Medicines can reduce the number and severity of symptoms experienced by people with mental illness. They don't provide a cure, but they do allow for symptoms to be managed and so improve a person's quality of life. While there are fewer side-effects with newer drugs, it can still be necessary to monitor their effects quite closely or to prescribe other drugs to manage side-effects. It's always essential to ensure your psychiatrist knows about any other physical health problems that you have, and about any other medicine that you're taking. If you have any questions about a drug you should discuss it first with your doctor or your pharmacist. If you still feel that you want more information you could ask to look at a copy of the British National Formulary (BNF). This list, which is updated every six months, shows all the drugs a doctor can prescribe. Your pharmacist may be able to help you look up the drug that you're concerned about.
This article was last reviewed in August 2006.
First published in June 2000.
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