K a t e 🌻

Surviving antidepressant-induced Akathisia, withdrawal and poly drugging. I remain trapped on the poisonous Venlafaxine with neurological drug-induced injury

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

One of the most upsetting elements to psych drug harm is that many of our family/friends still buy into the ‘chemical imbalance’ story, that we ‘need’ these so-called ‘medications’ like diabetics need insulin. This leaves us feeling so ALONE in a most torturous situation.

[Mark Horowitz @markhoro.bsky.social @markhoro]

I think people under-estimate how much people's lives are derailed by severe withdrawal effects that last for years (that should probably be seen as 'withdrawal nervous system injuries' more accurately as they cannot be reversed by re-instatement) and the effects on dependents, ability to work, and relationships. Impressive poise and grace required to go and deliver this message to the prescriber that did this to you - as is so often, as in this case, without realising. I do think that the academic and leadership class in psychiatry who are more aware of this issue suffer less from ignorance and instead are unfortunately placing reputational management above patient safety.

[Alex @c3vvno]

Only once you’ve had akathisia do you realise any other suffering does not compare.

[Louise White @LouiseWhitemesh]

The reason why medical scandals go on for decades is not just about money but also egos. When dire consequences have been unearthed showing harm, the people who oversee #PatientSafety can't stop it without an admission they'd made a monumental mistake
#Mesh #PSSD @thehonestdoctor

[BarelyTolerable @KarianneKC]

@LauraDelano 18 years ago, I had to withdraw from Effexor XR, which I had only been taking for 5 years. It was a nightmare. I still have minor brain zaps and involuntary eye jiggles to this day.

[Laura Delano @LauraDelano]

I would wager that not a single person in the United States has been carefully and comprehensively informed about the potential risks of long-term #SSRI use-- among them, the possibility that you'll need to essentially become your own pharmacist in order to safely taper off them down the line (which might take YEARS).

[cytirosi @cytirosi]

"Prozac was one of them. Prozac had just come out back then and the doctors were getting the worst feedback. Patients were getting sick from this. They released Prozac. They didn't care."

Eli Lilly destroyed so many lives.
SSRIs should've never been released.

[Dr. Roger McFillin @DrMcFillin]

I watched too many patients become shells of themselves on psychiatric cocktails they never truly consented to.
"Nobody told me I'd gain 60 pounds."
"I can't think clearly anymore."
"I feel numb"
"Getting off feels impossible"
That's why I built The Conscious Clinician Collective.
For providers who won't drug first, ask questions later. For health & mental health care that doesn't push labels & drugs but cares about root cause, informed consent and medical freedom. The site is now live... but we need providers to join this community. Link in bio

[Emily Grey @EmilyGreyPSSD]

Sometimes I still feel completely stunned when I remember that SSRIs, which governments are using to control the urges of violent sex offenders, were prescribed to me for mild depression as a teen with ZERO discussion on the affects on my developing sexuality.
They know these drugs seriously suppress sexual function.
They know there is no long-term research on how they can affect the human body and sexuality post-treatment (hmm, why is that?).
I sit here today, over six years after my last pill of Citalopram, still with numbed genitals. There are people given these drugs as CHILDREN who will never develop a sexuality and never know why.
Times up on medical institutions claiming ignorance about #PSSD

[Daniel Owens @dsowens17]

In 1976 a round table of US psychiatrists under the chairmanship of Dr. Leo Hollister was convened to assess the dangers of benzodiazepine withdrawal.

The general consensus of the panel was that benzo withdrawal was rarely a problem.

One of the esteemed panel said confidently:

"I have never seen a case of benzodiazepine dependence'"

Another said withdrawal was an:

"astonishing unusual event"

We now know different.

How likely do you think it is true that these esteemed clinicians had never seen a case of benzodiazepine withdrawal?

[Spencer Stern @SpencerStern]

The dark truth of Psychiatry is so big that it boggles the mind 🤕🙀🙈

[Chris Palmer, MD @ChrisPalmerMD]

One of the most frustrating things about the mental health field is how often we confuse labels with causes.

"He has hallucinations because he’s schizophrenic."

No — he’s diagnosed with schizophrenia because he has hallucinations of unknown etiology.

If we actually knew the cause, it would have a different name: an autoimmune disorder, a vitamin deficiency, a viral infection — something treatable.

The problem is, once we use labels like "schizophrenia," we often stop looking for causes. We stop searching for solutions and just accept that this person will be ill for life. And that robs people of their chance for recovery.

At some point, psychiatry must rejoin the rest of medicine — and work harder to figure out why symptoms are happening.

Biology, psychology, environment — all can play a role.

It's time for a new approach.

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

@SimonRe90480283 @ChloeRWilkins I hope so with all my heart. It would be hard to hide a truth this big forever.

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

@SimonRe90480283 @ChloeRWilkins Yes it’s extremely scary that they believe this. We are living in a world where they have all the power and the drugs and no idea what they are doing with them. I hope one day this all comes to light and it is proved how much damage has been done and lives lost/ruined.

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

@SimonRe90480283 @ChloeRWilkins Yes it is like living in a horrific nightmare being in one of those places.
Doctors are running the show with big egos, powerful pay checks and so-called higher education qualifications in psychiatry which is a pseudoscience (they literally believe this crap themselves).

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

@ChloeRWilkins Sorry to hear you went through such severe torture & still dealing with such a level of suffering and debilitating symptoms. I also begged my parents daily, nearly destroyed the family.
Doctors prescribing these drugs have no idea at all.
Psychiatry is a pseudoscience

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

@ChloeRWilkins It’s a miracle I’m still here as I nearly took my life. I have lost so much to these drugs, it’s indescribable. I just hope one day I can be free of them. The force drugging in hospitals is a crime against humanity.

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

@ChloeRWilkins I’m still trapped on the poison Effexor (Venlafaxine) and left with a lot of neurological injury. I hope one day I can try to taper again. I have been imprisoned to these drugs for 22 years and tried 4 times to get off but I got Akathisia so bad I applied for assisted dying

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

@ChloeRWilkins And I don’t mean that in a bad way to the patients. They are vulnerable but they are being drugged and many having bad reactions to these drugs, which is deemed their ‘mental health’ and many become violent. But the staff are way more dangerous and they have all the power!!

[K a t e 🌻 @KateKeepingHope]

@ChloeRWilkins I had to lie to get out of one of those prisons (‘hospitals’) whilst I was in severe Akathisia due to withdrawal from antidepressants. I quickly learned how dangerous it was to be in there. The staff are more dangerous than the other patients who are being drugged to oblivion

[Dr Joanna Moncrieff @joannamoncrieff]

If anyone is reconsidering taking antidepressants in the light of listening to my @Channel4News news podcast, this blog might be helpful https://t.co/GLfWQFOZW4