“I like to think of the word ‘healing’ in the relationship to curing, as coming to terms with things as they are. What healing is is a process through which we come to terms with the actuality of our situation in the present moment. Now, the beauty of healing is that healing is possible even in the absence or the very improbable likelihood of a cure — that the work of healing can be done right up to our last breath.
We should remember when we read this that antipsychotics are being used broadly for everything from sleeplessness to anxiety to depression these days. They've long been used in people diagnosed bipolar. They are also being used rampantly in young children sometimes even toddlers. These are most assuredly not safe drugs for a developing brain.
I’m struck by how my withdrawal caused so many of the same sorts of PTSD symptoms these soldiers have. These men and women are taking drugs for PTSD that can create PTSD in people who’ve never been to war when they withdrew from them because the withdrawal itself is so ugly. I’ve seen it numerous times in my networks, I’m hardly alone in this. These psych drugs are not a long term solution. Most of them most likely should not even be being used short term. It’s heartbreaking.
Paula Caplan’s work has been highlighted on this blog before. She has also been interviewed by Will Hall on Madness Radio here and here. She does consistently important work elucidating the chaos that is called psychiatry. This book reiterates at least one theme I’ve brought up several times on this blog. I’ve said it before this way, “War creates trauma for a sensitive soul and PTSD is a natural response to a heinous experience. PTSD after a war experience suggests ones humanity, not weakness.”
Everything matters 