One Mother’s Journey of Understanding Psychiatry

A mother recently emailed me this testimonial:

When my son was in a mental hospital a few years ago, I was desperately trying to figure out how to help him. I suspected the treatment he was receiving was not being effective, but the doctor’s seemed so sure of themselves and their diagnosis that I was confused.

I was doing a lot of research and, at some point, I came across  Chaya’s articles on the Mad in America website, which resonated with me. I contacted her and asked if she did private consulting, which she did. After describing my son’s situation, I discovered that Chaya was very knowledgeable about the mental health system and had lots of great ideas about how to help my son.

She called him in the hospital and provided a lot of support to both of us. Ultimately, she helped my son get situated in the real world after he left the hospital and helped create a support system for him while he adjusted to being out of the hospital.

Most importantly, she explained why the psych meds were harmful and helped me see why it was a good idea for me to support my son emotionally in his decision not to take them.

Now, 5 years later, I read about the many horrible side effects of the drugs and I thank God that my son never got “hooked” on them. He is currently completely drug-free and living a productive, happy life. Without Chaya’s well-informed advice, our family would be in a much different place right now.

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We are all doing well. I’m very happy with my son’s situation. I’m sure I’ve told you this before, but a conversation I had with you was what really made me finally realize the uselessness/harmfulness of psych drugs, I’m so glad my son never went along with them. Also, every hospital he was ever in totally misdiagnosed him.

The thing that put the nail in the coffin of thinking psych drugs could possibly be helpful was when I asked you if you thought the small amount of drugs he was getting at the hospital was okay and you said that NO amount of drugs was not harmful.

It then dawned on me that they were really completely unhelpful and always harmful and, at that moment, I decided I was completely against them. Before that, I had been wavering, thinking maybe the doctors in the hospital might somehow know what they were doing in a way that wasn’t clear to me, and I finally concluded they were completely wrong.