Hi Reader!

Did you dress up this past week? I didn't but I know a lot of people love dressing up!

This got me thinking...

You and I see a lot of people that don't want to take meds. More for you than me (most likely) but still, there are so many people that may be able to make quicker gains by adding medications to the work they do with you in therapy.

But how can meds be "dressed up" in a way that clients will want to consider them?

This, like pretty much everything in mental health (and anything requiring sequins, fake blood, and a sewing machine) can be tricky.

How often do we really dig into the reasons why people don't want medications?

A patient of mine who really struggles with her diagnosis and need for long term meds put it to me like this:

I don't want to take meds but I know I need them. So I like to think of myself as on a quest! I need to see a witch or a wizard for that magic potion so that I can succeed on my quest and do that magical, amazing thing! (or just keep going to work everyday and not get in trouble for kicking off the beginning of the weekly budget meeting with a limbo competition).

I love this so much! (and I asked permission before sharing) What a re-frame! And taking meds has become much less of a struggle and more of a "it's just what I gotta do" thing for her.

I'm curious and poke around quite a bit to see what's lurking around medication hang ups (a judgy MIL? a struggling friend with tons of side effects?...)

Here are the things I try to figure out with patients that really aren't sure if meds are for them:

What's scary about taking meds?

• Getting addicted
• Having side effects
• Needing to take them forever
• Too sick for the meds to help
• Feel like they're giving up by leaning on meds
• It will change who they are

These are some of the most common, very clear and direct concerns my patients share with me and I love addressing them!

Here are some trickier things:

• Wanting a "natural" treatment
• Feeling like mental health can't be treated with meds/chemicals
• That taking meds is an acceptance of "being crazy"
• Feeling judged

And I love addressing these too!

They can be more complicated at times but knowing a patient feels comfortable smoking marijuana because it feels more natural than taking an SSRI can give me solid background for a conversation that can inform both of us and help the patient make an aligned decision whether they decide to take that SSRI or not!

Today was not a video day but I wanted to share the importance of this tidbit because you can have great impact here. I am very happy to see patients who aren't sure they want meds, even when they decide they don't want to start, yet. We just do a lot of psychoeducation and keep going with the therapy.

But if someone just needs to fancy up the idea of meds, then playing "dress up" may help!

The point here is to dig around and then get creative! You may find the magical reframe you client (and their prescriber) has been searching for that makes taking meds feel like it aligns with their values so they can see benefits from your therapy even sooner!

You will likely be dressing up at some point during the rest of this season, even if it's more fancy than fantastical, but allow that playfulness to shine through with meds too.

You can leave the other dreary, boring stuff about meds to me; I won't be mad I promise. My patients and I usually have something fun to talk about (or at least that's often the goal).

Cheers to healthy brains,

Dr. B

P.S. Got any of your own clever re-frames to share with me?? Reply and tell me all about them!!