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Anatomy of an Epidemic: What impacted me.


KarenB

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Things I underlined in my copy of Anatomy of an Epidemic, by Robert  Whittaker.  (I’ve added bold here for emphasis). 

 

‘Now there may be a number of social factors contributing to the epidemic.  Our society may be organised in a way today that leads to a greater degree of stress and emotional turmoil.  For instance, we may lack the close-knit neighbourhoods that help people stay well.’ P. 208

 

 

‘…over the course of the next 30 years, researchers determined that the drugs work by perturbing the normal functioning of the neuronal pathways in the brain.  In response the brain undergoes ‘compensatory adaptions’ to cope with the drug’s mucking up of its messaging system, and this leaves the brain functioning in an ‘abnormal’ manner.  Rather than fix chemical imbalances in the brain, the drugs create them.’ P.207

 

 

‘”I do wonder what might have happened if [at age sixteen] I [a woman] could have just talked to someone, and they could have helped me learn about what I could do on my own to be a healthy person. … my eating problems, and my diet and exercise, and … how to take care of myself.  Instead, it was you have this problem with your neurotransmitters … take this pill Zoloft, and when that didn’t work, it was take this pill Prozac, and when that didn’t work, it was take this pill Effexor, and then when I started having trouble sleeping, it was take this sleeping pill,” she says, her voice sounding more wistful than ever.  “I am so tired of the pills.”’ P.171

 

 

‘A study conducted by the World Health Organisation … [found it was those] who weren’t exposed to psychotropic medications (whether diagnosed or not) that had the best outcomes.  They enjoyed much better ‘general health’ at the end of one year, their depressive symptoms were much milder, and a lower percentage were judged to still be ‘mentally’ ill.  The group that suffered most from ‘continued depression’ were the patients treated with an antidepressant.’ P. 165

 

 

‘“I thought that sincere human involvement and understanding were critical to healing interactions,” he [Loren Mosher, schizophrenia doctor] said.  “The idea was to treat people as people, as human beings, with dignity and respect.”’ P.102

2010  Fluoxetine 20mg.  2011  Escitalopram 20mg.  2013 Tapered badly and destabilised CNS.  Effexor 150mg. 

2015 Begin using info at SurvivingAntidepressants.  Cut 10% - bad w/d 2 months, held 1 month. 

Micro-tapering: four weekly 0.4% cuts, hold 4 weeks (struggling with symptoms).

8 month hold.

2017 Micro-tapering: four weekly 1% cuts, hold 4 weeks (symptoms almost non-existent).

2020 Still micro-tapering. Just over 2/3 of the way off effexor. Minimal symptoms, - and sleeping well.
Supplements: Fish oil, vitamin C, iron, oat-straw tea, nettle tea.

2023 Now on 7 micro-beads of Effexor. Minimal symptoms but much more time needed between drops.

 'The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists.'  Dr Gabor Mate.

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An amazing book..the truth can be so refreshing. :)

WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG
Had a car accident in 85
Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89
Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year
Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above.
One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking.

As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/

There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in :)

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sad that you even have to have a policy of "treating people like people"

 

it's like the old anti stigma ads that came out in the 80s I think:

How do you treat a person with a mental illness?
Like a person.

 

  • pysch med history: 1974 @ age 18 to Oct 2017 (approx 43 yrs total) 
  •  Drug list: stelazine, haldol, elavil, lithium, zoloft, celexa, lexapro(doses as high as 40mgs), klonopin, ambien, seroquel(high doses), depakote, zyprexa, lamictal- plus brief trials of dozens of other psych meds over the years
  • started lexapro 2002, dose varied from 20mgs to 40mgs. First attempt to get off it was 2007- WD symptoms were mistaken for "relapse". 
  •  2013 too fast taper down to 5mg but WD forced me back to 20mgs
  •  June of 2105, tapered again too rapidly to 2.5mgs by Dec 2015. Found SA, held at 2.5 mgs til May 2016 when I foolishly "jumped off". felt ok until  Sept, then acute WD hit!!  reinstated at 0.3mgs in Oct. 2106
  • Tapered off to zero by  Oct. 2017 Doing very well. 
  • Nov. 2018 feel 95% healed, age 63 
  • Jan. 2020 feel 100% healed, peaceful and content
  • Dec 2023 Loving life! ❤️ with all it's ups and downs ;) 
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And sad that most institutions don't even seem to think of this, except for in lip-service on glossy brochures.  I guess most decisions are easier if you don't view people as people.  

 

I remember when I was a teenager and first heard the phrase 'human resources' that companies use.  It revolted me that people were segmented down to that - a resource for a company. 

 

One thing I loved about AOAE was it's stories of those who cared for people with a human-to-human response.  As opposed to professional-to-patient.  Or supplier-to-buyer.  There is scary stuff in the book, for sure, but also such immense human kindness.  That's what I look to, and it's what guides my healing. 

2010  Fluoxetine 20mg.  2011  Escitalopram 20mg.  2013 Tapered badly and destabilised CNS.  Effexor 150mg. 

2015 Begin using info at SurvivingAntidepressants.  Cut 10% - bad w/d 2 months, held 1 month. 

Micro-tapering: four weekly 0.4% cuts, hold 4 weeks (struggling with symptoms).

8 month hold.

2017 Micro-tapering: four weekly 1% cuts, hold 4 weeks (symptoms almost non-existent).

2020 Still micro-tapering. Just over 2/3 of the way off effexor. Minimal symptoms, - and sleeping well.
Supplements: Fish oil, vitamin C, iron, oat-straw tea, nettle tea.

2023 Now on 7 micro-beads of Effexor. Minimal symptoms but much more time needed between drops.

 'The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists.'  Dr Gabor Mate.

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  • 4 months later...

An amazing book..the truth can be so refreshing. :)

 

Agreed. I hope the truth eventually comes out to the majority of people. I had never heard of the MindFreedom Six until I read this book. 

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