Writing a book maybe - need your help

[[je...]]

Please, we need someone to draw attention to this hell! I will support in any way

[[pa...]]

general public deserves more than just an attention.

they should be warned about these poisons. have heard that some people do not experience or only with minor side effects, but great number of people also experience a "hell" that no once could possibly understand.

stealing someones personality, soul, intelligence, cognition, and life time experience is just a pure devil's intention.

 

[[Ne...]]

This is worth reading..

Damaged Brains

A Warning for Mental Health Professionals

Peter Wilberg

HEALTH WARNING: your clients’ symptoms may be effects of the legally

prescribed drugs that are or have been used to ‘treat’ them.

Recent decades have seen an enormous rise in the number of people treated

with psychopharmaceutical medications - all of which have a direct effect

on brain functioning. Such medications include:

Antidepressants

Anxiolytics (for treating anxiety, sleep problems and panic attacks)

Neuroleptics (for treating so-called psychotic symptoms)

Stimulants (used on an increasing scale to treat children and adults with socalled

behaviour disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder)

What is not so well known is that many of the psychological and somatic

symptoms treated by counsellors and psychotherapists, physicians and

psychiatrists are a direct result of taking or having taken medications of

these sorts. Symptoms such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances panic

attacks, phobias, compulsions, mania, poor concentration, loss of affect,

suicidal thoughts and psychotic episodes are all recognised by

pharmaceutical themselves companies themselves as potential effects of

the very medications designed to treat them.

According the psychiatrist Peter Breggin, health practitioners now

confront a hidden epidemic of iatrogenic (medically caused) psychical and

somatic illness resulting from short or long-term chemical disruption of

brain functioning. The adverse effects of psychopharmaceutical

medications, both acute and chronic, include:

· intended effects (for example the mind-numbing depression of brain

functioning and the dulling of thought and emotion induced by

neuroleptics).

· paradoxical effects (the accentuation of the very symptoms which the

drugs were prescribed to treat, such as panic attacks induced by

anxiolytics).

· physiological side effects (ranging from respiratory, cardiac,

gastrointestinal problems to long-term brain and liver damage, peripheral

nerve damage, sexual dysfunction, weight gain, chronic fatigue or

dyskinesia (uncontrolled Parkinsonian-type movements).

· psychological side effects (symptoms of mania, depression, panic

attacks, psychotic episodes, suicidal ideation etc. of a sort not previously

experienced by the individual at any time before taking the medications).

· withdrawal effects (acute or chronic psychological and physiological

effects experienced when coming off prescribed medications).

· tolerance effects (needing ever-increasing dosages of the same drug to

simply to avoid acute and frightening withdrawal effects).

· short and long-term dependency (addiction as a result of tolerance

and withdrawal effects).

There is a tendency to interpret even the most dangerous physiological sideeffects

- if reported - merely as symptoms of a patient’s psychological

disorder. Cardiac symptoms, for example, may be interpreted as ‘anxiety’

symptoms, rather than the other way round. As a result, patients with

genuine cardiac problems may remain medically untested and untreated

until they suffer a serious heart attack.

Many social workers, nurses, counsellors, psychotherapists and alternative

health practitioners however, still believe that the use and efficacy of

psychopharmaceutical drugs is scientifically proven.

The medical myth has it that mental disorders such as ‘depression’ are

caused by biochemical imbalances in the brain.. Not only has there never

been any scientific evidence of this whatsoever, it is actually not technically

possible to measure the levels of neurotransmitters in the synapses between

brain cells. The hypothesis of an original ‘chemical imbalance’ was arrived

at by arguing backwards from the supposedly therapeutic effects of drugs

designed to chemically influence the release or reuptake of particular

neurotransmitters - thereby altering their respective levels in the brain,

even though the latter cannot be directly measured. Thus whilst there is no

evidence that such drugs correct imbalances in the brain, they can be

chemically guaranteed to cause them - artificially elevating or depressing

neurotransmitter levels in a way that may affect not only mood, but all

body’s most basic regulatory systems.

The principal ‘evidence’ for the therapeutic efficacy of

psychopharmaceutical medications comes from short-term clinically

controlled studies comparing the effects of an active drug with that of an

inactive or ‘inert’ placebo. In most cases, the difference between the drug

and placebo thought necessary to scientifically ‘prove’ the efficacy of the

former is minimal. But comparing the effects of any active drug with an

inert placebo is, as Breggin points out, misleading in itself. This is because

the active drug may have its own type of placebo effect – giving the patient

a felt sense of a drug’s power by virtue of its felt effects, however subtle.

As Grohol points out “the double-blind placebo controlled study is not

blind. Side effects are so obvious that more than 80% of the patients know

whether they are on active medication or placebo, patients are equally

accurate about other patients on the ward, and nurses and other personnel

are privy as well. In some studies the only people who claim to be blind are

the prescribing physicians, and in other studies the prescribing physicians

admit being as aware of the patients' condition as everyone else.” Even with

active placebos “the empirical data show that medication effect sizes are

hard to distinguish from the placebo. Also not mentioned is that most

antidepressant medications habituate, and the patients' symptoms return.

Most patients believe they would feel even worse if they were not taking

their medication.”

Grohol goes on to question the use of clinician-rated rather than patientrated

measures of ‘improvement’ in such trials, noting that “If patients

cannot tell that they are better off in a controlled study, one must question

the conventional wisdom about the efficacy of antidepressant drugs.”

One of the main arguments in favour of the use of anti-depressants is

suicide and violence prevention. How is it then, that several studies have

shown an actual increase in suicide rates in those taking anti-depressants?

How is that otherwise sober and responsible individuals with no history of

violence or severe personality disorder can, within a few day or weeks fall

victim to violent or suicidal impulses, even to the point of committing

murder or suicide? One reason is the stimulant effect of the new Prozactype

antidepressants or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). The

artificially elevated serotonin levels they are designed to induce can result

not only in mild euphoria but manic states or psychotic syndromes similar to

those produced by illegal amphetamines. Alternatively, they may, in the

first few days of usage result in an unnatural depression of serotonin levels

as the brain tries to compensate for an artificially induced chemical

imbalance. In both cases the drug has brought about a form of organic brain

dysfunction of the very sort assumed, without evidence, to be responsible

for the patient’s symptoms. Another argument for the use of antidepressants

is their ‘efficacy’ for many people. No thought is given

however, as to the reasons why such drugs are felt or deemed to be

‘effective’. Breggin points out that “A patient typically is rendered unable

to stay depressed during an episode of organic brain dysfunction, because

depression requires a relatively intact brain and mind. Rendered either

apathetic or artificially euphoric by brain dysfunction, the patient is

evaluated as ‘improved’.”

“What psychiatrists call ‘depression’ – lethargy, apathy, nervousness,

hopelessness, helplessness and unhappiness – is a serious problem often

unrecognised as drug-related. Because of their depressant and debilitating

effect, psychiatric drugs can make people feel so bad they want to kill

themselves.” Caligari

SSRI’s such as paroxetine (Seroxat/Paxil) and Prozac may be authorised for

use by patients over many years on the basis of clinical trials lasting from

only 6 to 10 weeks. GlaxoSmithKline, whose sales of Seroxat/Paxil were

valued at over one and a half billion pounds in 2000, continue aggressive

marketing of the drug to doctors, with 100 millions prescriptions given

annually. This despite the fact that their own staff reported trial patients

showing significant withdrawal symptoms of agitation and insomnia after

only a short period on the drug – which now leads the list the World Health

Organisation list of pharmaceuticals reported by doctors cause acute

withdrawal problems. GSK leaflet accompanying prescriptions still tell the

patient that “you cannot become addicted to Seroxat.” No distinction is

made between dependency of the sort comparable to an addicts cravings for

tobacco or heroine, and addiction based purely on the need avoid acute

physical or psychological withdrawal symptoms. The information leaflet for

Seroxat also includes the following words:

“Occasionally, the symptoms of depression may include thoughts of

harming yourself or committing suicide. Until the full antidepressant effect

of your medication becomes apparent it is possible that these symptoms

may increase in the first few weeks of treatment.”

The tone is soothing. But in June 2001, GSK were forced to pay out $6.4

million in damages to the family of a man who killed his wife, daughter,

granddaughter and then himself after only two days on Seroxat.

In contrast to the SSRIs, most neuroleptic drugs or ‘anti-psychotics’,

together with the minor and major tranquillizers, work by dulling and

depressing brain activity through a wide range of different

neurotransmitters including dopamine and GABA. The artificially-induced

elevation or depression of mood brought on by the elevation or depression

of different neurotransmitters in the brain, may have dramatic effects when

the drug is withdrawn – either producing a dramatic ‘rebound’ elevation of

neurotransmitter levels or leaving the brain incapable of generating normal

neurotransmitter levels by itself. Breggin cites a typical example of

withdrawal syndrome:

“Recently one of my patients, a young man in his twenties, was trying to

taper off small doses of Elavil prescribed by another physician…within a day

or two of complete withdrawal he began to feel ill. It seemed exactly like

the flu. He felt lethargic and his muscles ached, He lacked appetite, felt

sick to his stomach, and vomited in the morning. Despite his tiredness he

had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. He felt increasing anxiety as

well. A complete physical examination by an internist revealed no evidence

of an infection, and I was forced to conclude that he had a typical flu-like

withdrawal syndrome. He gradually recovered over a few weeks, vomiting

for the last time about a month after ending the medication.”

Not all are so ‘lucky’ as this patient. Countless harrowing stories by those

who became unknowingly dependent on highly-addictive benzodiazepine

tranquillizers and sleeping pills, or so-called ‘non-addictive’ antidepressants,

bear testament to the years or even decades of hell suffered in

the attempt to withdraw from these drugs, and/or of the permanent postwithdrawal

symptoms they still suffer.

With one out of four people in the UK thought to be suffering from a

diagnosable mental disorder, the number of prescription of anti-depressants

and anxiolytics is vast. As long ago as 1984, it was reported by Professor

Malcom Lader that 11.2 percent of all adults took a benzodiazepine for

anxiety or sleeping problems in any one year. “Even at a conservative

estimate, 20% of these will develop symptoms when they attempt to

withdraw. That means a quarter of a million people in the UK. It is now

estimated that one and a half million people in the UK alone are chronically

addicted to benzodiazepine anxiolytics such as diazepam (Valium) and

lorazepam (Ativan). All the drugs in this class can induce dependency in a

matter of days through suppressing the brain’s natural production of

anxiety- and stress-reducing neurotransmitters. Yet they account for 50% of

global sales of psychopharmaceutical medications.

"The biggest drug-addiction problem in the world doesn't involve heroin,

cocaine or marijuana. In fact, it doesn't involve an illegal drug at all. The

world's biggest drug-addiction problem is posed by a group of drugs, the

benzodiazepines, which are widely prescribed by doctors and taken by

countless millions of perfectly ordinary people around the world... Drugaddiction

experts claim that getting people off the benzodiazepines is more

difficult than getting addicts off heroin... For several years now pressuregroups

have been fighting to help addicted individuals break free from their

pharmacological chains. But the fight has been a forlorn one. As fast as one

individual breaks free from one of the benzodiazepines another patient

somewhere else becomes addicted. I believe that the main reason for this is

that doctors are addicted to prescribing benzodiazepines just as much as

patients are hooked on taking them.” Vernon Coleman, Life Without

Tranquillizers

The sheer scale of the problem with psychopharmaceutical medications

becomes clear if we consider that probably 75% or more of so-called

‘adverse reactions’, including withdrawal symptoms and withdrawal

syndromes, may be unreported. Worse still, they may be unrecognised as

such by patients themselves, interpreted as signs of endogenous

psychological disorders by physicians or psychotherapists, and/or treated by

prescriptions of further psychiatric drugs. In an attempt to deal with

recognised side-effects of these drugs, many psychiatrists and psychiatric

health clinics around the world now regularly prescribe whole ‘cocktails’ of

anti-depressant, neuroleptic and anxiolytic medications in the hope that

they will chemically counter-balance each other’s inherently toxic and

unbalancing effects on brain functioning. At the same time pharmaceutical

companies such as GSK are inventing ever new ‘disorders’ which can be

‘treated’ by drugs such as paroxetine. As well as ‘panic disorder’, ‘obsessive

compulsive disorder’ the list now includes ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’

and ‘social anxiety disorder’ and ‘attention deficit disorder’. But like

standard DSM psychiatric designations such as ‘bipolar disorder’,

‘personality disorder’, these new ‘disorders’ terms seem to possess the

authority of medical diagnoses – implying the existence of specific disease

entities with an organic basis. In fact they are merely convenient labels for

clusters of troublesome symptoms or behaviours that society has a problem

understanding and responding to.

Biological psychiatry is founded on a flat denial that there is any meaning

in ‘mental illness’ – that in a sick society there may be good reasons why a

person feels anxious, depressed, disturbed, divided or driven to compulsive

behaviours. Health is defined only as the ability to ‘function’ normally as an

employee – to cheerfully play one’s part in sustaining a market economy in

which all human relations are geared solely to commodity production and

profit making. As a result, medicine and psychiatry have both become tools

of the ‘therapeutic state’ - their sole aim being to control all bodily

behavioural symptoms of the distress and dis-ease engendered by a sick

society, reducing them instead to some manageable disease or psychiatric

disorder that can be ‘managed’ with the help of drugs - thereby turning

them into a lucrative source of corporate profit.

Authoritarian psychiatry is now being legitimised by governments all over

the world through legislation, which denies mental patients the right to

refuse medication and permits their enforced detention and drug

‘treatment’. Given the enormous attention given by politicians and the

media to the problems caused by illegal drugs and drug addiction, the

failure by governments and health services to recognise the scale of

addiction to legally prescribed drugs and the dangers of their adverse

effects is hypocritical to say the least – amounting to a form of wilful

ignorance. It is all the more important then, that social workers, mental

health nurses, counsellors, psychotherapists and alternative health

practitioners do not fall into the trap that so many orthodox physicians and

psychiatrists have fallen into – that of accepting the medical and marketing

myths perpetuated by pharmaceutical companies regarding the ‘benefits’ of

psychiatric medications. Above all it is important that they:

· obtain precise details of any client’s present or past use, not only of

illegal drugs but of legally prescribed medications, including the names of

these medications and the length of time over which they were or have

been taken.

· educate themselves in the adverse effects, addictive potentials and

withdrawal symptoms of specific anxiolytic, anti-depressant and neuroleptic

medications.

Thankfully, use of the internet now allows any patient or professional to

quickly obtain information regarding specific drugs and drug types, as well

as being host to many websites set up to support patients suffering from

adverse reactions or dependency on such drugs, to inform health

professionals of their dangers, to advise both patients and practitioners on

safe methods of withdrawal, or simply to provide a forum in which users can

share with each other the often horrifying experiences they have had of

particular medications and their debilitating or life-destroying effects.

Recommended sites

www.benzo.org.uk info. on benzodiazepines

www.antidepressantfacts.com

www.Breggin.com excellent articles by Peter Breggin

www.pssg.org for Prozac survivors

www.antipsychiatry.org the case against biopsychiatry

www.april.org.uk on adverse drug reactions)

www.mindfreedom.org supporting patients

Recommended Reading

· Peter R. Breggin Toxic Psychiatry

· Breggin / Cohen Your Drug May be Your Problem

· Joan E.Gadsby Addiction by Prescription

· Heather Jones Prisoner on Prescription

· David Smail The Nature of Unhappiness

· Dr Ann Tracy Prozac - Panacea or Pandora

References

Fisher, S., & Greenberg, R.P. (1993). How sounds is the double-blind design

for evaluating psychotropic drugs? The Journal of Nervous and Mental

Disease, 181, 345-350.

Greenberg, R.P., Bornstein, R.F., Greenberg, M.D., & Fisher, S. (1992). A

meta-analysis of antidepressant outcome under "blinder" conditions. Journal

of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 664-669

[Guest [ma...]]

Here is the link to the article posted below by New Life if anyone is interested

 

http://www.thenewyoga.org/damaged_brains.htm

[[Ne...]]

Talk about books....here is one that will curl your hair. 

 

Joan E.Gadsby Addiction by Prescription

 

[Guest [ma...]]

Talk about books....here is one that will curl your hair. 

 

Joan E.Gadsby Addiction by Prescription

 

Yes she is from BC. She is a great advocate. Spent years engaged in legal battles that cost millions and was not successful but I applaud her for trying. 

[[ma...]]

It would be wonderful Parker, if you could write a book.

There is no doubt that more info needs to get out there, & you are a great writer & rigorous investigator!

But only you -can determine when your health can allow you to embark on such an undertaking -without detriment to your own life, well being, & recovery.

Information for a book could be gathered slowly, when your heath permitted, & could be done in stages, & w/ help from others.

 

Seems to be 3 main target groups.. 1] those suffering from benzos that need help & info,

2] the general public & 3] medical profession- both of which need to be warned about the dangers of long term prescription,

& need to know how to identify & help others who are on, or trying to get off benzos. Learn what a very serious condition Benzo tolerance & WD can be.

There may be a 4th group -of person's suffering greatly from unknown, or little understood conditions, who could benefit from all

that benzo sufferers have gone through & learned. Coping skills, supports systems, faith, information, tolerance, endurance, love ..

 

To bring "Benzo Withdrawal" out of the shadows of "common drug use & withdrawal", I would love to see a book that emphasized -right off the bat- the wide scope of

people this prescription drug has inadvertantly effected- eg-  a lot of Ordinary People! Maybe short annonomous history blips of the different folks here, like, "52yr old bussiness man, w/ loving family & no history of drug abuse or mental illness.. or "A healthy 45yr old mother of 3, a teacher involved in her community".... "25 yr old student & athlete, ... as well as those who have sufferent mental, physical & drug  problems as well. Show the scope.

 

I appreciate all the info you have already provided to all of us here, your willingness to look at all angles,

& your generous heart in supporting others & offering encouragement ... you are one amazing woman!

I for one, am grateful for your presence & being.

 

Whatever you decide to do, I know you will get support from many here, who also appreciate all you have given -& continue to give!

Keep us posted, & feel free to run any outline ideas you may have!

 

Thanks again for everything you do!

Hugs,

 

margaretisabel

 

 

 

 

[[Su...]]

Dear Parker,

Thank you for writing about Zinc, omega 3, magnesium and Pyroluria. Knowing that you have gone through this before me is comforting and is helping me so much!!!!! :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

[[Co...]]

Parker, hello I am also writing a book on this as well and it will share my story. Good luck in your journey and maybe we can chat about how we might be able to help one another. Thanks

[[Ne...]]

Me too!...working with a health journalist at the moment..would be interesting to collaborate..NL

[[Up...]]

Ugh I just read this whole text and got so pissed 

 

I'm sorry about my language but I hope Parker you'll write the book and MAKE THEM BURN IN HELL!

[[Te...]]

JUST DO  IT, PARKER!!!!! We would all be so thankful. You are a dynamic writer. I hope that all this validation spurs your forward!!!

[[Ki...]]

Ya know, writing a book is really hard and it takes a really long time.  And, when you're done, it might not get published.  And, if it gets published, maybe nobody will read it.  UNLESS, you are a well-recognized, accomplished author.  If you want to get the word out, (and I think I might do this myself) you need to get an accomplished science writer interested in the topic.  Better yet, try to get an accomplished television personality, like a Diane Sawyer, interested.  I used to be in commercial public relations, so I know a little about this.  You need to find out who the assignment editor is for, say, 60 Minutes, or whatever show you think would be appropriate.  Then, you write a "pitch" to that person and sell your idea for the story.  It helps if you can give them hard facts and numbers and sources they can talk to for the story.  This is the best way to get the word out.  When I get a little more energy and focus, I may do this myself. 

 

If writing a book will help you, by all means, go for it.  It's a great endeavor, even if it doesn't get published. 

[[be...]]

Yes Parker, I agree, I think it is in you to start on the book now.

You have the intelligence and you speak from the heart, I also think it would be therapeutic.

#1 Best- seller!!!!  Go ahead...do it.

[Guest [Mi...]]

Please write the book! Parker, your posts have been so helpful. A book would be awesome! 

[[pr...]]

Ya know, writing a book is really hard and it takes a really long time.  And, when you're done, it might not get published.  And, if it gets published, maybe nobody will read it.  UNLESS, you are a well-recognized, accomplished author.  If you want to get the word out, (and I think I might do this myself) you need to get an accomplished science writer interested in the topic.  Better yet, try to get an accomplished television personality, like a Diane Sawyer, interested.  I used to be in commercial public relations, so I know a little about this.  You need to find out who the assignment editor is for, say, 60 Minutes, or whatever show you think would be appropriate.  Then, you write a "pitch" to that person and sell your idea for the story.  It helps if you can give them hard facts and numbers and sources they can talk to for the story.  This is the best way to get the word out.  When I get a little more energy and focus, I may do this myself. 

 

If writing a book will help you, by all means, go for it.  It's a great endeavor, even if it doesn't get published.

 

yeah a science writer would be a good idea.

[[bk...]]

I like your idea, have thought about it myself, unfortunately its hard for me to write. I Think k it would be great, you could give a lot of hope to so many people. I have been reading memoirs from people "like us" and they help. We need someone and that would be you letting people know what is happening to so many people.    Good luck to you, kay

[[Pe...]]

Hopefully this endeavor can become a textbook for educating the medical community and be attached to the FRONT of the diagnostic manual and mandated that GABA suppression be ruled out before any diagnostic conclusions are reached.

[Guest [Mi...]]

Hopefully this endeavor can become a textbook for educating the medical community and be attached to the FRONT of the diagnostic manual and mandated that GABA suppression be ruled out before any diagnostic conclusions are reached.

 

That would have saved me 30 years of hell! Please write the book. You have our full support. 

[[ye...]]

Hi pARKER,

I'm brand new to the sight and would love to have any new insights ASAP. I've been on Temazapam for almost i year + and also some anti depressants which I have weaned off of. I am down to almost 6mg of Temaz... and would love to just drop cold turkey for the rest of the way, but I'm trying to be patient. Staying busy, excercise and eating well I know are important. However, the most important I know is trusting God because I've felt so guilty during this whole time, even though I know God loves me and wants me well. Yes, please right a book. I've thought of that too but I'm not off yet. Also, read that taking your dose during the day would help so that you won't wake up so often during the night. Have you ever heard of this? Thanks for being there.

[[...]]

6mg of Temaz... and would love to just drop cold turkey for the rest of the way, but I'm trying to be patient. Staying busy, excercise and eating well I know are important. However, the most important I know is trusting God because I've felt so guilty during this whole time, even though I know God loves me and wants me well.

 

Hi yb,

 

I know the feeling, safe to say many do, of the wanting to "jump-ship" as soon as possible, but, PLEASE, don't.  Patience is your best bud right now.  That and God.  I mean it's a good quality to cultivate during this ordeal....patience that is.  And by the way - Welcome to BB!

This comes to mind, might not be the right place to share, buuuuuut.................

 

".....but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." Rom 5:3-5

 

I, too, trust in the One who is faithfully helping all throughout this entire ordeal, for each their best.  Don't listen to the one who is whispering "guilty-nothings" into your ear.  Because that's all they are NOTHING and he's a liar.  This is a battle for the courageous and nothing less than that.

 

grace & peace

eli

[[be...]]

if you DO write the book i'm hoping you'd leave any references to god out of it. just my opinion.

[[je...]]

if you DO write the book i'm hoping you'd leave any references to god out of it. just my opinion.

 

Really?? Its her book and her experience, and her faith in God has played a big part in that--she can do whatever she wants IMO.

[[be...]]

what about the rest of us who are doing it on our own without god? maybe we shouldn't buy the book. and how many years has she been contemplating this book ? i guess god doesn't want her to write it. and why are you taking only MY head off ? there are countless others in this thread who would prefer that god be left out as well....too bad jim jones didn't write a book about god and his own experience with drugs. i'm sure it would have been an interesting read.

[[je...]]

Wow.....