TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS
Psychiatric drugs are one of the most common unrealised factors keeping people chronically sick in the UK. This article is about 10 things you may not know about psychiatric drugs. How they are not designed to ‘cure’ anything, how there is no real scientific basis for ‘chemical imbalance’ theory, how psychiatric drugs can create crippling side effects for years after taking them, and how millions of people struggle to withdraw from these addictive drugs. If you have been prescribed psychiatric drugs and are struggling with a chronic debilitating health condition, how do you know which of your current symptoms are drug created and which are not? Please read on to find out …
Caution: If you are taking any psychiatric medication such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, mood stabilisers, hypnotics, stimulants, it is absolutely vital not to stop or taper them on your own. These drugs carry FDA black box warnings - the most serious type of drug alert - due to the risks of severe withdrawal symptoms, including seizures, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, coma and even death. Abrupt discontinuation can shock the nervous system, or cause neurological injury, especially after long-term use. Safe tapering should always be done on a one-to-one basis, never by online recipe, but always under the supervision of a qualified medical professional who is an expert in this field. I have seen too many patients damaged by discontinuing these drugs themselves.
In the UK, psychiatric drug prescriptions totalled well over 100 million items in 2023/2024 for more than 10 million patients. It is estimated that one in five of the UK population is currently taking a psychiatric medication. Psychiatric drugs are not only prescribed for mental health symptoms like depression and anxiety but also ‘off label’ for a wide range of conditions like fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine, insomnia and more.
Antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed psychiatric medications. Between 2023-2024, a whopping 89 million antidepressants were prescribed in the UK to approximately 8.7 million patients. Last year, it was reported that over 100,000 people on facebook groups were trying to get help for antidepressant withdrawal. This is because their prescribing health professionals lacked the knowledge about how addictive these drugs are and how to help them safely taper down. Therefore, I can’t emphasise enough the need for education about these drugs. Here are 10 facts about psychiatric medications people wished they’d known before taking them:
1.Don’t address root causes
Antidepressants are not designed to address the root causes of depression or any other condition, but are only intended to suppress and mask symptoms. As the average GP appointment in the UK is only 10 minutes, it is far easier to reach for a prescription pad than to delve into the underlying causes of the patient’s symptoms. The sad thing is that when symptoms are masked, this closes the door to the true causes of the condition being found and addressed and condemns the patient to a lifetime of suffering.
2.No scientific proof
The theory that depression is caused by a ‘chemical imbalance’ in the brain underpinned antidepressant prescribing for decades. Even though the science was never proven, and there were never any laboratory tests to prove it, this idea was popularised by pharmaceutical marketing in the 1990s and 2000s in an attempt to suggest that these drugs had some kind of therapeutic effect. The ‘chemical imbalance’ theory has now been thoroughly debunked by researchers like Dr Joanna Moncreiff, psychiatrist and academic at University College, London.
3.Emotional blunting
Antidepressants induce something called emotional blunting where the patient is no longer able to feel a full range of emotions - the highs as well as the lows - all of which make life worth living. This chemically induced ‘emotional straight jacket’ can ruin families and relationships, depress artistic drive and motivation, and blunt the very emotions we need to navigate our way through life. It makes people less able to tackle their underlying problems. For example a woman suffering abuse from her husband on antidepressants may feel less motivated to leave a dangerous situation and may suffer further mental and physical abuse as a result. Or a driver whose emotions are heavily blunted may not take evasive action swiftly enough to avoid a child running out into the road. You need your full range of emotions if you are going to participate in life.
4.Medical castration
Antidepressants create sexual blunting and dysfunction. They are regularly prescribed off-label as a form of chemical castration by prison psychiatrists to lower the sexual urges and compulsive behaviour in sexual offenders. This side effect has been well known since the days when antidepressants first came onto the market. The ethical guidelines of the principle of ‘informed consent' dictate that patients in a prison setting must be fully informed of the side effects, reversibility, and treatment aims before agreeing to antidepressant treatment - and they must agree voluntarily. Unfortunately, most patients outside of a prison setting are not informed of the potential side effects of antidepressants, probably because their GPs, having received their education from the pharmaceutical industry, are equally uninformed. However, there is growing awareness of a condition known as PSSD (Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction) - which had previously been brushed under the carpet with regular gaslighting of patients. PSSD is a constellation of sexual and non-sexual symptoms that occur during antidepressant use and can also start shortly after stopping an antidepressant. The symptoms include: genital numbness (loss of sensation or pleasure), low or absent libido, erectile dysfunction, inability to reach orgasm, emotional blunting and most distressing for all kinds of relationships, inability to connect with others. These devastating symptoms can last for years even after discontinuing the drug.
5.Tolerance problem
Psychiatric drugs create a tolerance problem. They disrupt not only neurotransmitter systems but the global regulation of multiple systems in the body (digestive, cardiovascular, blood, hormones etc.)
Over time, the body pushes against them and their effects start to wear off. The dosage may then have to be increased and when that drug maxes out, another may have to be added. It is not unusual for patients to be prescribed around five or more different psychiatric drugs over a ten to twenty year period to try to get the same effects that the body is fighting.
6.Severe side effects
Psychiatric drugs come with a raft of serious side effects as well as sexual dysfunction and emotional blunting. These side effects can include loss of self esteem, metabolic dysfunction, weight gain, blood glucose and lipid dysregulation, suicidal thoughts, shorter duration of life, and suicide. The tragic story of Thomas Kingston, a member of the extended Royal Family, illustrates the unpredictable nature of such side effects. The Citizen’s Commission On Human Rights, a global mental health watchdog, reported, “Lady Gabriella Kingston said her husband Thomas died after making a ‘sudden impulse’ decision to take his own life after suffering an adverse effect to antidepressant drugs. At the coroner’s inquest, she said people need to be warned about the effects of medications used to treat mental health conditions.” Mr Kingston had not suffered from any mental illness or suicidal wish prior to taking antidepressants. Like Thomas Kingston, studies have shown that healthy people became suicidal after taking antidepressants. It appears that antidepressants have helped fuel the bipolar epidemic we are now seeing. To date, there have been 151 drug regulatory agency warnings from 11 countries on antidepressants causing suicide risk or suicidal behaviour and 27 studies on antidepressants causing suicide risk or attempts. The information is out there but the prescriptions keep going up. How many more deaths need to occur before before GPs sit up and take notice?
7.Withdrawal hell
The testimonies of indescribable suffering when taking psychiatric drugs and when attempting to withdraw from them cannot be ignored. This isn’t so well publicised because for years, pharmaceutical companies and psychiatrists have been covering up the addictive effects of the drugs. When these drugs are taken away, it creates trauma within the body. It is often difficult to distinguish between the symptoms of withdrawal and symptoms created by underlying physical conditions like chronic Lyme and other infections. Rather than recognising withdrawal reactions for what they are, psychiatrists will frequently insist on putting the patient back on the drug.
8. Worsen health
Psychiatric drugs can worsen people’s health in the long term. Here is a short list of the damage that they can do:
Antidepressants - tardive dyskinesia, emotional blunting, low motivation, cognitive impairment, sexual dysfunction, increased background anxiety. There is also decades of evidence that SSRI antidepressants cause mass shootings. SSRIs are prescribed to pregnant women simply because some women get depressed during or after pregnancy. However, they double the risk of birth defects like heart malformations and increase the risk of premature birth, pulmonary hypertension and neurodevelopment delays.
Benzodiazepines (e.g. Diazepam, Valium) - neurological dysfunction, loud ringing in the ears (toxicity effect that occurs with long-term use), intrusive thoughts (particularly around death/dying), pain, tingling, anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks, irritability, cognitive issues, sensitivity to light, sound and touch, heart palpitations, seizures (especially with abrupt withdrawal), brain zaps, electrical shocks (neurotransmitter rebound/ nervous system hyper excitability, sensory misfiring). This collection of symptoms now has a name - BIND (Benzodiazepaine Neurological Dysfunction). It has been described by patients as ‘torture’ or ‘a living hell.’
Antipsychotics - akathisia (inability to sit still), tremors, muscle stiffness, Parkinsonism (slow movement, masked face), emotional blunting, weight gain, high blood sugar and risk of diabetes, raised prolactin (irregular periods, lactation, sexual dysfunction), prolonged QT interval (heart rhythm risk), zapping sensations, brain fog, mood swings, depression (which can be worse than the original symptoms).
Mood stabilisers - ‘silent syndrome’ in lithium withdrawal which may look like dementia. Tremors, kidney/thyroid/liver damage, weight gain, PCOS, rebound mania, depression, anxiety.
9.No long-term studies
Patients on psychiatric medications for over 12 months are guinea pigs as there is no placebo-controlled trial for a psychiatric drug that has lasted longer than 12 months. Researchers and drug companies have not studied the long-term side effects and risks. Your GP doesn’t know either, yet he may be still happy to prescribe.
10. Taper down ignorance
Coming off psychiatric drugs, especially benzodiazepines and antidepressants - can be one of the hardest things anyone can do. This is because of the addictive nature of the drugs, side effects and the wide array of nutrients they deplete. Biochemical individuality, elasticity and adaptability of the brain may explain why some people take months to taper down and others can take years. Most doctors are unaware of the need to do a slow and safe taper down. Many also seem unaware of the severity of the withdrawal effects. What do they do? Just raise the dose or prescribe a drug and gaslight the patient that it must be their awful condition. There is no drug that I know of that can cure benzodiazepine withdrawal. What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. Poly-drugging is not the answer. Nor have I seen any good results from drugs like ketamine or psilocybin or cannabis. Indeed, cannabis is a major gateway drug for triggering bipolar/schizophrenia, especially in the young. The cannabis industry has done a good job of convincing people that cannabis is medicine and harmless. This is not true. The evidence shows that you are more likely to have psychotic episode if you use cannabis.
Solutions
The UK spends hundreds of millions per year on antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and mood stabilisers. Reducing long-term prescriptions could save tens to hundreds of millions of pounds annually.
The following changes need to be made in the UK:
1.A major enquiry into the damaging side effects of psychiatric medications in the UK (non-pharmaceutical-led!)
2.Training for doctors and other medical professionals about the side effects of these drugs and the damage they cause (not pharmaceutical-led!)
3.Proper training for doctors in safe taper down (not pharmaceutical-led!)
4.Informed consent - which means prescribing doctors sit down with patients and inform them of the documented risks and side effects associated with these drugs. That means doctors receiving education on this first, and, yes, you’ve guessed it, it must be non-pharmaceutical-led!
However, the chances are we might be waiting a long time for such changes. As with any health initiatives that increase people’s survival, the best option is for patients to increase their own knowledge, take responsibility for their own health and therefore take back control of their lives. This is known as the KRC Triangle (Knowledge, Responsibility and Control). It can be applied to any aspect of life, not just health.
Realise that there are real solutions to mental and physical problems. Recognise that there seem to be two main scenarios where psychiatric drugs are frequently prescribed:
1.An undiagnosed real physical condition causing mental symptoms.
There is saying in Functional Medicine that if you don’t find the root causes of a condition, it keeps coming back no matter what treatments are given. Physical conditions affect people emotionally and mentally too and these should always be looked for first. Sadly, many doctors don’t have the time, tools or interest to do so, and the patient gets a convenient prescription for a psychiatric drug after a 10 minute conversation. The real condition is then masked and may never be addressed, thus condemning someone to a lifetime’s suffering.
Examples of real-life physical conditions that can cause mental distress are:
*Poor diet
*Food allergies/intolerances
*Thyroid/adrenal/hormone problems
*Infections
*Dental pathology
*Autoimmunity
*Neurological conditions
*Brain tumours/cancers
*Skeletal misalignments/injuries
*Deficiencies
*Difficulties sleeping
*Infection-triggered brain inflammation
*Anything that causes low-grade smouldering inflammation
2.Psychological/emotional stress
These are life events causing mental stress such as the following:
*Lack of purpose in one’s job
*Relationship difficulties
*Financial stress
*Family feuds
*Prior trauma
*Study/learning problems
*Abuse
*Poverty
*Heavy losses such as the death of a loved one
*Feeling trapped in life
For the accumulation of life stresses, past traumas, PTSD, and especially heavy losses like the death of a loved one, I recommend Dianetic therapy. The word “Dianetics” means what the mind is doing to the body. It is a precision tool, not meandering like some talking therapies, used by the therapist to hone in on the source of mental distress and discharge its painful content so it is gone for good.
For stressful life situations such as unhappiness in one’s job, relationship, family or financial difficulties, I recommend that people go to the website
volunteerministers.org and choose one of the free short online courses that most closely aligns with the problems they need to handle. These short courses contain some of the most valuable tools I know to increase ability to handle problems in life and help overcome the overwhelming situation. In the old days, before life events were medicated and the pharmaceutical industry made such a profit, people used to go to their minister or a friend for help with life’s problems. I do recommend talking over a problem with a wise and sympathetic friend. But now there is an extra online tool to help.
The titles of some of these courses on the Volunteer Ministers website include:
The Technology of Study
Emotional Tone Scale
Integrity and Honesty
Assists for Illnesses and Injuries
Answers to Drugs
How To Resolve Conflicts
Cause of Suppression
Solutions for a Dangerous Environment
Marriage
Children
Tools for the Workplace
Basics of Organising
Targets and Goals (How to achieve your goals)
Safe Taper Down
If you are taking a psychiatric drug and think that the risk factors outweigh the benefits, I repeat the advice in the second paragraph of this article not to taper down on your own but always under the guidance of a knowledgeable medical doctor. Every taper down will be different and must be tailored to the patient. If your own doctor won’t help you, find another who will!
In the Plymouth area, where I have my clinic, I am fortunate to work with a local doctor to supervise taper down while I administer the necessary dietary and nutritional support.
Persistent withdrawal symptoms
I have seen people get their lives back after safe and slow taper down from psychiatric medications. I have also seen others who are still experiencing devastating symptoms (brain zaps, suicidal episodes, hallucinations, night sweats, electric shock sensations, pain and terror) years after discontinuing these drugs. This is likely to be influenced by factors such as individual neurobiology, more flexible, resilient brain chemistry, genetics, diet and length of time on the drug.
The components of success for safe withdrawal I have observed are:
*The right anti-inflammatory diet
*The right nutritional support to correct deficiencies
*The right supervision
*Family support
*The Hubbard Detoxification Sauna Programme
I believe the latter could be a real breakthrough for those suffering persistent symptoms from these drugs. This works by using specific nutrients to release drug residues which can remain locked up in the fat cells of the body for years. To find out more about this programme and to read the accounts of people who have gotten free from the lingering effects of psychiatric drugs, please read the book Clear Mind, Clear Body by LR Hubbard.
I would also recommend people to do their own research as the more knowledge you have, the more you can be in control of the situation. I recommend exploring the following online resources:
Online videos:
U.S. taper down expert Dr Josef Witt-Doering (there are lots of them!)
Websites:
taperclinic.com - run by Dr Josef Witt-Doering and his team.
The Vigilant Fox - The Mind-Numbingly Dark Truth Behind the World’s Most Common Antidepressants
cchr.org.uk - Citizens Commission on Human rights UK/Mental health Watchdog
lauradelano.com - Unshrunk, A story of psychiatric Treatment Resistance by Laura Delano
Book:
How To Quit Without Feeling S**T by Patrick Holford, David Miller PhD and Dr James Brady
If you are suffering withdrawal symptoms from psychiatric drugs and would like to get help, please get in touch with the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com to request a free 30 minute Enquiry Call or book an appointment. Please note that an Enquiry call is not a consultation but an exploratory call to see if this is a clinical approach you wish to pursue.To your very good health,
Suzanne Jeffery (Nutritional Medicine Consultant)
M.A.(Oxon), BSc.(NMed), PGCE, GNC, BSEM, MNNA, CNHC
The Good Health Clinic at The Business Centre, 2, Cattedown Road, Plymouth PL4 0EG
Tel no: 07836 552936/ Answer phone: 01752 774755
Disclaimer:
All advice given out by Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic is for general guidance and informational purposes only. All advice relating to other health professionals’ advice is for general guidance and information purposes only. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information provided with other sources. Patients and consumers should review the information carefully with their professional health care provider. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by other practitioners and physicians. Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or other damages arising therefrom.