Title: 
Headings:  Why Do Some Individuals with Serious Mental Illness Refuse to Take Medication?
Why
 
Do
 
Some
 
Individuals
 
with
 
Serious
 
Mental
 
Illness
 
Refuse
 
to
 
Take
 
Medication?
 

(updated
 
March
 
2014)
 


Content: Many
 
studies
 
of
 
this
 
problem
 
have
 
identified
 
the
 
following
 
major
 
reasons
 
why
 
some
 
individuals
 
with
 
serious
 
mental
 
illness
 
refuse
 
to
 
take
 
medication: Anosognosia: The
 
person
 
is
 
unaware
 
of
 
their
 
illness
 
and
 
does
 
not
 
think
 
they
 
are
 
sick. Alcohol
 
and/or
 
drug
 
abuse
 


  
Poor
 
relationships
 
with
 
mental
 
health
 
provider
 


 
Medication
 
side
 
effects
 

Studies
 
of
 
individuals
 
with
 
first-episode
 
schizophrenia
 
have
 
reported
 
that
 
82
 
percent
 
of
 
them
 
will
 
relapse
 
within
 
5
 
years,
 
and
 
that
 
the
 
greatest
 
predictor
 
of
 
relapse
 
is
 
non-compliance
 
with
 
medication. Robinson
 
D.
 
First-episode
 
schizophrenia. CNS
 
Spectrum
 
2010;15:(Supplement
 
6):4-7. Most
 
people
 
do
 
not
 
like
 
to
 
take
 
medication. As
 
one
 
man
 
with
 
schizophrenia
 
wrote: “Being
 
medicated
 
involves
 
the
 
admission
 
of
 
needing
 
someone
 
else’s
 
help…It
 
is
 
an
 
admission
 
of
 
some
 
degree
 
of
 
helplessness; an
 
admission
 
that
 
one
 
is
 
not
 
all-powerful,
 
and
 
some
 
may
 
believe
 
it
 
is
 
an
 
admission
 
of
 
weakness.”