“I choose to take my medication because I want to stay on track.”

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You can increase the likelihood of staying well by continuing to cooperate with treatment as prescribed. This may include medication as well as psychological and social therapies.

It is important to work with your doctor to find the treatment options that work best for you. This may mean trying a number of medications, whether in tablet or injection form, before you find one that reduces the symptoms of schizophrenia with minimal side effects.

Tablets are usually taken every day, while injections, or long-acting therapies, are usually given once a fortnight or once a month by a nurse or a doctor.

You may start feeling better a few weeks after you start receiving treatment. However, it’s important that you don’t take yourself off therapy when you start to feel better without first talking with your doctor.

By setting short and long-term goals with your doctor, your family and your friends, and working with them to achieve these goals, you will begin to have confidence in your treatment and confidence that you can continue on your journey of recovery.