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Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America by Robert Whitaker

 

from http://books.google.com/books?id=wY5_T4gCMXMC&dq=robert+whitaker+magic&source=gbs_navlinks_s

 

"In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added to the government disability rolls because they have become newly disabled by mental illness, with this epidemic spreading most rapidly among our nation’s children. What is going on?

 

Anatomy of an Epidemic challenges readers to think through that question themselves. First, Whitaker investigates what is known today about the biological causes of mental disorders. Do psychiatric medications fix “chemical imbalances” in the brain, or do they, in fact, create them? Researchers spent decades studying that question, and by the late 1980s, they had their answer. Readers will be startled—and dismayed—to discover what was reported in the scientific journals...."

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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An Interview with Charles L. Whitfield: On his new book

 

Not Crazy: You May Not be Mentally Ill

 

http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/book_reviews/105381.html

 

 

02/01/2011 15:33:00 Michael F. Shaughnessy Senior Columnist EducationNews.org

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Michael F. Shaughnessy - The chances are 90% or more of someone being misdiagnosed―not just in psychiatry but in most of medicine, and perhaps a lower percentage among many who consult psychologists, social workers or counselors.

 

Michael F. Shaughnessy

Eastern New Mexico University

Portales, New Mexico

 

 

1) Dr. Whitfield, your book discusses those individuals who may be misdiagnosed. In the field of psychiatry, what are the chances of someone being misdiagnosed?

 

The chances are 90% or more of someone being misdiagnosed―not just in psychiatry but in most of medicine, and perhaps a lower percentage among many who consult psychologists, social workers or counselors.

 

The problem is two-fold: for nearly all patients who present to clinicians with psychiatric or psychological symptoms (emotional, behavioral or relationship pain or problems) the helping professionals’ 1) using the unscientific psychiatry diagnostic “bible” called the DSM (which most of the latter group still uses), and 2) then after misdiagnosing them, giving drugs or referring them for drugs as an answer.

 

Most of we prescription writers were taught how to write them but not so much how to discern which drugs worked well and which ones were more toxic than helpful.

 

Many who come for help with these complaints actually have PTSD or other effects of trauma which can mimic the symptoms of “mental illness.” Most physicians and many non-MD clinicians don't know or don't have skills in recognizing the effects of repeated childhood and later trauma on peoples' mental and physical health.

 

Those hurtful effects are significant and large. The scientific evidence is also significant to overwhelming for repeated trauma as a causal factor in disrupting the victim's mental and physical health.

 

For example, in my two prior books The Truth about Depression and The Truth about Mental Illness I document well over 300 peer reviewed and data based studies that were published worldwide that show how repeated trauma causes all kinds of psychological, emotional and physical pain that can be and is regularly misdiagnosed as being one kind or another of "mental Illness" and then mistreated with toxic and mostly ineffective psychiatric drugs.

 

I summarize and discuss these study results in table E-1 from The Truth about Mental Illness and Not Crazy below.

 

 

2) Now, often there are side effects to medications, and then additional pills are given to counteract the side effects. What is going on here?

 

 

Especially for psychiatric drugs the term "side effects" is a cover-up for what the correct term should be―which is toxic effects. As others such as psychiatrists Peter Breggin, Grace Jackson, Joanna Moncrieff and I describe, nearly all psychiatric drugs today are neither satisfactorily effective, specific for any so called "mental illness," nor safe.

 

They don't work well and are commonly detrimental to our well being if we take them long term. Their effects do not hit the target of the presenting complaints well. Rather, their effects are like a shot gun blast, as illustrated from a figure in Chapter 14 in my new book called Not Crazy: You May Not be Mentally Il (see figure).

 

As I write on page 181 in this new book: “A major reason why most commonly prescribed psychiatric drugs are non-specific in their actions and don't work well is because they do not hit the target at which they are aimed, i.e., at one or more presumed mental illness(es). Instead, nearly all of these drugs tend to detrimentally affect many if not most of our organs, functions, and useful human faculties outside of or in addition to the target symptom or symptoms. In that sense they have been called "shotgun" drugs.

 

 

It is as though a marksman is shooting at a target to hit the bulls eye (the symptom or “mental illness” alone) with a single bullet, but instead hits most everything outside the target (i.e., the drug's toxic effects, which BigPharma and the other Bigs disguise by calling them "side effects"). In this sense a psych drug’s shotgun blast at times may hit parts of the target, but it also hits almost everything else in the area―in and around the area in which the target sits, including the trees, the ground and any animals or humans who may be in the background (Figure 14.1).

 

 

These surrounding areas are analogous to many to most of the body's organs, including the brain, nervous system and the mind and its crucial functioning capacities.”

 

I continue: “Psychiatric drugs neither treat nor cure any "mental illness." What they "treat" are psychiatric symptoms―but at a price―by disabling the brain, mind, emotions and our decision-making abilities, and thereby inducing an abnormal brain state.”

 

 

3) Dr. Whitfield, we all have problems and have to deal with death, loss, problems and despair. Should all individuals who have suffered a loss or death be diagnosed and given anti-depressants?

 

 

This is a nearly universal experience that people have who come to clinicians who then misdiagnose their sadness, low energy, anxiety (the common code word for fear), and so forth as "depression" or some other "mental illness" and who are then mistreated with antidepressants and/or other psychiatric drugs. If their symptoms persist, they are commonly further mistreated with "mood stabilizers" (which are actually toxic and expensive anticonvulsive drugs that sedate, promote weight gain and other problems―see figure above) and/or with the even more toxic and addicting antipychotics.

 

Grieving is a natural part of our human experience. Life gives us hurts, losses and traumas for which we normally feel sad and grieve. In psychotherapy we see sadness and grieving as an opportunity to learn to listen to our inner life. What we have lost can often give us gifts if we open to that possibility.

 

 

4) There is this big debate about attention deficit disorder and these kids being given Ritalin, Adderol, Cylert, Concerta, Strattera etc etc (It’s amazing that I have these drugs memorized-what does this say about the field?) Is there any virus, bacteria, or fungus or anything that can definitively diagnose ADD or ADHD?

 

 

ADD is a condition generally made-up by Big Pharma and supported by the other Bigs (Big Government, Big Insurance, Big Academia and Big professional groups) to sell drugs, control people, and maintain their own jobs. Here, those most affected are especially children and increasingly adults who were drugged as kids (and now are commonly still addicted to stimulants and other psychiatric drugs) and/or who want just to use speed legally as a drug.

 

As is true for all common "mental illness," there is no laboratory or other definitive medical diagnostic test to prove that ADD (or ADHD) is a real illness, such as is readily available for diabetes or cirrhosis of the liver. It remains as another bogus marketing device to sell Big Pharma’s drugs, control people and maintain those people’s jobs who promote these stimulants.

 

 

5) A lot of times, children misbehave badly, adolescents behave badly and let’s face it, even some adults commit crimes. Should they all be medicated? Or should they be put in jail? or a padded cell or straight jacket?

 

 

Of course, usually not for the children and adolescents. I admire and recommend the work of James Lehman who pioneered the Empowering Parents program, which shows too-often-enabling parents how to set healthy boundaries and limits with their misbehaving children (see http://www.empoweringparents.com/#).

 

Unfortunately, for criminals the criminal justice system frequently forces many of those convicted to take these toxic psychiatric drugs against their will and usually to their detriment―and which commonly does nothing to prevent further crimes, as I address in Not Crazy.

 

The reader may consider looking at your informative archives that you published on 11/25/2007 for your clear and excellent interview with investigative mental health journalist Robert Whitaker about the drugging of children in America. There he describes how stimulants such as Ritalin and antidepressants too often disrupt a child's mental and emotional equilibrium to such an extent that they get worse and are then misdiagnosed as "bipolar," when in fact this result is actually one of the many toxic effects of these drugs.

 

Then unfortunately, after being misdiagnosed as bipolar the child commonly is given an even more toxic antipsychotic drug and/or a "mood stabilizer," which then usually make them worse instead of better.

 

I describe this worsening process in a recent article entitled "Psychiatric Drugs as Agents of Trauma" in the December 2010 issue of the International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine. I call this worsened condition the Drug Stress Trauma Syndrome, which I also describe in detail in Chapter 7 of Not Crazy.

 

 

6) Alcoholism, Addictions and mental illness- where does one draw the line?

 

 

I address these common, important and treatable problems extensively in all of my books, especially in Not Crazy. Most active addictions can masquerade as, and thus look just like most common "mental illnesses." Clinicians often misdiagnose active addicts with some kind of “mental illness.”

 

 

7) In the minds of some people “relief is just a swallow away”. They think that some pill will banish their fears, worries, anxieties and difficulties. How do we convince these people that counseling may be a better approach?

 

 

This is what I have addressed in my latest twin pair of books: The Truth about Depression and The Truth about Mental Illness. I now expand that information in Not Crazy. I describe how nearly all psychiatric drugs do not work well and how most don't actually help people in this kind of pain at all. They are toxic and addicting. Look again at Figure 14.1 above.

 

 

8) What are your concerns about “forced drugging” especially among the elderly?

 

 

I address forced drugging throughout Not Crazy and especially in its Chapter 10 titled “Forced Drugging.” It is a form of legalized and slow poisoning as Grace Jackson eloquently describes in her recent book Drug-Induced Dementia: A Perfect crime and Peter Breggin also does in most of his books and articles.

 

 

9) I gotta say - I see these commercials on TV and they are advertising drugs for dry eyes, and for erectile dysfunction and for all sorts of problems breathing- and these commercials are very well done and one may think that magically, all these problems are going to vanish. However, even as an EMT, I know that people have seizures, asthma attacks, and simple stomach aches- your thoughts?

 

 

Some chemicals or botanicals used as medicines are helpful and can be life saving at times. But as my colleague J. Douglas Bremner has written in his excellent book Before You Take that Pill, many are also dangerous, and just as psychiatric drugs, they don't work well either.

 

 

10) This question may be irrelevant, but it does seem that name brand drugs work often much better than these generics. I have seen this in some populations I used to work with. What is going on here?

 

 

Most generics work well when compared with brand names. Some don't. It is usually a matter of trial and error to determine what works best for each patient. Brand names are expensive. In the early 1990s the anti anxiety (code word for anti fear) drug Buspirone/BuSpar was around $200 for a month’s supply. Today it is from $4 to $10 at pharmacies that have such generic plans. Buspirone is among the safest and least toxic psychiatric drugs, and it works better than most others.

 

 

11) Tell us about the importance of a good 8 hours of sleep. Then tell us about the importance of nutrition and exercise (I realize this question could take a small book)

 

 

Because it is so important, I address the importance of good sleep in Chapter 15 of Not Crazy in some detail. Chronic sleep loss can make us feel and sometimes act crazy. Of course nutrition and regular exercise are nearly as important, and doing all three well can make us feel and live better and longer.

 

 

 

12) Now, lastly tell us about your book and where it is available and why you wrote it.

 

 

I wrote this new book over the past three years. It is a summary of what I have learned early during my career as a general physician for the first 15 years and then over the past 30 years as a holistic psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist. It is available on Amazon.com and on our websites cbwhit.com and barbarawhitfield.com; click the PayPal button to order it. It is also distributed to bookstores by Ingram, the world’s biggest book distributor.

This is from my introduction ―

 

 

Countless people across the USA and world are being misdiagnosed and mistreated for “mental illness” that they do not have. The problem is that only a few helping professionals are pointing this out. There are too few whistle blowers.

 

 

After seeing many of my patients for years that have been mislabeled and mistreated, I have now written this book to tell you what I have observed and what the truth may be for them―and possibly for you or someone who you may know. I have written it to summarize how you and they can finally begin to heal and recover without psychiatric drugs.

 

 

This summary includes finding and naming the original traumas we experienced and those traumas we are experiencing now from toxic drugs and clinicians who don’t listen to us and don’t guide us in the right direction to heal. I describe how to accomplish these do-able tasks in this book.

 

 

Some readers will be skeptical about what I say. They may believe that they have a reasonable explanation for their problems and pain. They are convinced that they “mentally ill.” For some their symptoms may have been helped for a time by their taking a psychiatric drug, such as an antidepressant, an antipsychotic, a “mood stabilizer” or some other drug.

 

 

Others may have believed that they might have a mental illness because they have been told by someone else – a clinician, family member or friend or by reading a book or article. But do they or you have to believe that?

 

 

Whatever your situation, persuasion or preference, you may consider reading what I have observed and learned about mental illness, healing and recovery from countless of my patients and the scientific literature over the past 3-plus decades.

 

 

These are endorsements from an eminent and widely published psychiatrist and an eminent, published and highly respected teacher and psychologist ―

This book is a remarkable and cutting edge summary of facts, psychological skills and wisdom that combines the best healing principles of trauma psychology with holistic psychiatry.

 

 

Dr.Whitfield explains in some detail how the reader can use practical and proven non-drug techniques and recovery aids to handle their psychological, emotional and behavioral symptoms. Caution: This book contains an indictment of the psychiatric drug industry and an enlightening exposure of their dogma for the people who are taking these brain disabling drugs and those who care for them.

 

—Peter R. Breggin, MD, psychiatrist

Author of Medication Madness, Ithaca, NY

 

 

I have known Charles Whitfield for 20 years and believe that this is the most telling and powerful of his several books on mental health and recovery. As a longtime psychology professor and clinician I am impressed with how clearly and concisely he describes what causes the emotional, behavioral and relationship pain for those labeled as “mentally ill” and then what works best to heal their problems. He also tells the truth about how and why psychiatric drugs don’t work well and too often make people worse. Highly recommended.

—Randy Noblitt, PhD, Professor of Clinical Psychology, The California School of Professional Psychology

To Face My Trials with "The Grace of a Woman Rather Than the Grief of a Child". (quote section by Veronica A. Shoffstall)

 

Be Not Afraid of Growing Slowly. Be Afraid of Only Standing Still.

(Chinese Proverb)

 

I Create and Build Empowerment Within Each Time I Choose to Face A Fear, Sit with it and Ask Myself, "What Do I Need to Learn?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unhinged: The Trouble with Psychiatry - A Doctor's Revelations about a Profession in Crisis by Daniel Carlat.

 

-This is a worthy book because it's written by a psychiatrist in the trenches who's had a "moment of clarity" about his field and tells us, from a psychiatrist's point of view, how the sausage is made. His honesty is so bold and courageous it's almost shocking. In fact, I'm surprised he didn't lose his job over how honest he is about his (and the profession's) massive shortcomings and pseudoscience. Very easy to read, as well.

Been on SSRIs since 1998:

1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses

2005-present: Lexapro.

2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year).

 

**PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT!

APA=FUBAR

FDA=SNAFU

NIMH=LMFAO

 

Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month:

 

STARTING: 15 mg

11/7/10: 13.5 mg

12/7/10: 12.2 mg

1/6/11: 10.9 mg

2/3/11: 9.8 mg

3/3/11: 8.8 mg

4/1/11: 7.8 mg

4/29/11: 7 mg

5/27/11: 6.4 mg

6/24/11: 5.7 mg

7/22/11: 5 mg

8/18/11: 4.5 mg

9/14/11: 4 mg

10/13/11: 3.6 mg

11/9/11: 3.2 mg

12/7/11: 2.6 mg

1/3/12: 2.1 mg

2/2/12: 1.8 mg

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Overdo$ed America

 

Although this is a more all-inclusive look at the corruption of US health care in general, it does mention antidepressants. This really is the bible of investigative journalism of the US healthcare system in my opinion. The author -- himself a lapsed primary care physician -- does a tremendous job of bringing the reader to speed on how multi-layered and rotted to the core so much of the health care is in this country. He covers everything from the rise of HMOs to how doctors are trained to the reason for the dangerous lack of primary care doctors to (of course) the dizzying lengths Big Pharma goes to sabotage medicine in the name of the almighty dollar.

 

Truly a classic.

Been on SSRIs since 1998:

1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses

2005-present: Lexapro.

2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year).

 

**PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT!

APA=FUBAR

FDA=SNAFU

NIMH=LMFAO

 

Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month:

 

STARTING: 15 mg

11/7/10: 13.5 mg

12/7/10: 12.2 mg

1/6/11: 10.9 mg

2/3/11: 9.8 mg

3/3/11: 8.8 mg

4/1/11: 7.8 mg

4/29/11: 7 mg

5/27/11: 6.4 mg

6/24/11: 5.7 mg

7/22/11: 5 mg

8/18/11: 4.5 mg

9/14/11: 4 mg

10/13/11: 3.6 mg

11/9/11: 3.2 mg

12/7/11: 2.6 mg

1/3/12: 2.1 mg

2/2/12: 1.8 mg

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Bob Fiddaman was prescribed Seroxat due to depression that was, in essence, due to work related problems. What followed was a journey that took him through a tapering process of, what he believes to be, a highly addictive antidepressant. Following almost two years of withdrawal, Fiddaman's new battle with the manufacturer of the drug, GlaxoSmithKline and the UK's medicine regulator, the MHRA, took him on a more frustrating journey than he ever could have imagined. The name Bob Fiddaman has become synonymous throughout cyberspace. Google his name and you will find articles he has written, many of which have been republished by a vast army of fellow patient advocates. In his debut book, Fiddaman takes the bull by the horns and pulls no punches. Doctor's and patients alike will find Fiddaman's journey both tragic and informative, in particular the current stance of the UK regulator with regard to pregnancy and antidepressants. It may also make you stop and seriously reconsider the safety and efficacy of the medications you take.

 

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

 

Fid

 

SEROXAT SUFFERERS AUTHOR

My link

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  • 4 months later...

I wanted to add this book as well at the NEJM review:

 

http-~~-//www.alison-bass.com/books.html#thebookshttp-~~-//

 

Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a

Next Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial

By Alison Bass. 260 pp. Chapel Hill, NC, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008. $24.95. ISBN 978-1-56512-553-7.

 

In July 2003, Rose Firestein, a tenacious lawyer working with the New York State attorney general's office on a consumer fraud lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline, noticed something curious on the Web site of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — a press release stating that three clinical trials of the company's antidepressant Paxil (paroxetine) in children with depression showed that the drug was no more effective than a placebo. Firestein was shocked, given that Paxil was the second most widely prescribed antidepressant for children.

 

Firestein kept digging and quickly discovered that GlaxoSmithKline had actually conducted nine clinical trials with Paxil but had published just one of them. What the drug maker was hiding from the public was the bad news about Paxil: it did no better than a placebo in at least two of the unpublished studies, and there was disturbing evidence that patients who took Paxil were nearly three times as likely to experience suicidal feelings, thoughts, and behavior as those who took a placebo.

 

Alison Bass, a former medicine, science, and technology reporter at the Boston Globe, has put on trial in her book far more than just a bestselling antidepressant — she has used the case of Paxil to expose the unsavory and self-serving relationships among members of the pharmaceutical industry, psychiatrists, and members of the FDA. And she does it in a book that has the brio of a crime thriller.

 

The story

begins in 1990, when Harvard University psychiatrist Martin Teicher published a report of six depressed patients in whom intense suicidal thoughts developed during treatment with the new antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine). ....Teicher's suspicions were later confirmed by the British psychiatrist David Healy, who, as an expert witness in several lawsuits, had access to confidential internal drug company documents about clinical trials of various selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) used as antidepressants. These documents showed that there were higher rates of suicidal symptoms in patients who were taking the SSRIs than in those taking a placebo.

 

When the FDA finally did a meta-analysis of pediatric depression trials in 2004, it also confirmed Teicher's early concerns: subjects taking antidepressants had nearly double the rate of suicidal thoughts, suicidal feelings, and nonlethal suicide attempts of those taking a placebo. Beginning in October 2004, the FDA required that all antidepressants carry a black-box warning for pediatric patients; the warning was expanded to include all patients in May 2007.

 

What took so long? In Bass's view, the FDA knew of the risks all along but procrastinated. Perhaps, but one could just as well see the delay as the result of an underfunded FDA that was reluctant to issue premature warnings for fear of discouraging the use of antidepressants. Considering that the risk of actual suicide in untreated depression ranges from 2% to 12% — a risk that is far greater than the 4% risk of increased suicidal thoughts and nonlethal suicide attempts with antidepressant treatment — the worry seems reasonable.

 

Still, the drug makers, through the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, essentially pay the FDA to review their products, and they pay handsomely — in speaker and consultant fees — the physician researchers who test their drugs. These financial ties, which Bass explores in great detail, can compromise scientific objectivity or, at the very least, can create the appearance of a conflict of interest that erodes public trust in research that is funded by drug companies.

 

Bass's riveting and well-researched account of these disturbing ties should be widely read by members of the medical profession, many of whom continue to believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that they are immune to the influence of drug companies.

 

Richard A. Friedman, M.D.

Weill Cornell Medical College New York, NY 10021 rafriedm@med.cornell.edu

xxxx

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"Anatomy..." is a very valuable book, even without much devotion to w/d. I think it's the title most likely to stand out when we look back at this period in a generation.

 

The shame of it, for me anyway, is that its best good comes when its read in a discovery process before starting the meds in place one. In this way I feel like an HIV+ person. Seems most of the energy is going to be expended on finding a vaccine to save the next generation. Those of us who are already infected, are more on our own.

 

Alex

"Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast
I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free
I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me.

Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there
Everybody's got to move somewhere
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow
Things should start to get interesting right about now."

- Zimmerman

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Got that, I know there are many good books out there from guys like Whitaker, Breggin, Healy etc., but I avoid reading them because is only reminds me of what we did not know and threw us in the darkness... thanks to SA and the other sites we know already what we must know, although it is a bit late for us. But I deeply respect those people for educating people and fight against the corrupt system.

10 mg Paxil/Seroxat since 2002
several attempts to quit since 2004
Quit c/t again Oktober 2007, in protracted w/d since then
after 3.5 years slight improvement but still on the road

after 6 years pretty much recovered but still some nasty residual sypmtons
after 8.5 years working again on a 90% base and basically functioning normally again!

 

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Sigh, I agree, Claudius, we know only too well of the dangers of these drugs.

 

"Anatomy of an Epidemic" has been called the "Silent Spring" of psychiatry. "Silent Spring" stimulated popular interest in the environmental movement.

 

Whitaker's book is one of the sources cited in the open letter to DSM-5 task force and American Psychiatric Association composed by members of the American Psychological Association, and clearly influenced some of what they said in the letter. So it's influenced some psychologists, at least!

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • 6 months later...

- am presently reading these two:

 

Pharmageddon, by David Healy - traces the hijacking of modern medicine - especially the physicians - by the pharmaceutical industry

 

Before Prozac, by Edward Shorter, is as it sounds a history

 

- both are thrillers/chillers, only seldom technical but definitely readable by non-specialists, and for that matter by specialists as well

 

David's (Pharmageddon) is a fiery explication of the pervasive developmental disorder that has seized the hearts and minds of doctors, crippling the world of care - not an especially hopeful take...

Edward's (Before Prozac) could as well have been subtitled What was lost (and offers a hint of approaches to change)

 

For that matter David's blog is also worth a look

 

http://davidhealy.org/

 

a blog not primarily critical of psychiatry but of the theft of medicine by the pharmaceutical industry, and quite up to date

 

drb

drb, concerned psychiatrist with w/d experience
the opinions expressed here are personal opinions
should not be taken as medical advice
should not be taken as a replacement for your own knowledgeable, sympathetic, available medical practitioner

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Thank you, drb. What do you think of Pharmageddon?

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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as i wrote: a riveting read

have not finished it yet

have not managed to shield my eyes from a couple reviews

at least one described it as very pessimistic

in the sense that the problems are so great that they appear insurmountable

the detail that sticks out is this oversimplification:

modern medicine is largely lost

it has largely lost its mind

pretty heavy fare

too many details to detail the train of reasoning here

the book is extremely read-worthy - do read it!

i very much wish it had a This-is-how-we-fix-it chapter...

drb, concerned psychiatrist with w/d experience
the opinions expressed here are personal opinions
should not be taken as medical advice
should not be taken as a replacement for your own knowledgeable, sympathetic, available medical practitioner

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I saw Dr. Healy speak about his book in my city.

 

He said "pharmacosis," iatrogenic conditions brought on by too much medication, is epidemic -- with which I agree.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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There was a link on here somewhere about the invention (for lack of a better word) of the original AD's the tricyclics, and as the story goes...the Swiss Physician who development it, gave them to his patients in a psych unit. Many of them snapped out of their depression and improved.

 

I never knew about that story.

 

What does Dr. Healy and the others think about the tricyclics? Does anyone know. They certainly seemed to be safer than what's out there now and what we are trying to get off of.

 

Just wondering...

Intro: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1902-nikki-hi-my-rundown-with-ads/

 

Paxil 1997-2004

Crossed over to Lexapro Paxil not available

at Pharmacies GSK halted deliveries

Lexapro 40mgs

Lexapro taper (2years)

Imipramine

Imipramine and Celexa

Now Nefazadone/Imipramine 50mgs. each

45mgs. Serzone  50mgs. Imipramine

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at least one described it as very pessimistic

in the sense that the problems are so great that they appear insurmountable

the detail that sticks out is this oversimplification:

modern medicine is largely lost

it has largely lost its mind....

 

i very much wish it had a This-is-how-we-fix-it chapter...

 

I do think modern medicine is largely lost and that the problems are insurmountable, at least as long as people keep supporting Big Pharma by working there and/or buying their stock, and as long as we here in the states are stuck with fifteen minute medical appointments during which no doctor can do much more than diagnose superficially and write a prescription. The public also has to change its attitudes regarding being "fixed" and pain-free immediately, and evading death for as long as possible, preferably forever.

 

My viewpoint is that contemporary culture is itself insane, largely driven by greed, self-absorption, and lack of faith in God. Along with Big Phama, the media and the advertising industry have made significant contributions to a selfishness and materialism that's gone quite berserk.

Psychotropic drug history: Pristiq 50 mg. (mid-September 2010 through February 2011), Remeron (mid-September 2010 through January 2011), Lexapro 10 mg. (mid-February 2011 through mid-December 2011), Lorazepam (Ativan) 1 mg. as needed mid-September 2010 through early March 2012

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." -Hanlon's Razor


Introduction: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1588-introducing-jemima/

 

Success Story: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6263-success-jemima-survives-lexapro-and-dr-dickhead-too/

Please note that I am not a medical professional and my advice is based on personal experience, reading, and anecdotal information posted by other sufferers.

 

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  • Administrator

Allen Frances gives suggestions for a fix to psychiatry in the last 20 minutes of this video http://castroller.com/Podcasts/BigIdeasVideo/2874570

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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thank you for the frances film

just watched the entire clip

as i picked it up the steps suggested by frances in those final 20 minutes were:

 

- put big black box warnings about diagnostic inflation on all diagnoses in dsm-v

- true regulation of the drug companies

- target high prescribers, identify them early and require they explain their prescribing habits

- spread the message that we're not all sick, the struggles of everyday life are not illnesses

- it's a mistake to make a diagnosis on the first interview, it should take 4-5 interviews

- it's wrong to make a diagnosis on people in the midst of a struggle (crisis)

 

on treatment options he said - regarding the mild to moderate psychological difficulties

that affect every single one of us, and that are the vast majority of the psychological problems

that all patients present with in psychiatry or in primary care - please do it in this order:

- watchful waiting first

- if that doesn't work, psychotherapy

- if that doesn't work, only then perhaps a medication

 

i may have missed one or two.

 

the dsm-iv has a criterion that can be found in most diagnoses

that is - as far as i can tell - very under-used by psychiatrists

and probably not even known to primary care physicians

who frances describes as responsible for 80% of all psychotropic prescribing

 

the criterion is - very roughly - that the complex of symptoms being considered

should not be explainable by anything other than the diagnosis being considered

this is my paraphrasing of the criterion in question

i call it the "general clause" when describing it to patients

and to colleagues and others

complete consideration of the letter of this criterion

is actually a very daunting task

no wonder it is (seemingly) ignored by most

 

i have read much of the dsm-v, and the criterion survives

though in slightly watered-down form

 

as an example, for adhd, it is called criterion E, and it reads:

"The symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of schizophrenia

or another psychotic disorder and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder

(e.g., mood disorder, anxiety disorder, dissociative disorder, or a personality disorder)."

nothing about any of the other factors that might well be relevant

 

in the dsm-iv, in rare places, one allows that a small sub-set of the stresses of ordinary life

bereavement for example, be seen as something that would better account for the symptoms

of a disorder under consideration (say: depression) than the disorder itself

practically speaking: bereavement and ordinary grief, rather than major depression

 

frances uses the same example, showing that dsm-v stipulates

that a healthy period of grief in bereavement

(read: loss of one's life-partner, parent, child)

vast catastrophe for any of us

lasts two weeks

longer than that and it's to be called major depression

with (for the physician) more or less compulsory treatment

due to more or less compulsory guidelines

which more importantly translates to more or less compulsory treatment for the griever

 

if the dsm from dsm-iii onward had not made the cardinal error to intentionally exclude context

(with rare exceptions, for example after bereavement, or before ptsd)

then this "general clause" would of course have needed to be greatly expanded

to include - specifically, by name - all (literally all)

of the various factors that obviously can skew a life for a shorter or a longer period

most of them could be subsumed under the term "trauma"

 

both dsm-iii and dsm-iv attend to these factors in fact

but they do so in a nearly completely useless fashion

by sidetracking all these important events and changes and factors

to another dimension of the psychiatric workup

the major disorders are dealt with on axis i

these other factors are considered in another fashion

using "axis iv" (psychosocial and environmental factors contributing to the disorder)

 

but the actual use of the dsm-iv including this information on axis iv is a loaded deck

the factors that might be relevant to understanding why a person has a sleep disorder

(for example: alcohol abuse for 3 years, ending one year ago,

leading in turns to divorce, unemployment, homelessness, malnutrition, poor physical health, etc)

are sidetracked to a separate section of the workup

some of it might be carried back to the axis i (major disorders) section of the workup

but then not as part of an alternative explanation for the exact symptoms under consideration

but as a separate diagnosis (called "other conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention")

 

so an attempt to help discover what is the problem

with a person reporting sleeplessness (or anxiety, or panic and the rest)

must - using this system - systematically divorce the symptoms from the rough stretches of real life

 

the physician needs that code in order to be paid

uncovering problems that can be described using a bill-able code is easy

uncovering problems that can explain why any code at all might be inappropriate is actually just as easy

if you look for it

getting the facts straight is hard

doesn't make you very popular, going to the trouble

both colleagues and patients want the diagnoses

we were all trained to expect them

 

several of frances' suggestions would probably help

we should all use the ones we can

 

drb

drb, concerned psychiatrist with w/d experience
the opinions expressed here are personal opinions
should not be taken as medical advice
should not be taken as a replacement for your own knowledgeable, sympathetic, available medical practitioner

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  • 11 months later...

Hi,

 

For those of you who live in the DC area, I just found out that Gary Greenberg will be at Politics and Prose this coming Tuesday discussing his book at 7pm. Greatly looking forward to it.

 

CS

Drug cocktail 1995 - 2010
Started taper of Adderall, Wellbutrin XL, Remeron, and Doxepin in 2006
Finished taper on June 10, 2010

Temazepam on a PRN basis approximately twice a month - 2014 to 2016

Beginning in 2017 - Consumption increased to about two times per week

April 2017 - Increased to taking it full time for insomnia

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  • 5 months later...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mind-reviews-the-book-woe

 

MIND Reviews: The Book of Woe

 

Books and recommendations from Scientific American MIND

 

By Robert Epstein

 

The Book of Woe:  The DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry

 

Gary Greenberg

 

Blue Rider Press, 2013 ($27.95)

 

This is a landmark book about a landmark book. Psychotherapist and author Greenberg first took on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in a blistering article in Wired in 2010. The Book of Woe is the nearly 400-page update, whose release coincided with the May 2013 release of the DSM-5, the fifth edition of the bible of mental health, which first appeared in 1952.

 

Relying heavily on interviews with distinguished insiders in the psychiatric establishment, Greenberg paints a picture so compelling and bleak that it could easily send the vulnerable reader into therapy. The basic message is this: everyone in the mental health profession knows full well that the DSM is a work of fiction—that the hundreds of “disorders” described therein are just labels for fuzzy, overlapping clusters of symptoms and that we have never found a definitive biological marker for even one of those disorders. Mental health professionals pretend that the disorders are real, but they're not, period. *

 

And then there's the money. The American Psychiatric Association, a shrinking and financially strapped organization of 36,000 psychiatrists, has made $100 million off sales of the fourth edition of the DSM, Greenberg says.* More than 400,000 licensed mental health professionals in the U.S. alone depend on the diagnostic codes in the DSM for insurance income. Prominent research psychiatrists who misused DSM diagnostic categories to open up the prescription drug market for children received more than $1 million each in kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies for their efforts.

 

More at above link...

 

*Emphasis mine.

I am not a medical professional and nothing I say is a medical opinion or meant to be medical advice, please seek a competent and trusted medical professional to consult for all medical decisions.

 

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Thanks... I'm going to contact my library for a copy... or order from Amazon as keeping a copy for reference is probably a good idea.  It sounds kind of like the DSM equivalent of Robert Whitaker's Mad in America.  I've been putting off ordering a copy of the DSM V, because I find the latest to be appalling. (though the DSM lV TR (or otherwise) was largely a fiction)

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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  • 5 months later...

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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  • 3 months later...
  • Moderator Emeritus

A collection of essays written by attorney Wayne Ramsay, using the work of credible witnesses critical of psychiatry.

 

http://wayneramsay.com/index.html

 

Current available titles include:

 

Does Mental Illness Exist?

Schizophrenia: A Nonexistent Disease

The Myth of Biological Depression

The Myth of Psychiatric Diagnosis

Why the Myth of Mental Illness Lives On

Psychiatric Drugs: Cure or Quackery?

I'm not a doctor.  My comments are not medical advise. These are my opinions based on my own experience and what I've learned. Please discuss your situation with a medical practitioner who has knowledge of tapering and withdrawal...if you are lucky enough to find one.

My Introduction Thread

Full Drug and Withdrawal History

Brief Summary

Several SSRIs for 13 years starting 1997 (for mild to moderate partly situational anxiety) Xanax PRN ~ Various other drugs over the years for side effects

2 month 'taper' off Lexapro 2010

Short acute withdrawal, followed by 2 -3 months of improvement then delayed protracted withdrawal

DX ADHD followed by several years of stimulants and other drugs trying to manage increasing symptoms

Failed reinstatement of Lexapro and trial of Prozac (became suicidal)

May 2013 Found SA, learned about withdrawal, stopped taking drugs...healing begins.

Protracted withdrawal, with a very sensitized nervous system, slowly recovering as time passes

Supplements which have helped: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Taurine

Bad reactions: Many supplements but mostly fish oil and Vitamin D

June 2016 - Started daily juicing, mostly vegetables and lots of greens.

Aug 2016 - Oct 2016 Best window ever, felt almost completely recovered

Oct 2016 -Symptoms returned - bad days and less bad days.

April 2018 - No windows, but significant improvement, it feels like permanent full recovery is close.

VIDEO: Where did the chemical imbalance theory come from?



VIDEO: How are psychiatric diagnoses made?



VIDEO: Why do psychiatric drugs have withdrawal syndromes?



VIDEO: Can psychiatric drugs cause long-lasting negative effects?

VIDEO: Dr. Claire Weekes

 

 

 

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  • 5 months later...
  • Administrator

I've read Breggin's new book Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal. It is not a comprehensive discussion of withdrawal. Rather, it's a compendium of all the reasons Dr. Breggin thinks people shouldn't be on the drugs in the first place.

 

He does not address issues arising from cold turkey (which is alluded to only in a footnote), the sections on tapering are cursory and contain factual errors. He does not mention prolonged post-discontinuation syndrome at all, or the process of recovery from withdrawal symptoms.

 

Unfortunately, he badly blew the opportunity to write the comprehensive book on psychiatric drug withdrawal. It has yet to be written.

 

In my opinion, he has decided not to deal in depth with withdrawal at all. Instead, he uses scare tactics to discourage people from taking the drugs.

 

On one hand, I believe his intentions are good: To protect patients. On the other hand, I think the information he disseminates is somewhat skewed towards fear-provoking rhetoric. He also has a very difficult overbearing self-aggrandizing personality. He's alienated a lot of people, including many of his allies. Psychiatrists simply ignore his overblown rhetoric.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • 2 months later...

Here is a book I do not recommend: Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon. Andrew is the son of a pharma exec.

 

Here is a picture of the first page. See how quickly he gets to medications?

 

I am pretty sure we have discussed Solomon elsewhere on the site. I thought I would have a look at the book and bought it for Kindle. Luckily you can return Kindle books if you do it quickly!

 

(You cannot copy and paste from Kindle, hence the screenshot.)

 

 

Psych drugs make it easier to love and be loved? I don't know about that.

 

Edited by ChessieCat
added highlight

2009: Cancer hospital said I had adjustment disorder because I thought they were doing it wrong. Their headshrinker prescribed Effexor, and my life set on a new course. I didn't know what was ahead, like a passenger on Disneyland's Matterhorn, smiling and waving as it climbs...clink, clink, clink.

2010: Post surgical accidental Effexor discontinuation by nurses, masked by intravenous Dilaudid. (The car is balanced at the top of the track.) I get home, pop a Vicodin, and ...

Whooosh...down, down, down, down, down...goes the trajectory of my life, up goes my mood and tendency to think everything is a good idea.
2012: After the bipolar jig was up, now a walking bag of unrelated symptoms, I went crazy on Daytrana (the Ritalin skin patch by Noven), because ADHD was a perfect fit for a bag of unrelated symptoms. I was prescribed Effexor for the nervousness of it, and things got neurological. An EEG showed enough activity to warrant an epilepsy diagnosis rather than non-epileptic ("psychogenic") seizures.

:o 2013-2014: Quit everything and got worse. I probably went through DAWS: dopamine agonist withdrawal syndrome. I drank to not feel, but I felt a lot: dread, fear, regret, grief: an utter sense of total loss of everything worth breathing about, for almost two years.

I was not suicidal but I wanted to be dead, at least dead to the experience of my own brain and body.

2015: I  began to recover after adding virgin coconut oil and organic grass-fed fed butter to a cup of instant coffee in the morning.

I did it hoping for mental acuity and better memory. After ten days of that, I was much better, mood-wise. Approximately neutral.

And, I experienced drowsiness. I could sleep. Not exactly happy, I did 30 days on Wellbutrin, because it had done me no harm in the past. 

I don't have the DAWS mood or state of mind. It never feel like doing anything if it means standing up.

In fact, I don't especially like moving. I'm a brain with a beanbag body.   :unsure:

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Mentor

Peter C Gotzsche 'Deadly medicines and organised crime How big pharma has corrupted healthcare' (New York :Radcliff publishing, 2013)

 

Gotzsche is  a world leader in critquing clinic studies.

 

22 chapters with 2 chapters on psychiatric drugs.

He doesn't hold back he has a lot of damning words to say about pharma. His telling of the commercialization of prozac reveals a truly sickening story.

http://www.radcliffehealth.com/sites/radcliffehealth.com/files/samplechapter/gotzsche_chpt18.pdf        go to this link for a free chapter.......  Chapter 18... a great read.

1992 Dothiepin 375mg 8 weeks, exhaustion/depression.  Serotonin syndrome, oh yes!  seizures . Fell pregnant, 3rd baby, Nitrous Oxide, 3 weeks mental hospital pp psychosis. zoloft tegretol.

Feb 1996 ct tegretol, tapered Zoloft 8 weeks. as (unexpectedly)  pregnant. Steven died after 3 days.(Zolft HLHS baby).  98 had run in with Paxil, 2 tablets, 3 weeks taper, survived.
2005..menopause? exhausted again. Zyprexa, mad in three days, fallout....  Seroquel, Effexor, tegretol,   and 8 years of self destruction. Failed taper.
Damn 1/4 valium... nuts again! .fallout, zoloft 100mg  seroquol 400mg mirtazapine 45 mg  tegretol 400mg.  Mid 14 3 month taper. Nov 14 CRASH.
Mid 15 ....   75mg  seroquel,  3 x 1800mg SJW  2 week window end of December followed by 6 week wave
5/2 68mg seroquel, 2.5 x 1800mg SJW::::20/2 61mg seroquel, 2.5 x  SJW::: 26/2 54mg seroquel, 2 x SJW::::21/3 43mg seroquel, 1 x 2700SJW :::: 23/4 36mg seroquel 1 x 1800 SJW
15/5 33mg seroquel, 1 x SJW::::   28/5 30mg seroquel, 1 x SJW::::;  18/6 25mg seroquel 1/2 SJW::::, 11/7 21mg seroquel 1/2 SJW::, 26/7 18mg seroquel 1/2 SJW:::, 9/8 12mg seroquel :::, 16/8 6mg seroquel ;;;;, 12/9 0 jump.

23/9  3mg.....,  27/9 0mg.  Reinstated, 6mg, then 12mg.............  LIGHTBULB MOMENT,  I have  MTHFR 2x mutations.  CFS and issues with MOULD in my home. So I left home, and working 150km away during week, loving it.

Oh was hard, panic attacks first week, gone now, along with the mould issues.

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  • 4 weeks later...

 

Heres a book i have been slowly reading lately ..

 

Peter C Gotzsche 'Deadly medicines and organised crime How big pharma has corrupted healthcare' (New York :Radcliff publishing, 2013)

 

Gotzsche is  a world leader in critquing clinic studies.

 

22 chapters with 2 chapters on psychiatric drugs.

He doesn't hold back he has a lot of damning words to say about pharma. His telling of the commercialization of prozac reveals a truly sickening story.

http://www.radcliffehealth.com/sites/radcliffehealth.com/files/samplechapter/gotzsche_chpt18.pdf        go to this link for a free chapter.......  Chapter 18... a great read.

 

"THE BOTTOM LINE OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS How come we have allowed drug companies to lie so much, commit habitual crime and kill hundreds of thousands of patients, and yet we do nothing?  Why don’t we put those responsible in jail? Why are many people still against allowing citizens to get access to all the raw data from all clinical trials and why are they against scrapping the whole system and only allow publicly employed academics to test drugs in patients, independently of the drug industry?

 

 Pushing children into suicide with happy pills above... people write books we read them nothing changes. 

 

Why indeed I notice he does not answer the question. I can't read it all just now eyes are acting badly but I skimmed it and did not see "anything new under the sun" it is all old stuff we have known for years.  The paxil 329 study... was the perfect reason to launch a change yet non happened. I have little hope... but then again I am jaded. 

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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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Moderator Emeritus

While I was reading the reviews on Amazon of Robert Whitaker's new book:

Psychiatry Under The Influence: Institutional Corruption, Social Injury, and Prescriptions for Reform

I came across a great analogy, written by Ron Unger in the comments on one of the reviews, he was talking about the problem with psychiatric diagnosis and treatment-

 

Think of it this way. Let's say someone is having trouble walking. There could be a lot of reasons. Maybe they have a biological illness that makes it hard for them to walk. Maybe they have an injury. Maybe their leg fell asleep. Maybe they are drunk. What would make sense is to try and figure out why they are having trouble walking, and then help them with whatever it is. The psychiatric approach would be to diagnose them with "having trouble walking disorder," explain that was a biological illness, and then equip them with a wheelchair and tell them this would be required for the rest of their life. Of course, the long term result would probably be that they would have even more trouble walking because now they were out of practice, but any trouble they might have when trying to get out of the wheelchair would just be attributed to their "having trouble walking disorder."

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2Y475RR5J7CYR/ref=cm_cd_pg_pg2?ie=UTF8&asin=113750692X&cdForum=Fx1X3DU559LHIQL&cdPage=2&cdThread=Tx3S5D5EX9QTNHE&store=books#wasThisHelpful

 

 

I'm not a doctor.  My comments are not medical advise. These are my opinions based on my own experience and what I've learned. Please discuss your situation with a medical practitioner who has knowledge of tapering and withdrawal...if you are lucky enough to find one.

My Introduction Thread

Full Drug and Withdrawal History

Brief Summary

Several SSRIs for 13 years starting 1997 (for mild to moderate partly situational anxiety) Xanax PRN ~ Various other drugs over the years for side effects

2 month 'taper' off Lexapro 2010

Short acute withdrawal, followed by 2 -3 months of improvement then delayed protracted withdrawal

DX ADHD followed by several years of stimulants and other drugs trying to manage increasing symptoms

Failed reinstatement of Lexapro and trial of Prozac (became suicidal)

May 2013 Found SA, learned about withdrawal, stopped taking drugs...healing begins.

Protracted withdrawal, with a very sensitized nervous system, slowly recovering as time passes

Supplements which have helped: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Taurine

Bad reactions: Many supplements but mostly fish oil and Vitamin D

June 2016 - Started daily juicing, mostly vegetables and lots of greens.

Aug 2016 - Oct 2016 Best window ever, felt almost completely recovered

Oct 2016 -Symptoms returned - bad days and less bad days.

April 2018 - No windows, but significant improvement, it feels like permanent full recovery is close.

VIDEO: Where did the chemical imbalance theory come from?



VIDEO: How are psychiatric diagnoses made?



VIDEO: Why do psychiatric drugs have withdrawal syndromes?



VIDEO: Can psychiatric drugs cause long-lasting negative effects?

VIDEO: Dr. Claire Weekes

 

 

 

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Don't know if this one will be any good as it's not yet released, however in theory it sounds excellent...

 

The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance by Dr. Terry Lynch

 

http://www.recoveryourmentalhealth.com/my-next-book-depression-delusion-volume-one-the-myth-of-the-brain-chemical-imbalance-publication-date-02-sept-2015/

 

 

Love the book cover...

I am not a medical professional and nothing I say is a medical opinion or meant to be medical advice, please seek a competent and trusted medical professional to consult for all medical decisions.

 

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  • 1 year later...

Don't know if this one will be any good as it's not yet released, however in theory it sounds excellent...

 

The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance by Dr. Terry Lynch ...

 

Looks like it was released. Has anyone here read it?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Anyone read the new book called 'The pill that steals lives' .?

https://www.amazon.com/Pill-That-Steals-Lives-Antidepressants/dp/1786061333

 

It sounds a bit scary to me.

 

nz11

Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen

We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. 

URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting  for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing.

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651   

Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos.

Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you

Recovering paxil addict

None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. 

This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! 

  "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped."  Dr Mosher. Me too! 

Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015

I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015

Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017

 

 

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Don't know if this one will be any good as it's not yet released, however in theory it sounds excellent...

 

The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance by Dr. Terry Lynch ...

 

Looks like it was released. Has anyone here read it?

 

Yes i have .

I appreciated being able to read this book and i recommend it.

Heres an interesting thing Lynch wrote of:

Lynch read through a heap of medical biochemistry textbooks at the medical school. He identified plenty of evidence of the abnormal biochemistry of diabetes but no evidence whatsoever of scientifically verifed chemical abnormalities in depression. These textbooks had little or no vested interest in maintaining psychiatrys dominant position in mental health or in prioritizing allegiance to their psychiatrist colleagues above truth. Textbooks on the basic medical sciences such as biochemistry are particularly objective in this regard.

 

In reading this book i learnt what a false dilemma logical fallacy was.

It is jam packed with great quotes.

 

Adolf Hitlers propaganda officer Joseph Goebbels said in 1939 "Tell a lie a hundred times and it becomes the truth"

Psychiatrist Meerloo wrote in 1949,

"a lie repeated 10 times becomes believable and one repeated a 100 times exerts a hypnotic effect."

pg 293.

 

The law of the instrument Maslow 1964,

"I call it the law of the instrument and it clearly may be formulated as follows ; give a small boy a hammer and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding."

 

In 1966 Maslow wrote "I suppose it is tempting , if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail"

Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen

We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. 

URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting  for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing.

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651   

Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos.

Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you

Recovering paxil addict

None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. 

This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! 

  "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped."  Dr Mosher. Me too! 

Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015

I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015

Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Sigh, I agree, Claudius, we know only too well of the dangers of these drugs.

 

"Anatomy of an Epidemic" has been called the "Silent Spring" of psychiatry. "Silent Spring" stimulated popular interest in the environmental movement.

 

Whitaker's book is one of the sources cited in the open letter to DSM-5 task force and American Psychiatric Association composed by members of the American Psychological Association, and clearly influenced some of what they said in the letter. So it's influenced some psychologists, at least!

I have just read this book - or most of it - had to omit the parts about children on the drugs.  God - it is happening here, too.  I know, locally, of a 13-year old and her single mother who were put on ADs a few months ago.

 

One of the most interesting bits of information, that may give hope to some of us, is that depression may be a self-limiting illness.

Old records, particularly, seem to show that.

Just wish I had known that in, say, 2001, the year I retired.  Maybe I could have held out without them. 

Born 1945. 

1999 - First Effexor/Venlafaxine

2016 Withdrawal research. Effexor.  13Jul - 212.5mg;  6Aug - 200.0mg;  24Aug - 187.5mg;  13Sep - 175.0mg;  3Oct - 162.5mg;  26Oct - 150mg 

2017  9Jan - 150.00mg;  23Mar - 137.50mg;  24Apr - 125.00mg;  31May - 112.50mg holding;  3Sep - 100.00mg;  20Sep - 93.75mg;  20Oct - 87.5mg;  12Nov - 81.25mg;  13 Dec - 75.00mg

2018  18Jan - 69.1mg; 16Feb - 62.5mg; 16March - 57.5mg (-8%); 22Apr - 56.3mg(-2%); CRASHED - Updose 29May - 62.5mg; Updose - 1Jul - 75.0mg. Updose - 2Aug - 87.5mg. Updose - 27Aug - 100.0mg. Updose - 11Oct 112.5mg. Updose - 6Nov 125.00mg

2019 Updoses 19 Jan - 150.0mg. 1April - 162.5mg. 24 April - Feeling better - doing tasks, getting outside.  7 May - usual depression questionnaire gives "probably no depression" result.

Supps/Vits  Omega 3;  Chelated Magnesium;  Prebiotics/Probiotics, Vit D3. 

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  • 5 months later...

I want to recommend this book:

 

Deadly psychiatry and organised denial, by Peter C. Gotzsche

 

The author is a danish physician, medical researcher, and leader of the Nordic Cochrane Center at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

If you liked the book anatomy of an epidemic by Robert Whitaker, this is a nice follow up. The author documents how psychiatric drugs make more harm than good and uses research to build his hypothesis.

<p>Sept 2015: 5 mg Cipralex for 3 weeks. Lots of side effects. Reduced to 2.5 mg for 2 weeks. Experiencing withdrawal and side effects still after dose reduction. Quit after almost 4 weeks on 2.5 mg because of adverse effects. Experiencing withdrawal symptoms still. Reinstating 1mg after 3 weeks. Reduced to 0.50 after 2 days due to sensitive reaction (dysautonomia) and trip to ER. January 2016: After 14 months of tapering from 0.5 mg im now down to 0.08mg. Planing on one more drop before 4-8 weeks healing, then jump to zero. 14.03.17: Lexapro free!

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Great new book just coming out--I read the sample of the kindle edition--The sedated society: The causes and harms of our psychiatric drug epidemic, by James Davies. Here is a description, below. I plan to purchase the kindle book, which is a bit expensive ($30 U.S.) but worth it, in my opinion.  We need more of these exposes to come out in the mainstream press.

 

This edited volume provides an answer to a rising public health concern: what drives the over prescription of psychiatric medication epidemic? Over 15% of the UK public takes a psychiatric medication on any given day, and the numbers are only set to increase. Placing this figure alongside the emerging clinical and scientific data revealing their poor outcomes and the harms these medications often cause, their commercial success cannot be explained by their therapeutic efficacy.

Chapters from an interdisciplinary team of global experts in critical psychopharmacology rigorously examine how pharmaceutical sponsorship and marketing, diagnostic inflation, the manipulation and burying of negative clinical trials, lax medication regulation, and neoliberal public health policies have all been implicated in ever-rising psycho-pharmaceutical consumption. This volume will ignite a long-overdue public debate. It will be of interest to professionals in the field of mental health and researchers ranging from sociology of health, to medical anthropology and the political economy of health.

 41hRpdYShmL._AC_US160_.jpg

 
 
FREE Shipping on eligible orders
Available for Pre-order. This item will be released on February 15, 2017.

Drugfree Prof

Psychologist and Psychotherapist

Prozac 20 mg for approx 3 months during 2000, withdrew, no w/d sx

Prozac 10 - 30 mg Jan. 2008 - Dec. 2014

Ritalin 30-40 mg Jan. 2008 - Mar. 2015

W/d sx from Prozac started around 3 months after cessation--crying spells, depressed mood, lethargy; resolved in 8 - 12 mos. post cessation

Used and continue to use a TON of alternative methods--meditation, mindfulness, nutrition. supplements, exercise, etc.

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Great new book just coming out--I read the sample of the kindle edition--The sedated society: The causes and harms of our psychiatric drug epidemic, by James Davies. Here is a description, below. I plan to purchase the kindle book, which is a bit expensive ($30 U.S.) but worth it, in my opinion.  We need more of these exposes to come out in the mainstream press.

 

This edited volume provides an answer to a rising public health concern: what drives the over prescription of psychiatric medication epidemic? Over 15% of the UK public takes a psychiatric medication on any given day, and the numbers are only set to increase. Placing this figure alongside the emerging clinical and scientific data revealing their poor outcomes and the harms these medications often cause, their commercial success cannot be explained by their therapeutic efficacy.

Chapters from an interdisciplinary team of global experts in critical psychopharmacology rigorously examine how pharmaceutical sponsorship and marketing, diagnostic inflation, the manipulation and burying of negative clinical trials, lax medication regulation, and neoliberal public health policies have all been implicated in ever-rising psycho-pharmaceutical consumption. This volume will ignite a long-overdue public debate. It will be of interest to professionals in the field of mental health and researchers ranging from sociology of health, to medical anthropology and the political economy of health.

 41hRpdYShmL._AC_US160_.jpg

 
 
FREE Shipping on eligible orders
Available for Pre-order. This item will be released on February 15, 2017.

 

 

thanks for posting this ,ile b keeping and eye out for it ,give it a while till price comes down :) 

Alcohol free since February 2015 

1MG diazepam

4.5MG PROZAC.

 

 

 

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I highly recommend this book, The Sedated Society: The Causes and Harms of our Psychiatric Drug Epidemic

 

https://www.amazon.com/Sedated-Society-Causes-Psychiatric-Epidemic/dp/3319449109

 

Can also be bought as an e-book from Springer. 

Edited by scallywag
added book title

<p>Sept 2015: 5 mg Cipralex for 3 weeks. Lots of side effects. Reduced to 2.5 mg for 2 weeks. Experiencing withdrawal and side effects still after dose reduction. Quit after almost 4 weeks on 2.5 mg because of adverse effects. Experiencing withdrawal symptoms still. Reinstating 1mg after 3 weeks. Reduced to 0.50 after 2 days due to sensitive reaction (dysautonomia) and trip to ER. January 2016: After 14 months of tapering from 0.5 mg im now down to 0.08mg. Planing on one more drop before 4-8 weeks healing, then jump to zero. 14.03.17: Lexapro free!

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