If you have ever worked in a hospital or community mental-health setting, you have likely seen how quickly our system turns to psychotropic medication when someone is experiencing psychosis. For some people, medication is absolutely essential. But it is just as important that individuals understand the full picture: the benefits, the risks, and the alternatives to relying on medication or involuntary hospitalization. This also raises a bigger question for all of us in the field: who is truly being served when we default to medicating or hospitalizing someone in acute psychosis? And what does it mean for our society when this approach becomes the expected norm?

 

Insights from the literature: