Ashley L. Peterson
Many of us living with mental illness take psychiatric medications. There's tremendous stigma around psych meds, which can be a major barrier for people who are trying to manage their illness. Accurate information is essential in challenging the stigma and helping people to manage their mental illnesses. This list covers some good resources you can turn to for reliable info
Source: https://mentalhealthathome.org/mhh-books/psych-meds-made-simple/
Experts in the field of psychiatry comb through all of the existing research literature on a particular topic, and distill it down into treatment guidelines that makes recommendations based on the strength of the available evidence for various treatment options. This guideline for pharmacological treatment of depression comes from Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT). CANMAT also produced guidelines on various non-medication treatment of depression to accompany this guideline.
These evidence-based treatment guidelines focus on treatments for bipolar disorder (both manic and depressive phases), and were put together by a partnership of the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments and the International Society for Bipolar Disorders.
Do you have an accurate, reliable source to turn to for information about medications?
The Epocrates app and online tool are designed to be a reference for health care professionals, and they include information about how drugs work, dosages, interactions, and potential side effects. Because it's designed for health professionals, it uses medical terminology, and you may need to look up some words. Still, it can be a very good app/site to turn to.
The National Institute of Mental Health website covers basic information on antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, stimulants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers. It also addresses medication use in special populations, such as pregnant women.
The website of the UK charity Mind explains what psychiatric drugs are, what to know before taking them, and information on side effects and coming off medication.
This publication from the National Institute of Mental Health covers medications for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and ADHD. It discusses potential side effects and medication use in special populations like pregnant women.
The website of the U.S. organization NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) includes information on different types of medications, generic medications, long-acting injectables, off-label use, and side effects.
The Healthy Place mental health website offers information on multiple different psychiatric medications including antidepressants, antipsychotics, and anti-anxiety medications, presented in plain English.
My new book, Psych Meds Made Simple: How & Why They Do What They Do, is written to help those who take psych meds to gain an understanding of pharmacology so they're in a position to make the best possible choices about the treatment of their mental illness. It covers pharmacology fundamentals, major classes of medications, side effects, and interactions.
The book is available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.. The official book page is at https://mentalhealthathome.org/mhh-books/psych-meds-made-simple/
Managing the Depression Puzzle by Ashley L. Peterson covers a wide variety of treatments for depression, including psychiatric medications. The official book page also includes a guide to depression resources on the Mental Health @ Home blog.
Mental health blogger | Former mental health nurse | Living with depression | Author of Psych Meds Made Simple, [Making Sense of ...
