Medication Education In Mental Health Treatment

Teaching About Safe Times of Day

Certain medications shouldn’t be taken in the morning and others that should be taken earlier in the day. Some medications can cause tiredness or fatigue. These are medications that shouldn’t be taken before you drive or maybe not during the daytime at all. You may want to take these at bedtime. There are also medications that need to be taken with food, or they can cause stomach upset, nausea, and other issues. We discuss all of this in our medication education program.

Have you been taking your medications at different times of the day? If so, this can increase the risk of overdosing. It can also cause your medications not to work, being that you may be going longer than you should be without taking them.

Match Up with Activities

For teaching you about the safest times during the day or night to take your medications and talking about the same time of day to take them, it is also helpful to match up medications with certain activities to help you remember them. For example, if you need to take certain medications at night, you may want to take them when brushing your teeth. Similarly, you could take your morning meds after you take a shower in the morning.

Medication Safety and Organization

If you are on medications, it is important that you keep them locked up or, at the very least, put them away so other people can’t get into them. Far too many children are overdosing on medications because they get into a parent’s or another family member’s medications. Part of our medication education program teaches about medication organization and safety. This may include talking about using a weekly or monthly pill box, storage or lockbox options, and where to keep your medications, too.

Automatic Refills – Yes or No

If you take multiple medications, you may consider signing up for the pharmacy’s automatic refill program. Some people like this program because they would otherwise forget to take their medications. Most pharmacies also have a text or call messaging system to alert you when your medications are ready. This would be another great thing to sign up for.

Medication List

It is always good to have your medication list updated and on hand. You should be able to show this to all your doctors or others helping you. If you start on any new medications, make sure the list gets updated.

If you are on medications to help treat mental health disorders or addiction, talk to your doctor about the reasoning for the medication. Ask them how and when you should take the medication and what side effects might occur. You should also know what to do if you miss a dose of your medication and have access to calling your doctor if there are issues with the medication.