Great Minds: Hamish and Kyle - On taking medication for mental health

In this web series, psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald and Nutters Club co-host Hamish Williams look at mental health and how to navigate some of the more challenging parts of modern life. Today they look at questions that come up around taking medication for mental health challenges.

If there was one question, more than any other, that we've been asked on The Nutters Club radio show, it has to be about medication.

Often it relates to the caller not feeling as though the medication is doing the job it's intended to, or trying to figure out if you can go without the medication now that you're feeling better mentally.

In assisting people to find answers the show has never dealt out medical advice and I'm not about to do that here either. Instead it's important that when it comes to medication for mental illnesses we understand the broader concept of what they're intended to do and how they do it.

"Its really common that people on meds for their mental health don't actually want to be taking them," says psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald. "It's also not a silver bullet, it doesn't make all the problems go away."

He goes on to explain that medication is best viewed as a tool, much like a splint for your leg if it was broken. It's there to help get things back on track.

Here's where it gets tricky, a lot of people find the time that medication takes to have effect too long. Antidepressants, for example, can take three to four weeks to have any noticeable effect for someone. That's a long time if you've been feeling depressed for months on end and finally taken the leap of faith to seek help and get a prescription.

"The best advice for any questions to do with the effectiveness of medication is don't Google," warns MacDonald. "If you have any questions or note side-effects, you can call your doctor to ask questions related to what you're experiencing, you don't need to make another appointment."

So clear lines of communication with the medical experts is key. It's not a bad idea to cover that with a doctor if you've been prescribed meds, certain it should give some comfort to you that you've got support when you need it.

And here's the thing: you're going to need support because when it comes to medication, one size does not fit all.

"It's a really inexact science," explains MacDonald. "We know what works and that they're safe, but when it comes to individuals on medication it can take a few tries to get dosage or even the prescribed medication right."

Combined with counselling, medication can help you do what you need to do to get better. On its own there is no "magic pill" but it can help you help yourself and to that I thank the wonders of medical science that we can have that option for when our wonderful but sometimes hectic minds can be making our life miserable.