Through The Lens Of A Psychiatrist

Today’s CPE (Continuous Pharmacy Education) Session was somewhat different from other days. Eli Lily, the company who founded Zypyrexa (aka Olanzapine, an anti-psychotic drug) invited Dr. Vincent Wong, the head of the Psychiatry department of my hospital to come and give a talk about Schizophrenia.

I’ve always known Dr.Vincent as a nice person, recalling back the time he came to take some medicines from me at the pharmacy on a sunny weekend afternoon. From the way he talked to me I could tell he was a friendly, humble person who even asked me what to write in his prescription for a flu drug. We had a light chat and we got to know a little more about each other, which gave me a very good impression of him.

The first slide of his presentation was simple, yet portrayed how he respected the pharmacy profession. “Pharmacists – Our partners in mental health care”. He recognizes that we are facing a tight budget, which makes it difficult for us to buy many expensive drugs for the patients.

You and I might think – “Why do we even bother wasting our money on these psychos?!” But for Dr.Vincent, treating patients with mental illnesses is not an easy job for him. The fact is this – when their illnesses are not well controlled, lives are endangered. Many patients attempt suicide or harm their loved ones because they aren’t thinking like normal people do. And its not their fault at all. Why? Because they can’t think properly due to a chemical imbalance in their brains. Mental illnesses are essentially brain diseases. It’s not because they had a painful breakup or they are “bad guys”, they are born like that. Sometimes stress induced by the physical environment triggers this chemical imbalance which they are born with which causes them to be like this.

I feel ashamed of myself as a pharmacist. We say we want to save lives. Yes, admittedly, we are having trouble with our finances. But we complain whenever the doctor decides to start a patient on an expensive drug, or insists that we give branded drugs over generic, despite both drugs having the same efficacy. But one thing I learnt from this session – is that the most effective drug to treat a mentally ill patient is not the most expensive drug, it is the drug which the patient is most willing to take consistently throughout his life. Patients normally don’t take their drugs because the drug might not be causing any effect, or has excessive side effects. Also, because they don’t think that well, it is more difficult for them to understand that there is not much difference between a branded and generic drug. I feel ashamed of myself because I only see what’s on the surface, that they’re crazy. I get very annoyed whenever they stand in front of the counter demanding that they get their drugs served immediately, with branded labels and also the right colour and right amount of tablets. (Yes, some even count the number of tablets supplied in front of me). But I’ve come to realized, it’s not their fault. I should show empathy towards these patients because they’ve been socially neglected, their families have stopped caring and they cannot function in life.

My call to all pharmacists out there is this: Even if we can’t buy more drugs for the patients, let us treat them with more love and care. Be patient with them and do everything in our power to make their lives better. Find ways to provide them with the medications they need to help them take back control over their lives. Give them a chance at life.

Special thanks to Dr.Vincent for sharing his insights on mental healthcare with us.