Support for those in withdrawal: family and friends

macro photography of green crowfoot grass flower Support for those in withdrawal: friends and family

By Baylissa Frederick Support for those in withdrawal who struggle with family & friends not understanding ~~ One of the most challenging and frustrating aspects of withdrawal is that feeling of being misunderstood, unsupported and isolated. If someone has diabetes, dystonia or other chronic illness or experiences a life event such as a bereavement, people will more often empathise and offer support. They understand these issues - the required dietary restrictions, medication, etc., and they will be able to tell you the stages of grief

April 29, 2014

Back into withdrawal hell…

Seven years out and Matt Samet fell back into withdrawal syndrome hell -- not taking care of his body...so ultimately it's a painful lesson as he gets back to doing so.

in any case it's good to know that we who have been harmed this way must ALWAYS be careful...I have no interest whatsoever in ever drinking coffee or alcohol again...or eating sugar or gluten...some things do change us forever and I know how much they harm me now...won't test certain things ever again...I'm grateful to listen to my body speak so clearly on these things.

His attitude remains good as he's been through this terrain before. We can all learn from him and not make these same mistakes. Thank you Matt Samet for your sharing of your painful and very inspiring journey. You help us all. … [click on title to read more]

October 15, 2013

Benzodiazepine withdrawal — “it really is that bad”

"Unless you've been through it, it's impossible to know how bad it is."

What Matt Samet talks about in this video is sadly the truth. Those of us who get protracted withdrawal issues come to know an alienation and isolation that no one should know is even possible. If you are someone who has found themselves in that place I've written quite a lot about it: The isolation and sense of abandonment many people deal with when sick with protracted withdrawal illness. While it's a very painful and lonely process one can work with this in many ways and people do come out the other side of it.

August 17, 2013

We can be AWARE. We can wake-up. We can heal ourselves and our psyches.

Why is it assumed that people need remain unaware of their physiological experience? This is exactly what meditation can attend to. It's called "mindfulness" for a reason. It's entirely possible to become aware of our bodies, minds and psyches. The fact that many of us are asleep does not mean we cannot wake up!

This sort of knee-jerk conclusion that determines we are helpless in the face of all our physiology strips people of their inheritance. We can be AWARE. We can wake-up. We can heal ourselves. … [click on title for the rest of the post]

August 8, 2013

We are all addicts…

Update: This article gets people upset on occasion and yet no one who has gotten upset has responded to what I’m actually saying in this piece. Please read it carefully. It’s not talking about YOU. It’s talking about HUMAN BEINGS in general. Addiction is a societal issue. Consumerism and capitalism is dependent on the addict in everyone. Recognizing this fundamental issue with our society is part of a much deeper social commentary that this speaks to. Gabor Mate and others speak to this expertly if you’d like to do further research. Our society needs healing, it’s not just particular individuals who need to heal. We are all connected. Inextricably so. This argument can be true and we can also note real differences in how people use drugs. There is no argument there on my part. Language is inherently imprecise and context must always be considered. This is a simple argument of inclusion. Arguments that concentrate on differences can be true simulataneously. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!! 😀

June 8, 2013

RX BENZO Public service announcement

Video from RXBenzo.org -- a resource for benzodiazepine information.

This post includes the Beyond Meds Benzo Info Page with lots of links, info and resources. Please scroll down after the initial comments that deal with the politics of the benzo withdrawal world. … [click on title to read the rest]

March 30, 2013

Teenager’s Perspective: living with her mother experiencing benzo withdrawal

My mom is an addict. Or was an addict I should say. She wasn’t addicted to any street drugs, not heroin, not cocaine or meth. She took the drugs, not because she wanted an escape, but because she was prescribed them without knowing their addictive properties. She became addicted to the medicine that the doctors continued to give her when her depression and anxiety didn’t go away. I have never seen so many pills. Prozac, Cymbalta. Xanax, Klonopin, Zoloft. Take three a day, take one in the morning and one at night to help her sleep, remember to take twice daily with food.

While taking these she wasn’t herself. … [click on title to read the rest]

March 12, 2013

Death Grip: escape from benzo madness — new book introduced by the author, Matt Samet

I have only lived four decades, but I hope never again in life, even at its end, to experience suffering like I felt while taking and withdrawing from the drugs. At essence, looking back six years after swallowing my last psychotropic medicine and feeling saner, healthier, and happier than ever, all I can see is a vast black storm behind me: the physical illness, emotional lability, and compromised cognition caused by the pills; the hopelessness of being told that this chemical abomination was some underlying “organic” and “lifelong” “disease”; and the even bleaker hopelessness of having my autonomy stripped away in the hospitals, of forced drugging on a host of ever-more dangerous and unnecessary pills.

Often I wonder, just what the hell was I thinking, entrusting my brain — the very seat of my soul — to other people?

February 13, 2013

Benzodiazepine withdrawal story. Through hell and out the other side

I posted a video featuring Matt Samet a while ago: Benzos: a short video — “it really is that bad”. Someone who saw that video and read the story I linked to in the post about his protracted withdrawal illness thought that perhaps he'd never recovered because in those pieces of media his recovery was still in progress.

Well he has recovered and he now has a blog at Mad in America. It took him several years to recover. I know a lot of us now for which it takes years. He found ways to cope and grow and use the time he was ill for the best. That too is what I'm learning to do as I remain very ill three years post withdrawal. It's good to hear his story at this juncture.