More Harm Than GOOD

“Psychotropics are poison. Psychotropics cause and exacerbate emotional distress and cause brain dysfunction (sometimes permanent and irreversible).” ~ Dr. Shawna Freshwater, MS PhD, Graduate of Cornell, Practices #Neuropsychology #Neuroscience #ClinicalPsychology #PsychoNeuroImmunology 

Dear friend,

Psychiatric drugs may start out being “helpful” especially in acute crisis and for a brief period, but I’m convinced that long term their efficacy becomes highly questionable if not null.

Often higher and higher dose of the drug is needed, or addition of multiple drugs leading to polypharmacy.

The real impact of long term psych drug treatment is insidious.

Similar to the long term effects of inappropriate lifestyle and diet is slow in progression. It takes awhile before you noticed any big issues, unless of course you’re one of those people who cannot tolerate psych drugs at all.

Then you could be in danger from the first dose or lowest dose of a drug. I’ve come across people who have sustained long term irreversible damage just from one or two doses or brief 2 week to a few months treatment with psychiatric drugs.

It’s pretty horrifying…

When a child or adolescence or an adult goes to see a doctor or psychiatrist and describes their problem, how long before they’re given a diagnosis and prescription? Not that long!

It could be 15 minutes, half an hour, 45 minutes, and an hour max. Now, some people are admitted to ER or acute care units. Even then, these days it’s not uncommon admissions to be anywhere from 2-3 days to a few weeks at best.

And during that period of time I’m told by clients they may see the treating psychiatrist once or twice per week. Again this is in the best case scenario. Those conversations are often brief and filled with a bunch of lies, untruths, and dogma.

Such as having “a chemical imbalance”…

Besides that, you’re handed a diagnosis that will follow you for the rest of your life and a cocktail of drugs you’re told you have to stay on indefinitely.

What you’re not told is how badly these drugs will compromise your physical and mental health, and how difficult it will be when inevitably you’ll attempt to come off of them. And yes, you’re also not told that you’ll develop physical dependency.

For some people, they’re able to function on psych drugs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no damage being done to their body and brain. A person can be a functioning alcoholic for years, and you don’t find out their brain has turned into a Swiss cheese until 20 or 30 years later.

Am I seriously comparing psych drugs to alcohol?

Yes. Because they both fall under psychoactive drugs. Illicit or prescribed doesn’t make any difference. It’s irrelevant! Many psych drugs have street value.

The bottom line is, these drugs were not meant to be the first line of defense or a long term solution. And regular medication review to make sure that harm is minimized or mitigated should be a regular practice.

However, deprescribing and safe tapering guidelines and support in psychiatry is almost non-existent. That aligns perfectly with the narrative that mental illness is “chronic, lifelong and incurable.”

So what do you do when you’re stuck in this hamster wheel?

Many people do feel very much trapped. They can’t live with the unwanted drug effects, and they can’t come off of them safely either. And stopping cold turkey or tapering too fast will spell absolute disaster.

Many people go through this process and are told it is the return of their original illness, or worsening of current conditions or an onset of a new illness. Likely a misdiagnosis.

The best thing you can do in this situation is seek support.

Knowledge is power.

There are online communities, people with lived experience of safe tapering and professionals that can help you walk through this process safely.

It’s definitely something you don’t want to do on your own. There needs to be medical supervision as well as tapering coaching/support.

As well, what I found most helpful was implementing a simple intervention like metabolic therapies and the ketogenic diet. I believe it was part of what allowed me to be resilient through the harrowing journey of tapering.

Withdrawal can be pretty rough…

And having physical stability, good immune system, and stamina and a different focus can really help take your mind off of the sometimes awful withdrawal symptoms.

Instead, you’re noticing benefits of keto and metabolic therapies and gaining more stability and change.

I’m really grateful to have tapered off psych meds. I still to this day feel the effect of the aftermath of those drugs. But I know that I’m no longer being actively harmed. That sh*t is out of my system but it has definitely left a mark.

I realize now there’s nothing more important than health.

Everything else is a plus. If you’re struggling with feeling trapped on psychiatric drugs and want to taper off of them, you’re not alone.

It’s possible to taper safely and not have to live with unwanted effects. It’s essential to listen to your body and re-evaluate the risks and benefits.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need additional support.

Please forward this information with anyone who you believe would benefit.

Feel free to leave me your questions, comments, and feedback below. Thank you for taking the time to visit here.

Until next time, we continue in solidarity. 

Neseret Bemient, BScN
Holistic Mental Health Coach 

PS: If you are ready to stop struggling and start living the life you want starting today, you can click on the link below and schedule a 45 minute discovery/consultation session to see if we're a good fit to work together. 

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"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~