@article{ref1,
title="Living with antipsychotic medication side-effects: the experience of Australian mental health consumers",
journal="International journal of mental health nursing",
year="2014",
author="Morrison, Paul and Meehan, Tom and Stomski, Norman Jay",
volume="24",
number="3",
pages="253-261",
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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1445-8330",
doi="10.1111/inm.12110",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/inm.12110"
}