No Link Between Serotonin and Depression: What Does That Mean for Antidepressants?
Peter Simons covers in detail a new systematic review that debunks the widely popularized myth of low serotonin in depression, the “chemical imbalance theory.”
Stevie: Severe and Protracted Withdrawal From Paroxetine
Stevie describes her experiences taking antidepressant drugs and her severe and protracted reaction to trying to withdraw.
Lithium, Antidepressants, Esketamine—All No Better Than Placebo?
Peter Simons covers a clinical trial that found lithium ineffective at preventing suicide attempts, an essay by Allen Frances on the overdiagnosis of depression and overprescription of antidepressants, a review of the ineffectiveness and dangers of antidepressants, and an analysis that revealed that esketamine failed five of its six clinical trials.
Claire: Antidepressant Withdrawal, Tapering and SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome
Claire shares her powerful story of being prescribed antidepressants at the age of 16 and her experiences of trying to withdraw., describing how she tapered gradually over 2 years, but went on to experience SSRI discontinuation syndrome
What If This Pandemic Is the Best Thing to Happen to Children with Challenges?
Families may be worried that the stress of lockdown may aggravate their child’s struggles. Yet, we hear some parents say the situation has changed their child for the better. Why might that be? In this interview, Dr. Nicole Beurkens talks about the impact of “quarantine life” on children with different types of behavioral, emotional, and neurodevelopmental challenges.
Sabrina Louise: Sane Vegan Transition
Does a diet without animal products improve mental health? Why can changing to plant based nutrition be so hard to sustain? And are people's food ethics a symptom of an eating disorder and neglected self-care?
A New Mental Health System? Jim Van Os & Will Hall
From Mad in America Hispano Hablante. With one of the highest mental health expenditures in Europe, the Netherlands is going through a period of...
Chaya Grossberg: A Naturopathic Approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing
Chaya Grossberg shares her own experiences of the psychiatric system and how she now helps and supports those struggling to withdraw from their psychiatric medications.
Break Down. Wake Up. podcast – 004 – Embracing the Unknown…not Alone With Robert...
How a period of chaos and blackouts brought an international trainer to his own vulnerability and nudged him to stop doing everything on his own.
Rachel Jane Liebert: Decolonizing Early Psychosis
Do early psychosis programs serve healing – or function as surveillance and control? Are treatments for paranoia actually themselves forms of paranoia, based on scientific racism and white supremacy?
Jim van Os: New Vision for Psychiatry
Jim van Os, professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology at Maastricht University and member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Science with more than 700 publications, is one of the top one percent highly cited scientists in the world.
Break Down. Wake Up. podcast – 011 – Discovering Safety and Wisdom Within the...
In this episode, we explore how the tendency to attach our personal value to our businesses or professions can push us to overwork ourselves, the body's incredible creative ways to bring itself back into a state of balance and safety, and how trauma works itself both through the body and through our relationships.
Leah Harris: Stop The Murphy Bill
Leah Harris, psychiatric abuse survivor and organizer for the Campaign for Real Change in Mental Health Policy, completed an investigative report on the Murphy Bill’s potential impact on people in crisis, how the gun manufacturer lobby is involved, and the role of Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.
Tina: Medication Changes and Antidepressant Withdrawal
Tina talks about her experience with depression, her use of antidepressant drugs and how a change in her medication led to her withdrawal problems.
Elaine: Feeling Judged By Psychiatry
Elaine has taken antidepressant and stimulant drugs for anxiety, she describes feeling humiliated and judged by her psychiatrists rather than helped.
Megan: Approaching Antidepressant Withdrawal After Prior Failed Attempts
Megan talks about her experience with anxiety and insomnia, her attempts to withdraw from her medications and how she approached her tapering more carefully to minimise withdrawal effects.
Break Down. Wake Up. podcast – 008 – Embodying a Message for the Community...
How his own madness inspired Matt Ball, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, to cultivate human connection, community and meaning in the mental healthcare system.
False Positives in Brain Imaging, Unpublished and Missing Trials, and Conflicts of Interest
In our Science News podcast, Peter Simons reports on false positives in brain imaging, unpublished and missing trials, conflicts of interest and more.
Break Down. Wake Up. podcast – 002 – Doing Things Differently with Joshua Haynes
Joshua Haynes - How growing up in a world of constant change inspired an innovative business and commitment to equality.
Simone: Postnatal Depression, Fibromyalgia and Antidepressants
Simone talks about her experiences of postnatal depression, fibromyalgia and her treatment with antidepressants.
Herman Garcia – Ryan Bemis: Borderlands Acupuncture
Herman Garcia is the Vice President and Ryan Bemis Founder of Crossroads Community Supported Healthcare, which offers practical skills training to local healers in the violence-stricken communities of Ciudad Juarez and Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico.
Meghann: Prescribed Antidepressants For OCD Aged 9 and Stopping Them 17 Years Later
Meghann describes starting antidepressant drugs for OCD at the age of 9, how she came to consider her withdrawal after 17 years and how she feels now, 2 years after finishing with the drugs.
Break Down. Wake Up. podcast – 012 – Listening to her Whole Self…Even the...
How coming to terms with her own relationship doubt and a part of herself she did not want to see brought an executive coach deep compassion for herself and others.
Giovanna: Withdrawing from SSRI Antidepressants After 23 Years
We talk to Giovanna from Australia who was prescribed an antidepressant aged 17 and tried many times to withdraw over the next 23 years. She shares her experiences with us including the advice and support that she received and her hopes for the future.
Daryl: Prescribed Antidepressant Drugs At 9 Years Old
Daryl, who was only 9 years old when he was taken into mental health services and medicated, talks about being made to take both antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs and he describes the lies told to him to justify treatment.
