I was pleased to bring the lived experience perspective of antidepressant withdrawal and misdiagnosis to this important event. This is a public health issue with countless stories of needless suffering. TY Mark.
Recording of the event now available
Very powerful hearing
@AnnaKin06551830
's experience coming off antidepressants tonight at the
@nswmhc
event hosted with
@RACGP
. Think it made a lot of people appreciate the issues in a way that graphs cannot.
If I were a psychiatrist, I’d be curious as to why thousands of patients were resorting to online forums because they had been harmed by my profession 🤔
It seems psychiatrists are rarely interested in the stories of those who were harmed by the treatments they prescribe. In life, we learn more from our mistakes than from our success. If this attitude continues so will the harm. More disability, more broken families, more death.
Photo of me just prior and post poly-pharmacy (14 rx psychotropics over 10 months) for misdiagnosed SSRI withdrawal.Brutal withdrawal,protracted withdrawal and BIND.Tortured is the only adequate word. I’ve been fighting for 6 years to taper this cocktail.Nearly there.Improving 💜
Speaking out about psychiatric treatments…
(1) If you are helped by treatment, you will be celebrated, validated and praised for your bravery.
(2) If you are harmed by treatment you will be ignored, gaslit, discriminated against and invalidated (causing further harm).
I’ll say it again:
It’s not acceptable that patients are stuck on a medication long term; not because it’s beneficial; but because the withdrawal symptoms are intolerable.
* Particularly when the patient was NOT informed of this risk.
It has been a fortunate 7 days. I have found both a GP and psychologist who have validated my iatrogenic injuries from psychiatrist’s. Empathic, caring and open minded. They are both willing to support me through my journey to recovery. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude 💜🙏🏻
Twitter psychiatrists frequently praise patients who publicly share their MH stories. As long as they don’t criticize the treatments prescribed, all is well and they are called “brave”. When patients deviate from this acceptable narrative, they are belittled and blocked. 🤦🏼♀️
People suffering iatrogenic injury from psychiatric ‘treatments’ can be traumatised. They need support, compassion, empathy and understanding. Instead they are met with judgement, rejection, exclusion and gaslighting. This only adds to the trauma and prolongs suffering.
When did
#informedconsent
become negotiable?
Psych opinion - Don’t tell patients about the harms of prescribed psychotropics because it may deter them from taking them 🤯
It’s not scaremongering or pill shaming to tell patients the truth. But it is medical malpractice not to…
Psychiatry 101
-We never said that
-We never heard that
-We never saw that
-We never did that
-We never endorsed that
-Never admit fault.Keep silent & ignore the problem until it goes away. If this fails, gaslight & disingenuously label your critics. Meanwhile, Pts suffer &die
#prescribedharm
is like a tsunami. It destroys everything in its path.Ripping apart self, health, confidence, relationships, employment and freedom.Then once the major storm has past, we are buried in the rubble.Fighting to dig our way out.Exhausted.The loss is unbearably painful
Some psychiatrists are hell bent on sanitizing the language of harmed patients. I’ll use whatever f****** language I like to describe this TORTURE I have had to endure due to negligence, lies and coercion.
I’m exhausted. Sick of being tortured, day in day out. Tapering my prescribed psychotropic poly-pharmacy drug burden for more than 1,900 days. All because the initial SSRI withdrawal (guided by psychiatrist) was misdiagnosed. Nearly there. I think I might just make it ✊
It has taken me 19 months to taper from 20mg of fluoxetine to 3.82mg. If I taper too quickly the symptoms become unbearable Never minimize SSRI withdrawal.
#informedconsent
@thismorning
For years, I was convinced the ADs I was prescribed were helpful. Keeping me from getting worse. Regulating my imbalanced serotonin. However, my mental and physical health declined.All evidence suggested the ADs were harmful, yet I didn’t see it. This is medication spellbinding.
Matthew Perry struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for years. Was in and out of rehab 15 times. He’d made positive progress in recent years. Ketamine is an addictive drug. Why would a psychiatrist introduce an addictive/high inducing substance to a recovering addict?
Matthew Perry is a victim of an industry that exploits desperation. There is no evidence ketamine benefits mental health beyond placebo effects and the drug-induced high. It is a potentially dangerous anaesthetic. An avoidable tragedy!
Things lost due to
#prescribedharm
: (in no particular order)
- Employment
- Health
- Friends
- Connection
- Homeostasis
- Sleep
- Sense of humour
- Confidence
- Trust
- Security
- Sense of Self
- Creativity
- Peace
- Skills (cognitive and physical)
- Fitness
- Intimacy
- Faith
What psychiatrists should say to patients…
- I don’t know how this drug works.
- I don’t know if it will help at all.
- I don’t know the long term effects of this drug.
- I don’t know how to safely taper you off this drug. 1/2
I discovered
@joannamoncrieff
work back in 2017. I had been harmed by various SSRIs, suffered brutal WD, which was misdiagnosed as relapse.I had spent over a decade believing I had a ‘chemical imbalance’, ‘a serotonin deficiency’.I believed I was broken.The truth blew my mind 🤯
My nervous system is continuously smoldering due to iatrogenic injury. Add even a small amount of stress or stimulation and this acts like an accelerant. Plunging my body and mind into an inferno. I can’t even escape in sleep. Every day is a decent into hell 😞
#prescribedharm
Disturbingly, Australia’s national broadcaster, ABC cut key scenes from the BBC Panorama Documentary. Namely
@joannamoncrieff
debunking of the chemical imbalance myth
@markhoro
@JDaviesPhD
Overdue for
@RANZCP
to apologize for misleading the Australian public for decades stating “medications work by rebalancing chemicals in the brain”.. Get the full story ➡️ ‘The Antidepressant Story’ will air on 4 corners 28th August 8:30pm….
Common responses to patients suffering iatrogenic injury from psychiatric treatments
(1) I’ve never seen it
(2) But it helps many
(3)The benefits outweigh the risks
(4) It’s rare
(5)Anecdotes are not evidence
(6)Your anti-psychiatry pill-shamer,scientologist
(7)Ignore and block
Doctors.Stop polydrugging people with psychotropics. Just stop. Stop guessing. When the shit hits the fan you will not have a clue what drug/dose/interaction/tolerance/withdrawal is causing the problem and then DON’T label a patient as disordered when the drugs are the problem
Imagine creating a false narrative in order to sell pills. Imagine manipulating billions of people to believe that their mood, feelings and distress are due to an unproven hypothesis. Imagine getting away with it for decades. Imagine profiting billions from a lie. Imagine that 😳
If any doctor/psychiatrist is willing to poly-drug a patient with psychotropics….then they better be willing (and competent) to not only taper their patients off… but prevent the patients whole f****** life from falling apart. That includes being on-call 24/7
#prescribedharm
Patients harmed by psychiatric treatments shouldn’t have to beg for help. On the contrary, psychiatrists should be begging for forgiveness.
#prescribedharm
#ECT
Dropped fluoxetine by 0.5mg (from 5mg) 3 days ago after a two month hold. Akathisia now raging. Head pressure unbearable, no sleep, rage, feel like I’m burning alive 😢 I’ll have to return to a micro-taper. This S*** is inhumane 😢
My life, body and mind have been inhumanly desecrated by the treatments prescribed by psychiatrists. I’m slowly emerging from the ashes but rebuilding my life in the midst of total destruction is overwhelming.
#prescribedharm
and
#lifeafterECT
pts need rehabilitation support.
THIS!!! Pharmaceutical manufacturers of antidepressants should be required to manufacture low dose & liquid (where applicable) preparations, to facilitate safer hyperbolic tapering methods. Ethically, It’s difficult to fathom that this hasn’t happened.
@clarehm123
@TonyAvery1
@SarahJPharm
@Institute_PDW
@davidwebb_1
@jppharm
Thanks for sharing all this work. I guess the question’s been asked before: why aren’t pharmaceutical manufacturers required to make lower-strength formulations to help with antidepressant withdrawal regimes (akin to warfarin products, and bearing in mind LASA dangers of course).
When a
#prescribedharm
patient was not given informed consent and their iatrogenic suffering is not heard, validated or helped by prescribers….anger is a natural response. The voices are growing and getting louder.
A walk on the beach with my dog lessens the pain of protracted withdrawal. For years I couldn’t even leave my house. For this, I am grateful. There is hope.
Human connection, inclusion and understanding are vital to mental well-being. Sufferers of
#prescribedharm
are often marginalized by prescribers, family and friends. Their voices ignored. It can be an excruciatingly frightening and isolating experience. Don’t judge. Be Kind.
💔 My psychiatrist prescribed over 14 different psychotropics over 10 months. Many with major drug interactions. Including antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, an amphetamine and opioid. I was lucky to make it out alive but it destroyed my life.
22-year-old Isaac Reis died in August 2019.
He was taking 10 different meds - as prescribed, including
2 opioids, 2 benzodiazepines,
an antipsychotic, 2 antidepressants & pregabalin.
Doctors failed to warn Isaac of the risks.
Watch the full story
Psychiatrists should demand pharmaceutical companies formulated all their psychotropic drugs for hyperbolic tapering. Free of charge to patients. It’s the least they can do. It’s inexcusable. In unison, you lot created this mess. Fix it.
Today I sought help from a massage therapist neck (dystonia)and muscular pain brought on by prescribed psychotropic polypharmacy and withdrawal.I explained my circumstances through tears.She expressed more kindness,empathy,compassion and understanding than any dr or psychiatrist
I used to have such A creative mind...painting, drawing, creating all sorts of wonders. Since the cascade of drugs and ECT I’d be lucky to do a stick figure 😢this is one of my past creations....
Today 7/10/23
Life is slowly improving. Managing AD withdrawal symptoms with hyperbolic taper. 1.7mg of fluoxetine remaining, then I will be prescribed psychotropic drug free. Methods learned on
@SurvivingADs
with deepest gratitude to
@Altostrata
, moderators and peer support 💜
This never would have happened if my psychiatrist was knowledgeable in hyperbolic tapering of Citalopram (SSRI) and/or proficient in recognizing antidepressant withdrawal symptoms.
For years now I have been tapering my prescribed psychotropic drug burden. The symptoms have been relentless and excruciating. I drag myself through each day. These pills have caused horrific harm.Every aspect of my life has been an upheaval.
#informedConsent
woeful
#postyourpill
Most patients in a psych hospital have PRN alprazolam (Xanax) prescribed. Any sign of anxiety or tearfulness, a benzodiazepine is the remedy. Patients deserve so much better
#prescribedharm
3% reduction of SSRI after a 4 month hold. Day 8 after reduction…Can’t sleep, terrible head pressure, fire crackers exploding in my head, fatigue, brain fog, body ache, ear ache, eye pressure, surges of anxiety…too much for too long. Don’t tell me fluoxetine self tapers 🙄
This is what
#prescribedharm
looks like. These photos were taken 6 years apart. Nine months after the first pic my psychiatrist ceased 40mg Citalopram over 10 days. Protracted WD was misdiagnosed 1/2
Micro-taper of fluoxetine.Will have to hold dose now at 3.7mg. 😔Symptoms escalating:
- head pressure, sloshing feeling, electrical pain/stabbing
-sand paper under skin + pins needles, burning sensations restless, agitated (red flags for severe akathisia)
-insomnia and much more
I am not a ‘pill-shamer’ for speaking out about the harm caused by prescribed psychotropics. I am a nurse, mother and wife who’s life has been utterly shattered by
#prescribedharm
...1/2
Suffering protracted injuries caused by the treatments prescribed by psychiatrists is medical negligence. I’m traumatised and disabled because of this ‘health care’. I wasn’t given
#informedconsent
. Everyday is a struggle to survive.
It all started with a pill 14 years ago that was “safe and could be stopped at any time”. What a crock. An SSRI didn’t save my life, it insidiously destroyed it
#prescribedharm
Not helpful? Would have been very helpful for me when suffering this horrible symptom, from both SSRI and benzo withdrawal. My psychiatrist misdiagnosed akathisia as anxiety. Awareness is vital.
The worst thing I ever did was walk into a psychiatrists office. The best thing I ever did was to walk (run) out of a psychiatrists office and never go back.
@DrMcFillin_PsyD
“It is safe and can be stopped at anytime” was the reassuring words of my prescriber. It’s disturbing that antidepressants are prescribed so carelessly by doctors who can’t provide adequate
#informedconsent
and are unable to de-prescribe safely.
SSRIs destroyed my sexual function and libido. Do I have
#PSSD
? I don’t know yet because after of years of tapering, I’m still stuck on the drug due to intolerable withdrawal symptoms.
The only reason this poster exists is because psychiatry has spectacularly failed patients and their family members. Nowhere in this thread can I see psychiatrists taking responsibility for this harm.
I feel like my brain has been removed, dragged across the gravel, trampled on, stabbed, set on fire and then thrown back inside my skull
#prescibedharm
Since suffering iatrogenic injury from prescribed psychotropics and ECT I’ve noticed I utter several recurrent phrases..
“I don’t know who I am anymore”
“Please make this stop”
“I can’t take this anymore”
“What happened to my life?”
😕
For years my life has been starved of creativity, vibrancy, music, joy, colour, laughter, connection, understanding, empathy and so much more.
#prescribedharm
destroys so much more than health.
I’ve overcome some significant challenges in my life. However, prescribed psychotropic
#prescribedharm
takes the cake. It is a relentless, life destroying, debilitating and a torturous curse. No-one should suffer like this. Year after year. It’s overwhelming and inhumane 😞
How many people worldwide are desperately trying to WD from prescribed psychotropic medication with no support from the drs who prescribed the drugs in the first place? It is not the responsibility of online forums to clean up this diabolical epidemic. Yet this is the reality.
I’ve got so much to share and give but it’s bound up behind barriers of chronic ill health, survival and trauma. Survival consumes so much friggin energy.
#iatrogenicinjury
#prescribedharm
To date, I have personally mixed/measured over 1,900 doses, to facilitate my taper off prescribed psychotropic poly-pharmacy. I’m exhausted by this necessary burden. Saving my own life from iatrogenic harm.
#postyourpill
Antidepressant & Benzodiazepine Withdrawal, Tip
#1
- Don’t waste your precious energy worrying about what other people think. People will always judge what they don’t understand.
I was told I was extremely difficult to treat. That my case was rare. Turns out most of my symptoms were caused by treatment. Iatrogenic injury from psychiatric intervention is rife. If you’re sick from ingesting poison, how can more poison cure you?
When I try to explain my experience of iatrogenic injury, I’m tired of being met with silence. At the very least please TRY to understand. The silence reeks of indifference. Indifference is a violence on the soul.
#prescribedharm
Some patients lie about feeling suicidal because they fear the treatments offered by psychiatry. For some it is these treatments that have made them suicidal. It’s not fear of judgement...it is fear of further disability, not being heard and obliteration of autonomy.
Cont…
- I don’t know how to help you if you get debilitating Withdrawal symptoms.
- Honestly, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing!…do you still want the prescription? 2/2
About a month ago my GP suggested I see a psychologist (CBT) for my chronic insomnia. She is unable to grasp that this is a symptom which is CAUSED by tapering an SSRI. Must be all in my head not iatrogenic😕After two months of holding my current dose sleep is FINALLY returning
Somewhere along the way I lost myself. This torture has brought me to my knees. I have been utterly broken, ripped apart and left raw and bleeding in the gravel. Nothing about my treatment was close to care. I’m a nurse. I know what care is.
#iatrogenicinjury
I wonder how many people diagnosed with ME/CFS are in fact suffering, a reaction to OR Withdrawal from, a prescribed psychotropic? SSRI’s one culprit which causes fatigue
#precribedharm
The long term consequences are being reported by patients. These harmful effects have been actively ignored, misdiagnosed or dismissed as anecdotal. The global unregulated experiment continues, as prescriptions soar.
Prof Joanna Moncrieff on so called
#antidepressants
to BBC Panorama:
“Everyone who takes these drugs for more than a few weeks is taking a part in a huge unregulated experiment to find out what the long term consequences of doing this are.”
When I started an antidepressant I started to experience fatigue. Debilitating fatigue. I always blamed other factors. As did my doctors. Stress, trauma, University workload, shift work, parenting. I think I was wrong. 😕
I was subjected to a prescription cascade of harmful psychotropics because:
(a) my psychiatrist didn’t know how to taper the antidepressant she had prescribed safely
AND
(b) my psychiatrist couldn’t recognize the debilitating symptoms I was experiencing were withdrawal
Life is difficult. Trying to navigate these challenges whilst suffering protracted and acute prescribed psychotropic drug withdrawal is cruel. Some days are too overwhelming. Make it stop.
#prescribedharm
Prescribed psychotropic injury can leave deep, traumatic scars. Akathisia is a brutal, nightmarish experience. Its legacy burns deep into the memory of the afflicted. Every cell remembers 😔
It’s not an assumption. Thousands in online support groups report being harmed by psychiatric treatments and poor tapering advice. A common withdrawal effect from prescribed psychotropics, such as ADs or benzodiazepines, is suicidal ideation.
@AnnaKin06551830
@ahmedhankir
Speaking from personal experiences or scientific research published by scholars of Psychiatrists? 🤔. Simply making assumptions as some people do! What percentage does ‘some people’ equate
“The medicalization of insomnia, like depression, has changed a nearly ubiquitous human experience into a pathology, overtreated with hurtful pharmaceuticals….Once again, it is clear that our treatments are causing more harm than good. As the data becomes more difficult to…1/3
@Eisor800526472
I don’t know of any other branch of medicine, that has caused as much catastrophic harm as psychiatry…and then not to listen and learn from harmed patients…rinse and repeat.
Psychiatry has developed a culture of blaming the patient. Just look at the DSM. Diagnosis and disorders that literally blame the patient. Prime example is ‘Treatment Resistant Depression’.
Psychiatry is the most personal of medical specialties.
When a cancer patient dies, everyone blames the cancer.
When a psychiatric patient doesn't get better, the tendency is to blame the psychiatrist.
Has anyone else been on antidepressants for YEARS and feel like they’re not doing anything bc you’re still extremely depressed, but when you try come off them, you reach a level of depression you didn’t realise existed so you have to go back on them again ???