But that will change once your brain starts to come back on line, as you acquire new insights into your illness, and you implement new coping skills. Doctors are notoriously authoritarian by nature, but ironically - probably without them being aware of it - they are very quick to abdicate their authority back over to you. Meds will make us better, after all, but they will not necessarily make us well.
Psychiatry is very good at getting us to "better." The success rates for "better" are very high, backed by impressive research. "Well" is far more problematic. Virtually no research exists. There is no evidence base, no way of determining how successful psychiatry is in this regard, if at all.
We do know there is strong evidence to support staying on one's meds over the long term, that going off meds is a sure-fire invitation to relapse or recurrence. But relapse from what? A state of "better?"
Thus, in the treatment-recovery continuum, the clinical relationship gradually shifts to you assuming the lead role. Your psychiatrist has gotten you to better, but the emphasis has changed to things you can do to get well and stay well.
What to Expect
In managing our recovery, we don't sit around waiting for things to happen. Yet, we accept the fact that healing takes time.
We are constant works-in-progress. In this recovery series, I focus on a number of practical strategies we can use to improve our lives right now. But the real benefits generally take years to accrue. Moreover, there is a good news-bad news aspect of recovery:
The good news is that actively managing your illness works. The bad news is you have to do it. We know, for instance, that exercise is as good for depression as an antidepressant. But who wants to exercise, especially if you're depressed?
On one hand, I will be preaching personal responsibility. On the other hand, I know what we are up against. Even so-called normal people find it difficult to kick bad habits and implement new ones. Personal change is difficult to achieve in the best of situations.
