Transcript
A lot of Veterans are very nervous about taking medication,
or "being medicated" is how I hear a lot of people refer to it
when we discuss it.
Medication is not for everybody.
Not everybody needs medication, not everybody will
respond to medication.
Research shows that the best treatment for moderate to severe
PTSD is the combination of medication and therapy,
and there are reasons for that.
I really only recommend that people take medication when
it seems clear that they would benefit from it.
If you have a lot of concerns or anxieties about taking
medication, I generally leave it up to the Veteran in many ways.
It is your body, nobody is there to make you do anything
that you don't want to do, and
often, the decision doesn't need to be made that day.
It's important to get the information,
to do your own research, to think about it, to talk to your
loved ones, to talk to other people if you feel comfortable,
and then make the decision.
Really, medication should only be taken if it's needed.
And often, Veterans fear that they may need to be
on medication indefinitely or forever.
This generally isn't the case, medication, for many people, is
a time-limited intervention.
And whenever possible, for Veterans who do make the choice
to take medication and hopefully it's helpful, we definitely
look at the time when we can get Veterans off medication.