History Main / MedicateTheMedium

* In ''[[Fanfic/EchoesOfEternity The Memory]]'', Christian is one of the ''very'' few who can see the CuteGhostGirl Maria Robotnik. At first his parents find it simply to be the mind of an overly imaginative little kid, but as time goes on it becomes less and less cute when he continues to talk to his "friend Maria". Eventually Christian is put on medicine that stops him from seeing Maria. She still sticks around nevertheless. After Christian [[NoMedicineForMe goes off his meds]] as an adult, suddenly he can see Maria again and he realizes that she wasn't just an imaginary friend or a hallucination.

* ''FanFic/{{Bird}}'': Many patients at Alchemilla are not actually insane, and are medicated to deal with dangerous, indiscriminate, or uncontrolled powers. It's repeatedly lampshaded that one of the reasons some parahumans are difficult to control is because thier brain chemistry can differ from baseline humans, thus reducing the effectiveness of medication.[[/folder]]

* This trope is inverted in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' with Mama Murphy, whose uncannily accurate psychic visions are bought about by excessive chem use. Convince her to go clean, and she'll be BroughtDownToNormal. (Then again, [[spoiler:it'll save her from an overdose of Psycho.]])

In TV-land or in other media involving the supernatural, however, this may run into the snag that the patient may just be [[ISeeDeadPeople seeing real ghosts and spirits]]. In this case, antipsychotic medication isn't likely to help. Mix in a generous helping of the {{Masquerade}}, and the most likely result is that, in absence of an actual medical condition, the patient will be put on increasingly stronger medication. If they are lucky, the drugs will dull their sensitivity. If they are not, they will be institutionalized, to be tormented by the side effects of their medication and the apparitions. Worst case scenario: the therapists are completely aware of the supernatural and either believe TheWorldIsNotReady or are part of TheSchizophreniaConspiracy opposed by psychics.

Compare and contrast TheyWouldCutYouUp, for nasty things that happen when the doctors are all too aware of what ails the subject. Given the choice, the patient may decide on NoMedicationForMe, unless they're better off suppressing the visions.

* In the first season of ''Series/IronFist2017'', Danny Rand is thrown in a BedlamHouse by the heirs to his parents' company - who are enjoying his money too much to admit his identity. Once he wakes up strapped to a bed, the first thing he realizes is that the drugs interfere with his KiManipulation abilities. After a few days he's able to convince one of the therapists he actually is a disenfranchised heir, but because false belief in superpowers is a known phenomenon and he can't demonstrate them is still considered delusional. Danny eventually [[FightOffTheKryptonite focuses hard enough]] to purge the drugs from his system and punches his way to freedom - through a two-foot steel door.

* In the first season of ''Series/IronFist2017'', Danny Rand is thrown in a BedlamHouse by the heirs to his parents' company - who are enjoying his money too much to admit his identity. Once he wakes up strapped to a bed, the first thing he realizes is that the drugs knock out his KiManipulation abilities. After a few days he's able to convince one of the therapists he actually is a disenfranchised heir, but the therapist still believes (despite living in the MarvelCinematicUniverse) that Danny [[ArbitrarySkepticism doesn't have powers]] and thus is too crazy to leave. Danny eventually [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower focuses hard enough]] to purge the drugs from his system on his own and punches his way to freedom - through a two-foot steel door. (Though the therapist justifies his doubt by saying that since the "Incident" numerous people with mental disorders have claimed to have superpowers.)

* Slayer, Interrupted is all about this in this Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic installment set between the Buffy movie and the TV show.

* In the first season of ''Series/IronFist2017'', Danny Rand is thrown in a BedlamHouse by the heirs to his parents' company - who are enjoying his money too much to admit his identity. Once he wakes up strapped to a bed, the first thing he realizes is that the drugs knock out his KiManipulation abilities. After a few days he's able to convince one of the therapists he actually is a disenfranchised heir, but the therapist still believes (despite living in the MarvelCinematicUniverse) that Danny [[ArbitrarySkepticism doesn't have powers]] and thus is too crazy to leave. Danny eventually [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower focuses hard enough]] to purge the drugs from his system on his own and punches his way to freedom - through a two-foot steel door.

** By the time of ''Film/FreddyVsJason'', however, people know enough about Freddy and what he can do that experiments on drugs that put people to sleep but keep them from achieving REM state (which is where science says "dreams" occur, and thus where Freddy strikes) are boing done. Unfortunately, Freddy destroys said experimental drugs before any of the protagonists can obtain them.

* In the first season of ''Series/IronFist2017'', Danny Rand is thrown in a BedlamHouse by the heirs to his parents' company - who are enjoying his money too much to admit his identity. Once he wakes up strapped to a bed, the first thing he realizes is that the drugs knock out his KiManipulation abilities. After a few days he's able to convince one of the therapists he actually is a disenfranchised heir, but the therapist still believes (despite living in the MarvelCinematicUniverse) that Danny [[ArbitrarySkepticism doesn't have powers]] and thus is too crazy to leave. Danny eventually [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower focuses hard enough]] to purge the drugs from his system and punches his way to freedom - through a two-foot steel door.

* ''FanFic/{{Bird}}'': Many patients at Alchemilla are not actually insane, and are medicated to deal with dangerous, indiscriminate, or uncontrolled powers. It's repeatedly lampshaded that one of the reasons some parahumans are difficult to control is because thier brain chemistry can differ from baseline humans, thus reducing it's effectiveness.
[[/folder]]

In TV-land or in other media involving the supernatural, however, this may run into the snag that the patient may just be [[ISeeDeadPeople seeing real ghosts and spirits]]. In this case, antipsychotic medication isn't likely to help. Mix in a generous helping of {{Masquerade}}, and the most likely result is that, in absence of an actual medical condition, the patient will be put on increasingly stronger medication. If they are lucky, the drugs will dull their sensitivity. If they are not, they will be institutionalized, to be tormented by the side effects of their medication and the apparitions. Worst case scenario: The therapists are completely aware of the supernatural and either believe TheWorldIsNotReady or are part of TheSchizophreniaConspiracy opposed by psychics.

In TV-land, however, this may run into the snag that the patient may just be [[ISeeDeadPeople seeing real ghosts and spirits]]. In this case, antipsychotic medication isn't likely to help. Mix in a generous helping of {{Masquerade}}, and the most likely result is that, in absence of an actual medical condition, the patient will be put on increasingly stronger medication. If they are lucky, the drugs will dull their sensitivity. If they are not, they will be institutionalized, to be tormented by the side effects of their medication and the apparitions. Worst case scenario: The therapists are completely aware of the supernatural and either believe TheWorldIsNotReady or are part of TheSchizophreniaConspiracy opposed by psychics.

* Zandalee from ''Webcomic/DemonHunterKain'' spent four years in a mental institution, until spirits either left her alone for a while or the medication dulled her ability to sense them.

* This trope is inverted in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' with Mama Murphy, whose uncannily accurate psychic visions are bought about by excessive chem use. Convince her to go clean, and she'll be BroughtDownToNormal. (Then again, [[spoiler:it'll save her from an overdose.]])

* Zandalee from ''Webcomic/DemonHunterKain'' spent four years in a mental institution, until spirits either left her alone for a while or the medication dulled her sensitivity.

** Unfortunately, the Russian joke isn't that funny once you know that haloperidol is often given to people with dementia who experience hallucinations. In some cases it helps, in others, not so much. In at least one type of dementia, the hallucinations have a different cause and the haloperidol makes the hallucinations worse instead of better. There has been at least one real life case in which a doctor failed to recognize this.

* Unfortunately, the Russian joke isn't that funny once you know that haloperidol is often given to people with dementia who experience hallucinations. In some cases it helps, in others, not so much. In at least one type of dementia, the hallucinations have a different cause and the haloperidol makes the hallucinations worse instead of better. There has been at least one real life case in which a doctor failed to recognize this.

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* A little known fact about modern psychiatry is that much of it began in the SpookySeance room as medical doctors and scholars tried to ascertain if spirits and spirit communication could be real, and how to distinguish between mediumship and mental illness. [[http://www.survivalafterdeath.info/ These doctors]] were some of the first to research how hypnosis could be used to benefit clients, and the first to describe and name dissociation and multiple personalities in their modern context as psychological conditions.

* Cordelia of the ''Literature/TheVorkosiganSaga'' got a rare non-supernatural version of this, since she couldn't tell the whole story about her involvement in the Barrayar-Escobar war and the part she could tell was dismissed as obvious Barrayaran brainwashing.

* Unfortunately, the Russian joke isn't that funny once you know that haloperidol is often given to people with dementia who experience hallucinations. In some cases it helps, in others, not so much. In at least one type of dementia, the hallucinations have a different cause and the haloperidol makes the hallucinations worse instead of better. There has been at least one real life case in which a doctor failed to recognize this.

* Not exactly this but close, Cade Skywalker from the comic book series ''StarWarsLegacy'' medicates himself with death sticks (a narcotic drug) to prevent himself from seeing spirits of his ancestors.

* In ''TwinPeaks'', taking the medium off his medication was part of the process of solving the murder of Laura Palmer.

* In ''GhostWhisperer'', Melinda's half-brother was put through rough treatment in medical facilities because of his powers. Melinda escaped this fate because she lived with her grandmother who also had the sight. This key difference in the reactions to their powers defines who they become in life.