Jazz is an old blogging buddy. She published the below story on her blog, “In Pieces” to mark its end about a year ago as she’d recovered and no longer needed to think about such things she’d covered on the blog. At the time I wasn’t posting as I’ve taken many breaks in the last couple of years.
I corresponded with her the other day that I might share her story now as it’s really a great commentary on how so many people end up on psychiatric drugs needlessly.
They end up on drugs for very dubious reasons and then are told that they need them for the rest of their lives.
This is most often a bold-faced lie. It may be that the psychiatrist who utters such fallacy believes their lies, but it’s nonetheless a damaging and damning pronouncement to all too many patients. Some people like Jazz figure this out and are able to free themselves. In our communication I’ve learned that Jazz continued to heal and is now writing fluently again, something she’d lost to the medications. She remains stable and healthy while she mothers her children and writes her books.
Jazz’s last post on her blog:
Bipolar Off Meds Success
If it hasn’t become apparent by now, I’m pretty much done with this blog. It served it’s purpose, which was to get me writing again and to help me figure out just what it was I needed to do with that whole “bipolar incident”.
I wanted to finish off on a positive note, though, and here it is:
A couple of weeks ago I went to my regular doctor for a “med-check”, and as he was going through my records, the conversation went like this:
Dr. R: So are you still seeing the psychiatrist?
Me: No, I haven’t seen him in three years.
Dr. R: And you’re not taking any of the psych meds any longer.
Me: No, I went off the mood stabilizers and antidepressants five years ago…and I haven’t taken trazodone in over two years.
Dr. R: And it doesn’t look like you’ve had any mood issues in that time.
Me: No, I haven’t. I’ve had fewer mood swings in the last three years than ever. I’m pretty sure they were caused by the aspartame in the diet soda I was drinking.
Dr. R: Really? Not the caffeine?
Me: I don’t think so. I still drink tea, and it doesn’t cause me any trouble. But the mood swings started when I was nineteen and started drinking gallons of diet soda a day to stay awake to study. When I stopped the diet soda, the mood swings stopped.
Dr. R: Wow. That’s really interesting. So this bipolar diagnosis we have on here really isn’t relevant any more. I’m going to take it off your records.
So that, my friends, is that. I am officially undiagnosed.
No prizes for guessing whether or not the psychiatrist would agree with that assessment…
I’m going to leave the blog up in the hope that it might help someone else in a situation similar to mine begin to ask questions and seek answers. While we all have to find our own answers, we don’t do it in a vacuum. The people who helped me come to terms with what happened to me and helped me during the journey of figuring out just what that was all about are the authors of the blogs listed on the sidebar. Thanks to all of them, and thanks to the people out there who read my entries and asked insightful questions, provided comfort and support, and were just good blog friends in general.
Adios, dudes!
- For a more complete history written by Jazz see here.
- For other recovery stories that involve drug freedom see here.
- Reframe bipolar disorder — collection
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I recently attended a Physician\’s Assistant who badgered me to enroll in \”behavioral health\” at his clinic. I mentioned that in later childhood through early teens I underwent psychiatric treatment and that the drugs hade left serious damage which interfered with my functioning. He continued to badger me and said that because I\’d attended a psychiatrist over 50 years ago that I must enroll in behavioral health at the clinic. which employed him.
yes. not uncommon. I hope you managed to stand your ground.