Dear Psychiatrist – I Survived
It took me over 20 years to believe in myself enough to walk away from psychiatry and psych drugs and regain my life. I not only survived, but I am also thriving.
You’re Not Crazy
I want others who have PTSD to know that, yes, recovery is tough going, but you can rebuild trust in the world and your future.
My Story and My Fight Against Antidepressants
I’d like to share a bit about what happened to me after being placed on these medications, and how I successfully got off. Until recently, I was embarrassed to talk about my personal experiences publicly, as I’m a professional who specializes in anxiety and depression. Today, medication free, I feel better than ever before, and I am now on a mission to help my current clients get off medications, and to inform others through my writing about the dangers and pitfalls of starting antidepressants.
Inhumane Medicine in Germany: A Dark Chapter Continued
Although I left Ueckermünde without the ability to speak, heavily traumatized and barely able to move, I managed to reclaim life after more than a decade. Today I am one of the few witnesses who survived the Hell of Ueckermünde, who can tell the story of my companions and raise awareness of the injustice committed against us as well as demand answers.
2017: My Descent Into Mayhem
It’s time to seek out and rescue those pieces of me still trapped in that time and allow them to finally be at peace.
Seeing Mental Illness as a Spiritual Illness
I am a simple woman, 47, single mother of two beautiful children, diagnosed bipolar 10 years ago, and I want more from the way...
The Wound That Speaks
In my case, writing was the beginning of healing. It pulled me out of the abyss and gave me structure, voice, and purpose. It gave me a sense of authorship over a life hijacked by memory.
Gabapentin Horror
After suffering PTSD in the late 1980s, I reluctantly accepted antidepressants. In time, I had resolved the trauma, but when I tried to stop the antidepressants (Prozac, and later Zoloft), I assumed my desperate feelings and “return” of depression were an indication I had an imbalance and needed those drugs. I didn’t understand I was experiencing withdrawal. (I was never told that for most people, psychiatric medications need to be tapered.)
What I Wish I’d Asked Dr. Gabor Maté When I Had the Chance
Does my complex PTSD, depression and rage go back farther than I think? Back to the womb and my earliest days of life? Is that even possible?
Schizophrenia Deconstructed
After a few weeks it became clear to me the complete lack of comprehension that I faced as a person claiming to have been cured of psychosis. Being a schizophrenic claiming to no longer suffer from schizophrenia only made me seem more schizophrenic due to the current culture of psychiatry.
What I Learned as a Moderator for an Antidepressant Taper Support Group
Medication support groups are saving lives and brains because doctors do not know how to safely taper off psych meds.
Training Days: Surthriving an Execution, Antidepressants, then Myself — A Cop’s Tale
Recovery from PTSD and from all the drugs I was prescribed was a journey filled with ups and downs, setbacks, and breakthroughs.
Psychiatric Butchery: What I’ve Seen at a Homeless Shelter for Women with Children
Children are being given psychiatric drugs, “treated” for the abuse they receive in the harsh world of the homeless.
Something Broken: My Mother’s Story
The use of psychiatry against women who have experienced male violence is a form of control. It silences women and maintains the status quo.
That Others May Live: An Airman’s Mental Health and Medication Hurricane
“These things we do, so others may live.” It took a small army of my brothers and sisters in and out of uniform to drag me out of my abyss.
Escaping The Shackles of Psychiatry: What I’ve Seen and Survived, as Both Doctor and...
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” said Edmund Burke. This is as true on...
A Love Letter to the Mad
My madness forged me. Madness led me to deeper truths. Madness discarded beliefs which no longer served me.
Green Star Mother Demands Answers from VA Secretary
If the Veterans Administration is sincere in wanting to reduce veteran suicides, the first place to start is to collect information following these deaths to try to better understand the causes.
The “Sick Enough” Paradox in Eating Disorder Treatment
I had internalized that not only would I be socially rewarded for starving myself, but also that I could only earn care by proving that I was sick enough to meet their criteria.
A Victim Re-Victimised
I had just been physically abused, deprived of my liberty and had my property stolen. Yet, I was the one who was being arrested.
Guardianship Destroyed My Family
People who can’t take care of themselves need support and protection, but guardianship provides neither. I know: I've lived it.
My Red October – An Army Veteran’s Crucible to Recovery
After my VA mental health team prescribed Prozac, I began experiencing rapidly escalating behavioral changes. The drug was never considered as a potential cause.
Gabapentin Withdrawal: One Year Later
Even though I was only on the medication for a little over six months, I am still traveling down the long road of psychiatric drug withdrawal. This is the hardest thing I have ever endured.
Antidepressant-Induced Mania: When My Mind Became a Literal Hell
The amount of anxiety I felt on these medications — and for a couple of years after — was unfathomable. I felt as though I was trapped in an air-tight vat, constantly gasping for breath. And my thoughts were guided by my state of constant worry and panic.
How I Healed My ‘Bipolar Disorder’
I was desperate to get off the medication. I wanted to be in control of myself again; independent and capable. The label of Bipolar Disorder made me feel like I was seen as a crazy person who did not fit into society. I wanted my dignity back!
