Personal accounts of making choices about antipsychotic medication
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Personal accounts of the decisions and processes involved in making choices about antipsychotic medication
IRAS ID
143440
Contact name
Gabrielle Le Geyt
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Manchester
Research summary
Psychosis is the term used to describe the experience of unusual thoughts, beliefs and phenomena, including hearing voices that others can’t hear. This is most commonly treated with antipsychotic medication, however it is well documented that many individuals who are prescribed antipsychotics, choose to take less than the prescribed number or come off completely. This process is often done covertly and in a way that might be dangerous to the individual’s health due to medications being managed without professional support. As such, there is a need to understand more clearly what influences peoples’ decisions so that mental health services can develop better interventions and means of supporting people in making safe choices about their recovery. Although many people choose to make these potentially dangerous decisions, the processes involved in these choices are unknown.
The current study aims to explore personal accounts of the choices involved in managing antipsychotic medication from service users’ perspectives. In particular, we aim to examine the decisions and processes involved in reducing or coming off antipsychotic medication.We plan to recruit approximately 12-14 people to the study who have had a period of reducing or coming off antipsychotic medication. Using semi-structured interviews informed by a topic guide we seek to explore the decision-making processes involved reducing or coming off medication and the psychological and social factors that may inform these decisions. We will also examine the ways in which people translate decisions into actions and the factors that facilitate or hinder this process. We will ask participants about the outcomes associated with their choices and explore the aspirations and expectations that may underpin decisions. With this information, we aim to develop an explanatory theory (i.e. an explanation of the experience from the individual’s perspective) about the psychosocial processes associated with making choices about antipsychotic medication use.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/0306
Date of REC Opinion
23 May 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion