title: Living with antipsychotic medication side-effects: the experience of Australian mental health consumers.
abstract: The present study explores people's experience of living with antipsychotic medication side-effects. Qualitative data were gathered through semistructured interviews with 10 mental health consumers in a community care setting in Australia. The interview transcriptions were content analysed, and enhanced by combining manifest and latent content. Important contextual cues were identified through replaying the audio-recordings. Several main themes emerged from the analysis, including the impact of side-effects, attitudes to the use of medication and side-effects, and coping strategies to manage medication side-effects. Each participant reported between six and seven side-effects on average, which were often pronounced and had a major disruptive impact on their lives. Of these effects, the most commonly mentioned was sedation, which the participants described as leaving them in a 'zombie'-like state. Most participants expressed an attitude of acceptance about the side-effects. The participants' most common strategy to manage side-effects was to change the dosage of the medication. Other common side-effect management strategies involved using other medications to control side-effects, and diverse self-help techniques, the most common of which was relaxation/distraction techniques.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Professions, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|The Park, Centre for Mental Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meehan
authors.affiliation: School of Health Professions, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia.
authors.forename: Norman Jay
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Stomski
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D012648:Self Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents
keywords: antipsychotic medication; consumer; interviews; mental health; qualitative research