Borderline personality disorder is a personality disorder characterized by an unstable self-image, self-harming activities, difficulty in interpersonal relationships and inconsistent behavior.
Medications, along with therapy and such treatments as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), can go a long way in helping the borderline sufferer to cope with the illness. While medication alone is not the answer, meds can be the key to helping the sufferer manage other treatment options and be successful at them.
However, it is often difficult for those with mental illnesses to comply with medication regimes for a variety of reasons.
Instructions
Encouraging Compliance With Medications
1. The first step in encouraging compliance with medication lies in education. Patients must learn and understand the value of medication in treatment. This can be achieved by educating the patients as to how the medications work and what kind of results they can expect by using the meds.
2. Secondly, patients must be aware that the medications are not the cure-all answer to their illness. They must know and understand that meds are part of an overall treatment plan that can help them control their illness. Medications can allow them to function more effectively in other therapies and get to the bottom of the psychosocial issues involved in a borderline diagnosis. Thus, the patient must understand that the meds are an important tool of their recovery, without which they will impede their progress.
3. Patients need to honestly be informed of side effects associated with the medications so they are not taken by surprise when some of the more unpleasant side effects manifest themselves. These side effects often cause a patient to dispense with medication protocols. While the side effects may be unpleasant, the benefit often outweighs the risks and discomforts that come from side effects and patients need to understand this and be willing to deal with these effects. When and if these side effects become overwhelming, patients must be encouraged to speak openly to their psychiatrists so alternatives can be explored.
4. Family support can go a long way in encouraging loved ones to stay on medications. Families can point out to the patient how the meds seem to make a difference in everyday behavior and thus help the patient see that the meds are often key to helping with the impulsive and difficult behaviors the illness. Once again this involves education for both the patient and the family.
5. When patients have difficulty being consistent with their meds, it should be pointed out to them that there is no shame in getting assistance from professionals or family members in monitoring medications and taking of them on a regular basis. Sometimes patients honestly have difficulty remembering the meds and outside support in the form of family, friends and pill organizers can make all the difference to ensure that meds are properly used.
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