Treatment - Medication Pros and Cons
The use of medication for treating spiritual emergencies needs to carefully considered. Most people in the midst of these episodes will recover without the use of medication. Stan and Christina Grof have warned that medication can actually freeze the experience and contribute to life long impairment. However, sometimes medications can be used in low doses to dampen down an experience without totally squelching it so a person can avoid hospitalization.
The negative sides to medication are well-represented:
Peter R. Breggin, M.D.'s The International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology
See also Rappaport M, Hopkins HK, Hall K, Belleza T, Silverman J: Are there schizophrenics for whom drugs may be unnecessary or contraindicated? Int Pharmacopsychiatry 1978;13(2):100-11
This study found that for some patients anti-psychotic medication is not the treatment of choice if the goal of treatment is long-term clinical improvement rather than immediate symptom reduction. The authors argue that "the stormy phase of schizophrenia can be looked upon as an attempt at reorientation, at solving problems of living." Anti-psychotic medications may interfere with the individual's reintegrative responses, decreasing problem-solving ability, sensory and psychological sensitivity, and ability to learn.
For information on specific medications:
Mental Health Net: Psychopharmacology and Drug References
Information about the pharmacology, indications, contraindications, warnings, adverse effects, overdose, dosage, supplied forms, and research of the most commonpsychiatric medications.
RxList
Information on 4000 medications from Mosby's GenRx Guide. |
