I once worked with a young man who had some cognitive challenges due to
a head injury many years earlier.
He’d been hospitalized after bringing himself to the crisis center for help.
This was a very positive step on his part – reaching out for help on his own
to care for his mental health.
In the past, he’d never been able to do this & would end up getting much
worse before his family would have to call for mobile crisis to come see him.
It turned out, he reported he’d been taking his medication everyday….
That was up until a couple days before he was hospitalized.
He said there were 3 days where he didn’t take it & his family later confirmed
what he had said.
“When he is taking his medication he does so well.”
I knew that when he took his medication, he could stay well!
This was even progress – the fact he was taking his medication regularly up
until those past few days!
In the past, he would take it for a little while, then STOP.
So as I sat with him, reinforcing the positive steps he’d taken, I had a
thought occur & said to him:
“What would happen if you drove a car but didn’t have any oil in it?”
I knew he LOVED cars!
His response: “You can’t do that – the engine will seize.”
I replied back, “So, it isn’t very good to drive a car even 1 day without oil?”
“Nope.”
So here is what I said next:
“Just like a car can’t go even 1 day without it’s oil –
you can’t go even 1 day without your medication!
Your medication IS YOUR OIL!”
“Oh…I get it”
Quite honestly, this is how I view my medication!
When you are someone like me, who needs to take medication:
Medication is your most important LifeTOOL!
It’s the oil we need EVERYDAY!
~ To Living Well TODAY! ~
via Esperanza – Hope To Cope
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