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: The
 
following
 
four
 
reasons
 
appear
 
to
 
be
 
the
 
most
 
important. Anosognosia: The
 
person
 
is
 
unaware
 
of
 
their
 
illness
 
and
 
does
 
not
 
think
 
they
 
are
 
sick. |
 
P
a
g
e
 
 
Advocacy
 
Center
 
(www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org)
 
Why
 
Do
 
Some
 
Individuals
 
with
 
Serious
 
Mental
 
Illness
 
Refuse
 
to
 
Take
 
Medication? (updated
 
3/2014)

 
national
 
survey
 
of
 
Americans
 
identified
 
individuals
 
with
 
serious
 
mental
 
illness
 
who
 
were
 
not
 
receiving
 
treatment
 
and
 
asked
 
why
 
not. As
 
expected,
 
the
 
most
 
common
 
answers
 
were
 
“wanted
 
to
 
solve
 
problem
 
on
 
own”
 
and
 
“thought
 
the
 
problem
 
would
 
get
 
better
 
by
 
itself.” The
 
next
 
most
 
common
 
reason
 
was
 
that
 
the
 
person
 
believed
 
that
 
they
 
“did
 
not
 
have
 
a
 
problem
 
requiring
 
treatment.” This
 
unawareness
 
of
 
one’s
 
own
 
illness
 
is
 
called
 
anosognosia
 
and,
 
as
 
described
 
elsewhere,
 
is
 
known
 
to
 
be
 
caused
 
by
 
damage
 
to
 
the
 
part
 
of
 
the
 
brain
 
used
 
to
 
think
 
about
 
ourselves. Thus,
 
the
 
unawareness
 
of
 
illness
 
is
 
a
 
direct
 
consequence
 
of
 
the
 
person’s
 
brain
 
dysfunction. The
 
next
 
most
 
commonly
 
cited
 
reasons
 
were
 
“too
 
expensive”
 
and
 
“unsure
 
about
 
where
 
to
 
go
 
for
 
help.”