My Much Needed Medications

Aberrant Selected would have been impossible to publish, let alone write, if it were not for my anti-psychotic medications. It is because of these medications that I am in a full remission with schizophrenia. And, by the way, a full remission is different from a cure. Being in remission means I still have the disease but am symptom free due to regularly taking the meds. A cure for schizophrenia, and mental illness in general, is still impossible with today's state of medical knowledge.

     I take two meds for the schizophrenia: Flupenthixol, 20 mg, and Olanzapine, 7.5 mg. The Flupenthixol is an intramuscular injection and at the dose I have it it has mood elevating properties. I have to take it every two weeks and for almost all of those two weeks I am in a fantastic mood, able to cope with almost anything that modern life throws at me. I also have the privilege of injecting myself, a privilege not given to all schizophrenics, in my experience.

     The Olanzapine I have to take every night, usually around 7 pm, and it helps to keep my brain chemistry stable. This medication has the side effect of making one sleep and I usually take it two hours before retiring for the night. This side effect is actually a boon as, like most schizophrenics, I have trouble falling asleep, as well as awaking for the day.

     It took me about ten years to find the right meds, at the right dose, and it is because of them that I am able to function as a productive member of society. Aberrant Selected would not have been written without these meds and the meds also make the writing process very enjoyable, or, rather, more enjoyable. If you'd like to listen to a radio interview of me on Radio Skid Row, a Sydney community radio station, talking with Jessica Revill about the writing process and my schizophrenia, click on the following link: http://bit.ly/1uj4Q8s

     All this being said, a lot of the characters in Aberrant Selected do not take their recommended medications, believing themselves not really mentally ill and therefore not needing to take them. This attitude is very, very common amongst the mentally ill, and was my own attitude for almost a decade. But unlike in real life not taking their meds doesn't adversely affect the characters; another property of Aus. The main thing that got me to take the meds was receiving safe, affordable housing (I chose to be homeless between the ages of 22 and 27. I have published a book about this positive experience (yes, it was a positive experience, largely so) entitled King Street Blues and it is available from the Amazon website as an ebook or as a paperback. Other ebook and paperback options are available from www.lulu.com.) and I am religious about taking the medications when they're due as I do not want to lose my flat and once again become homeless, largely positive as the experience was.

     Lastly, I am very fortunate to receive these medications at a subsidised rate and is another reason why I am able not only to afford them but, always having a subsidised supply, can take them on time. I often gratefully think of the Australian government subsidising these meds, which in turn allow me to lead a productive life, and to fulfill my life's dream of being a writer. God bless Australia (and Aus)!