This week, I interview Doctor Peter Groot from the User Research Center of the Maastricht University. Dr. Groot kindly took time out of his busy schedule to talk to me about his own experiences with antidepressants, his approach when creating tapering strips and some of the difficulties encountered along the way.
This week we interview Sinead who has taken antidepressant drugs for the last 16 years. Sinead has attempted to withdraw on several occasions and describes the challenges that she faced.
This week we interview Judy Meyer. Judy is a holistic mental health practitioner, mental health advocate and founder of the Alternative Health Revolution.
This week we interview Elaine who has taken antidepressant and stimulant drugs for anxiety issues such as OCD. She describes her experiences with the drugs, how she approached her withdrawal and describes feeling humiliated and judged by her psychiatrists rather than helped.
This week, we talk to Chaya Grossberg. Chaya shares her own experiences of the psychiatric system and psychiatric drugs and also tells us how she now helps and supports those struggling to withdraw from their psychiatric medications.
This week we interview Stevie who describes her experiences taking antidepressant drugs and her severe and protracted reaction to trying to withdraw. She also tells us about the help and support she received and what approaches she took to support herself during the most difficult times.
Psychiatric drugs can’t address isolation, poverty, inequality, racism, intolerance, hatred, bigotry, sexism, etc., but they can mask those things. Perhaps that is why they are so successful. The blame is placed on us, the patient, for being broken because it obviates the need for powers that be to take any action to address those underlying causes of distress and suffering.
One year ago, on May 12th, 2017, I swapped from an antidepressant tablet to a liquid formulation with the intention of coming off the drug slowly and carefully. This is my third attempt to stop an antidepressant that I have been taking for five years. Since doctors remain either largely unaware, or unwilling to admit how problematic withdrawal can be, I relied on the internet for advice. In my experience, unless you have been through this process you really are in no place to safely advise others.
This week, we talk to Holly Higgins. Holly shares her own experiences of the psychiatric system and psychiatric drugs, how she approached withdrawal from the drugs and talks about how she became a nutritional therapy practitioner. Holly now supports others in managing their mental health using nutrition and her excellent website Pills to Paleo provides a wide range of helpful resources for those that want to improve their mental health without resorting to psychiatric drugs.