Reasons for Not Adhering to Treatment with Medication
Reasons for Not Adhering to Treatment with Medication
Forgetting to take the medication
Not understanding or misinterpreting the instructions
Experiencing side effects (the treatment may be perceived as worse than the disorder)
Finding the medication to taste or smell bad
Finding restrictions while taking the medication to be inconvenient (for example, having to avoid sunlight, alcohol, or milk products)
Having to take the medication very frequently or follow complicated instructions
Denying the disorder (repressing the diagnosis or its significance)
Believing that the medication cannot help or is not needed
Mistakenly believing that the disorder has been sufficiently treated (for example, thinking an infection is over just because the fever disappears)
Fearing dependence on the medication
Worrying about the expense
Not caring (being apathetic) about getting better
Encountering obstacles (for example, having difficulty swallowing tablets or capsules, having problems opening bottles, or being unable to obtain the medication)
