the perspective of the lived experiences of people in recovery. CSPNJ will be issuing position papers that represent the consensus views of the Governing Board and administration of the agency, concerning issues impacting recovery. This paper discusses the pros and cons of psychotropic medications and offers suggestions related to their use.
The following is the story of Nancy D. Brown, a survivor, advocate and current Governing Board president of CSP, in her own words.
“Why did I escape relatively unscathed from my serious bout of manic depression? I have always wondered just why my recovery enabled me to work and lead a fairly normal life after several years of pure hell. After hearing and talking with Bob Whitaker and Dr. Courtenay Harding at the annual Wellness Conference in spring 2010, I finally connected the dots.
My first psychic break quickly brought me home from college when I was 17 years old. My parents took me to a psychiatrist who told me to go back to college (I told him no way did I want that so I isolated myself for two months at home). At that time I was never medicated and never put on any drugs of any kind. My second wipeout occurred several years and another college later when I was fired from a well-known company in New York City for falling asleep at my desk, and back home I went again. This time I was diagnosed with a thyroid condition, and once again no psychotropic medications.
In the ensuing years, I worked, attended a few colleges, got married, raised two sons, and led a relatively normal, if slightly zany, life. My Big Bang, as I call it, came at 37 years of age. With the Big Bang also came my first encounter with psychotropic medications. During the next several years, I lost count of the many drugs given to me to try to stabilize my wicked mood swings, delusions and hallucinations, all to no avail.
Six psychiatrists, twelve hospitalizations (including two at Trenton Psychiatric), two or three rounds of ECT and one notorious failed suicide attempt- that was my life for a while.
I finally found an amazing psychiatrist, one who actually listened and inspired trust. He tweaked my medications in a thoughtful and judicious manner. He insisted on annual physical and dental exams for me. My medications were changed forever. What a difference-on his watch, I attained good recovery. I am now on a low maintenance regimen of Depakote and Topamax easing the mood swings I still encounter.
As one gets older, one ponders. After meeting Bob Whitaker and Dr. Harding, and connecting the dots, I realized how much there was to be thankful for and relieved about. I often wonder what would have happened if I wasn’t challenged to push myself. What if I had accepted a passive role? What if I had been medicated when I was 17 years old? What if I had spent those early years in a state facility?
I may never have married, raised a family nor had the joy of grandkids. I may never have had my career as a P&A advocate or the opportunity of serving as the president of the CSP Governing Board in my mid-70s.”
To read the entire position statement, please see the attachment at http://cspnj.org/about-us/our-view/79-our-view/194-medication-optimization.html