It just doesn't seem fair! What I call "normals" have only to deal with physiological maladies and medications. Those of us with mental health problems have to deal with both physiological and mental maladies and medications.
I just returned from a visit with my urologist. I won't go into details, but I am facing some potentially serious issues. He sent a prescription to my pharmacy. CVS has already acknowledged getting it, with a link to follow the progress of filling the medication. When I go to the pharmacy I will also be picking up a medication my psychiatrist prescribed.
I use this illustration to show that I have maladies and medications on both sides of my being: mind and body. I have medications I take for my bipolar 2 disorder, and I also have medications I take for physical ailments. For example, where would I be without my prescription for Montelukast? (You may know this as Singulair.) And there are several "meds" on each side of the ledger. Keeping track of all of them can be a challenge, let alone dealing with the doctors who prescribe them. (Can you please tell me why doctors tend to prescribe without first considering drug interactions? I can strongly recommend the use of WebMD's online Drug Interaction Checker. I refer to it as my Doctor Interaction Checker.) One way of looking at all this is that I probably pay twice as many co-pays per year as the average "normal."
This brings me to one of the chief skills you learn in dialectical behavioral theory. It's something called "radical acceptance." In the case of our "double trouble" of maladies and medications, repeat after me: "It is what it is." Or even better, repeat after Paul: "By the grace of God I am what I am." (1 Corinthians 15, verse 10) This is a spoken acceptance of the situation (having both physical and emotional ailments) and our need for meds on each side (body and mind).
So since we have no choice in having to live with twice as many docs and meds, let's practice some radical acceptance. And we, as Christians, have a far better reason to radically accept than the average "normal." We have a gracious God into whose hands we radically submit ourselves and our conditions.
May God be praised!
-The Christian Bipole
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