Resources & files: Documents
Hope and Fear: Consumers, Psychiatric Medications and the Therapeutic Relationship
This study explores the role psychiatric medication plays in the lives of mental health consumers, and, in particular, how this experience of taking medication is affected by the relationship with the prescribing physician. Rather than concentrating exclusively on issues of adherence/nonadherence to medication regimens, as other studies have done, our goal was to unveil the complex lived experiences of consumers, their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviour as they pertain to medications and the therapeutic relationship. It is hoped that the study findings will add to the knowledge base and understanding of participants’ experiences, empower consumers and raise practitioners’ awareness so as to promote increased collaboration in the treatment process.