There may be several benefits to appropriate self-medication, among them: increased access to medication and relief for the patient, the active role of the patient in his or her own health care. However, the demerits of this practice, has a longer list: It is far from being a completely safe practice, because it is non-responsible self-medication.
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If you do self-medication, it includes the risk of incorrect self-diagnosis, delay in seeking medical advice, possible adverse reactions, dangerous drug interactions, incorrect manner of administration, incorrect dosage, incorrect choice of therapy, masking of a severe disease and risk of dependence and abuse.
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Medicines for self-medication are often called ‘non-prescription’ or ‘over-the-counter’ (OTC) and are available without a doctor’s prescription. This also means that over consumption of this can lead to addiction as well.
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It can be used to kill or harm other individuals directly or indirectly
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Likewise, overuse can also cause problems – lowering your pain threshold for instance.
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The attempt to think like a doctor when it comes to diagnosing diseases can be a problem. However, treating yourself with medication can be highly complicated and there are too many factors to consider meaning something can easily go wrong.
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Once a person experiences relief using a certain drug or combination of drugs, they tend to believe in its ability to cure them and also advise the same to another suffering from the problem. This exchanging of ideas can cause harm and in some cases and when unsupervised can also lead to death.
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Doctors are there for a reason and they have studied medicine and the human reaction to it. It is advisable that you let the experts do the diagnosis. Sure, doctors can be wrong at times, but that does not mean their advice should not be listened to.
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