Mitigating Measures
It is important to keep in mind that in determining the impact of a mitigating measure on a particular person, you must consider both the positive and negative effects that the measure may have on the person's ability to function.
For example, suppose a person has the psychiatric disorder of schizophrenia. Without medication, she cannot care for herself. When she takes medication, she is able to function much better in her daily life; the medication is therefore a mitigating measure, because it mitigates (lessens) the effects of her illness. However, the medication has the side effects of slowing down her thought processes and causing short-term memory loss. To determine whether her schizophrenia is substantially limiting, not only the effects of the disease itself, but also the positive and negative effects of the medication, must be considered.
