Citation

Morrison P, Meehan T, Stomski NJ. Int. J. Ment. Health Nurs. 2014; 24(3): 253-261.

Affiliation

School of Health Professions, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc., Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/inm.12110

PMID

25529392

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.

Language: en