I came across an article that’s very extensive and actually quite helpful in terms of tips and validation about the vast myriad of possible manifestations of injury after an insult to the brain.
It’s written about the more conventional traumatic brain injury, you know, car accidents and violent blows to the head. You will see that our pharmaceutical brain injuries are very similar in terms of “symptoms” and I think sometimes we have additional really horrible strange somatic stuff that defies articulation and thus, are not mentioned in this article. I’m not sure if that’s because that weird somatic neurological nightmarish stuff is unique to those of us with severe pharmaceutical brain injuries or if it’s because it’s too hard to explain so the author maybe just didn’t get into it. I don’t know.
Also, even while the author goes into great detail about numerous hypersensitivities, she does not mention food intolerances that, as some of us know, can get radically extreme. The fact is our entire body is being bathed in toxic chemicals, sometimes for many years when we’re on psych drugs, so I suppose some of the injury really is unique to us. There are many subtle neurological functions that have been hi-jacked it seems so the “subtle” stuff can get seriously wacky and not be subtle at all in our experience even if it’s totally invisible to everyone else.
In any case, I thought it was pretty glaring in terms of, yeah, we do have brain injuries and yet there is virtually no medical literature explicit about this fact. (essentially there is no will to investigate crimes caused by one’s own profession…so pretending those gravely injured by psych drugs don’t exist or that those injured are crazy/mentally ill is highly convenient for the medical establishment) This remains a travesty and it means we cannot get the care that we need and we’re all winging it mostly on our own as a result of that.
The article has some good tips and insights, but remember, it’s not about those of us injured by drugs. Still, clearly there is so much cross-over it remains very helpful: SEE: Lost & Found: Dealing with Sensory Overload After Brain Injury | BrainLine
More on psych drug brain injury from Everything Matters, Beyond Meds
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hi herbfairies. sorry to hear about your situation. And yes, you make sense. Opiates are a little different than psych meds and generally once one manages to get off the sort of traumatic brain injury symptoms associated with psych drugs (including benzodiazepines, SSRIs and neuroleptics) doesn’t seem to be an issue. For you, however, with another head trauma, it’s certainly possible. I understand being scared and I don’t feel like you’re dumping on me. I also don’t have an answer for you and I’m sorry. I take one step at time for myself so I certainly don’t pretend I know what someone else needs. I have found that when people think they know what is right for me it’s generally not too…that means I’ve learned to listen and hold space but I generally do not give any pointed or targeted advice. I also can’t do ongoing consultations simply because it’s not healthy for me at this time as I too continue to learn to respond to my body and I still have a lot of healing to do. I do wish you the very best and I’m so glad you shared and grateful to hear that this site has been helpful to you. Love to you.
Monica,,,thank you! Brain injury…..This has been my experience as well…two decades plus of pharmaceutical psych drugs has altered my brain horrendously! I began stuttering and could not speak well and I was told by a psych doc to get speech therapy when I knew it was the drugs…so now that I am off them and have worked through some issues…it is gone…only when the PTSD/traumatic situation comes up do I have an issue…
I’m sorry to hear that you know what this is, really. We need each other for sure, but it’s never nice to know that others have had to go through this, either, is it? I’m glad you are doing much better. I think the PTS is a sort of nervous system injury too. The drugs seem to ingrain previous traumatic events far more deeply into the neural pathways. They’re truly agents of trauma!
Psychiatric Drugs as Agents of Trauma — “Drug Stress Trauma Syndrome” – https://beyondmeds.com/2012/04/25/psychdrugsagentoftrauma/
Monica…yes…thank you!! from the bottom of my heart and soul.. for giving us this space…this place of beyondmeds.com to heal! It has literally saved me as I have walked the horror of this healing path…I will be forever grateful!!