What is true: medication compliance means…?
From the book – Chapter 15: Medicines and Medical Treatment
The right answer
Taking medications as prescribed by the doctor
Working with your doctor
Share full history: past treatments, responses, side effects, other medicines, supplements, substance use, medical conditions.
Ask: What is this medicine for? How long will it take to work? What are common side effects? What if I miss a dose? How and when will we stop or change it?
Take medicines exactly as prescribed. Do not change dose or stop on your own. Report side effects early. Attend follow-up. Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs unless the doctor says otherwise.
Read the full chapter – Chapter 15: Medicines and Medical Treatment
Stories from real life
- Day Ten of the Little White Tablet – Sunita, 38, a teacher in Jaipur, began a prescribed medicine for depression ten days ago. She feels slightly nauseous and sleepy, and nothing seems better yet.…
- Neha Asks About the Baby – Neha, 31, has lived with bipolar disorder for eight years, steadied by a regular medicine and her doctor's plan. She and her husband Rishi are hoping…
- The Boy Who Could Finally Finish His Homework – Aarav, 9, in Bengaluru, cannot sit still. He loses his books, interrupts, and his homework takes three hours of tears. His teacher says he is bright…
- Mr Fernandes and the Sleeping Strip – Mr Fernandes, 74, a retired clerk in Goa, has taken a sleeping tablet every night for years, first prescribed after his wife died. Lately he has…
Shloks
- Bhagavad Gita 2.47 – Your claim is to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not make the fruit the motive, and do not cling to inaction.
More on this topic: Counselling, therapy and psychiatric medicines explained
More questions
- What does Bhagavad Gita 2.47 mean for the mind? (Chapter 15)
- Day Ten of the Little White Tablet – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- Neha Asks About the Baby – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- The Boy Who Could Finally Finish His Homework – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- Mr Fernandes and the Sleeping Strip – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- When the House Cannot Hold the Storm – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- What can we learn from the story “Kabir Age 28”?
- Why medicines are used?
- Who can prescribe?
- Understanding antidepressants – mental health medicines
- What happens in counselling or therapy?
- Myths and facts about mental health medicines