I've added a "protracted withdrawal" link to the drop-down menus above. I wanted to call attention to it and so I'm also sharing a bit of correspondence I recently had with an injured comrade with protracted withdrawal syndrome below. ...
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 ...
Some of us have been on the front lines figuring out this stuff years before anyone was publicly acknowledging it. I am sharing this info and collection in response to the two recent @nytimes articles.
I see in retrospect that some core, vital part of me was always there during the drugged years, learning and remembering much that would help me in these years of coming off meds and now being med free. I no longer believe that I “lost” my life to drugs. This is, as Mary Oliver, puts it, my "one wild and precious life."
Sitting with highly reactive feelings is often a highly somatic experience that most people have no framework for and therefore no means to understand what is happening. It can be a very frightening thing to sit with reactive feelings.
This collection was created with the intent to help those who are currently dealing with the iatrogenic (medically caused) injury from psych meds...so that they might know that we can heal from it all. The series was a weekly occurrence for some time a few years ago now. The series is also intended to help educate the masses to the realities that so many of us face. Protracted psychiatric drug withdrawal is real. It's also sometimes gravely disabling. The fact is it's largely denied in the medical community. We are routinely blamed and told that the experience is psychiatric...this leads to more drugging and sometimes forced drugging with the very drugs that have harmed us. This must end. ...
I found this article at Mad in America quite fascinating and on point. I hadn't heard the term pseudo-autism but it's exactly my experience too. I'm sharing the link to the article and my comment in response to the article here. ...
Minerals are essential for all of our bodily functions. They are needed for bone and teeth health for our blood, skin, hair, nerve function, muscle and for all our metabolic processes. They are foundational to everything we are as physical beings. All minerals are generally in a state of depletion in modern western people because our soils suck and our food supply is so compromised in a multitude of ways. Before withdrawing from psych meds it's important to have some foundational well-being if at all possible so that one might mitigate severe withdrawal issues.
It’s become clear to me that whenever it’s possible that it’s helpful for folks who’ve not begun withdrawal and have the time to consider a carefully thought out plan to attempt to bring greater well-being to your body/mind/spirit before starting the withdrawal. I did not know to do that, but in retrospect had I known what a profoundly healthy and clean diet and healing lifestyle could do, I would have worked towards those things first. ...
A question asked: (Withdrawing from psychiatric drugs) caused chronic fatigue, muscle pain, burning skin and brain fog. I NEVER had any of these symptoms prior to meds or during meds. I guess the thing I worry about is if your body can truly heal from these symptoms. Can they go away on their own? Can they go away with time? my answer: We need to learn to listen to and cooperate with our nervous systems...and heal...in the way that they dictate. This will be different for everyone and therein lies the challenge. ...
Everything matters 
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