21 Nov 22
Listen to Professor David Healy, a world expert on psychiatric drugs, on Mad in America (MIA) podcast, talking with James Moore, about tapering and coming off psychiatric drugs.
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18 Nov 22
If you wish to stop taking prescribed psychiatric drugs you need to consider these points:
do not try to reduce the dose too quickly
even if you want to stop immediately because the side effects are so bad, you will need to be patient because if you reduce the dose too quickly you risk worse symptoms because of withdrawal – it would be like going ‘cold turkey’ when coming off drugs like heroin
be patient – it might take weeks, months or years before you can safely stop the drugs completely
The 10% rule
the general rule is to reduce the dose by 10% and then wait for at least one to two weeks for the body’s natural ability to heal itself
how long it will take depends on which drug you are taking, the dose, how long you have been taking it, your body’s fitness and ability to recover from the harmful effects of the drug and on how you can cope with the emotional onslaught – fear, anxiety, resentment, anger, helplessness, and more …
if you can find one, you should discuss tapering (reducing gradually) with a registered medical doctor who has experience with tapering these drugs – most doctors are not well-informed or, worse, are misinformed and will be against you tapering and stopping the drug
Relapse
many doctors still tell patients that symptoms when tapering the drug are due to relapse of their condition when in fact they are due to withdrawal of the drug
withdrawal symptoms are often far worse than the reason a doctor put you on the drug in the first place
Dependence
psychiatric drugs are harmful to cells in the heart, the liver, muscles, kidneys and the whole nervous system and this makes the cells dependent on the drugs
doctors are responsible for dependency on psychiatric drugs – you are not
doctors intend to help you but have been taught and given false information – it is a doctor’s duty to keep up to date with the research
dependence is not addiction to drugs like cocaine, morphine and heroin which people decide to take for themselves
9 Nov 22
Tapering psychiatric drugs
World Tapering Day was held on 4, 5, 6 November 22
You can watch and listen to talks by some of the experts and those who have had experience of tapering here on the World Tapering Day YouTube channel.
When the page opens, click on the YouTube circle at the top right of the page. The talks are still being added (first as short previews and then as the full talks) and so you might have to wait until the ones you want to watch in full have been uploaded.
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Evidence and comment about psychiatric drugs
Read, watch and listen to experts write and talk about the dangers of psychiatric drugs and coming off them.
The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry
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Documentary film
You can also watch Medicating Normal – a documentary film made in the USA featuring some of the top international experts.
The film shows the dangers of psychiatric diagnosis and psychiatric drugs.
Every patient and their families, all doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists and medical students, all teachers, health service managers, politicians, journalists and media proprietors should watch this film. Everybody who profits financially from prescribed psychiatric drugs should watch this film together with the makers and purveyors of the drugs the film is about.
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Interview with Dr Clive Sherlock talking about how Adaptation Practice helps people avoid the need to take psychiatric drugs and if they do take them, then helps them taper and stop the drugs.