Let’s Talk Withdrawal Podcast

James Moore, of the “Let’s Talk Withdrawal” podcast recently interviewed me on my experiences in the psychiatric system and the approaches I use for healing.

In this interview we discuss approaches that have worked both for myself and others as well as:

How I was in therapy from a relatively young age

Some good experiences of therapy as a child

At around 16 years old, the conversation turned to medications like Prozac

How, in the early 1990s, the drugs were seen as new and a real advance in the treatment for emotional distress or stress and trauma

That I was mistrustful of the medication initially

That I stopped the Prozac without too much difficulty

How later in college, I experienced a hospital admission and forced treatment with psychiatric drugs

I recall being on Risperdal, Prozac, Effexor, Buspar and Ativan as a cocktail

How I recall not being scared at the time even though I was forcibly treated with medications

How I found that Risperdal, Effexor and Ativan were difficult to withdraw from

That I heard other psychiatric survivors talk about their experiences and that helped me understand that the medications were responsible for effects like fatigue and led to my decision to stop the drugs

That I had to take my withdrawal very slowly but still found it difficult

How I ensured that I had space when making a reduction in medications

How I took a year to go through withdrawal from several medications

That I started attending sessions arranged by the Freedom Center and that were a real source of help and support

That I have used my experiences to help and support others in psychiatric drug withdrawal

That psychiatric drugs are not treating biological abnormalities

My work with people who have been on the medications for a long period of time

That we need to create retreat centers to help people get off the drugs

The issues around insurance in the USA that may mean that people have to withdraw from medications for financial reasons

That we should be making a community response to these issues rather than rely on medications

Please listen to and share the podcast here.