WHY 'Bitter Medicine' ?

Bitter Medicine is an interesting title because it contradicts itself. Something that is bitter is (usually) not a pleasant taste and is disliked by some people. Medicine, the word itself symbolizes something positive, because medicine is something you take to cure what ails you. Throughout the memoir, Clem talks about the various medications that Liv takes. The drugs that Liv takes, Stelazine for example, “eliminated most of his hallucinations. It also diminished his paranoia and had a positive influence on his mood disorders.” (Clem 171). These were the positive effects of the drug and I would label them as ‘medicine.’ However, there are side effects to Stelazine which I would consider the ‘bitter’ part. Clem even says “it had a long ad nasty history of undesirable side effects. The tension generated in tis duality – benefit versus harm” (Clem 171).

So in this sense, Bitter Medicine is an appropriate title for this memoir because the road to curing mental illness walks hand in hand with risks and side effects, no matter what the medication is, there is always a bitter side to it. Bitter Medicine can also be interpreted as a statement towards the medical system and how it has treated mental patients bitterly. Treatment is received through the hospitals and doctors, and psychiatrists, and nurses, and institutions; but throughout this memoir, Clem expresses strongly what a bitter experience it was, having his brother Liv treated as a second class patient due to his mental illness. And that is the essence of Bitter Medicine, it is something that you need to cure what ails you, but at the same time it’s a bitter experience to take.