Thank you for shedding light on this! My story is similar to Brooke's. I was over medicated in my late 20's to late 30's after loosing my only child. I spent nearly 9 years in my room. I stayed in the dark physically, mentally and emotionally. If it wasn't for my belief in Jesus, I could have never made it through. I felt absolutely nothing, years robbed of my life, and fought suicidal thoughts daily. I wanted to live again, so I quit cold turkey and had to go to a rehab to learn to function again. It took a few years for my brain to heal from the withdrawals, severe daily torture but worth it in the end. I've been told, and can personally tell, that there's some damage that may never heal. God never let go of me and I praise Him for finally living again! As a former medical professional, I can tell you it's no longer based on helping. It's a market for making money at our expense. I'm all for therapy with the right professional.
@@johnstow5613 It's in the benzodiazepine class and often used for anxiety. It's highly addictive, causes damage to the brain when used for long periods of time, extremely hard to get off of and many overdose on it. It can cause seizures and death when not tapered off of properly. My suggestion is to research it and there's also videos on TH-cam about benzo brain injury. Hope this helps.
Allie, as someone who was put on antidepressants at 15 for things that were out of my control I'm so glad you are addressing this topic. Heavy medications - especially ones that alter the chemistry of a young, still-developing brain - are so dangerous when not regulated or prescribed properly. I love your show. Keep up the good work, and stay strong!
Same here, and I feel exactly how she does. I was 15 also. Got off around 25 and never again! God is so Amazing and his grace is sufficient ! Life is a roller coaster and you have to learn to deal with it, not treat symptoms all the time!
As someone who had a pretty similar experience (18-29, was heavily medicated for adhd), I really resonated with what she said about feeling as if she questioned whether or not she would have made decisions while on certain psychiatric drugs. That really struck a cord with me. I have been off the medication for over a year now and have found Jesus in that time period. I feel so blessed and fortunate to be moving forward after being heavily prescribed psychiatric medications.
I have always struggled with anxiety and depression. Was put on psych meds in college and started experiencing hallucinations and paranoia. Their response was to up my dose! I finally went off them about the time I graduated and never experienced anything like that again.
The side effects of the anti depressants seem to do more damage than they help. It only masks the problem and the withdrawal is no fun. The intrusive thoughts while coming off of them were flat out horrible. Prayers for anyone going through this ❤ I know the pain.
W/drawal is absolutely horrible. I was on one well over a decade that was easier than most to titrate off of. I did it very slowly, well over 6 months. It irks me they don't admit they are addiction. I think they call it habituation. A few of them have such severe w/drawal that people just can't get off them, and are forced to keep taking them. I've heard of brain zaps, and such increased anxiety that it's unbearable to get off them. Yet the ones most prone to severe w/drawal aren't taken off the market, or even a black box warning that I know of.
I almost lost my life because of antidepressants in my 20’s. I went into a psychosis and nearly died with each cut I made to get off of it. It took me a year of shaving with a nail file and was diagnosed with a plethora of mental illnesses. I can tell you today I am very mentally stable and have none of those labels, it was ALL withdrawals. I never talk about this because it makes me so unbelievably angry what is happening to people. I am so grateful for this woman and her book, keep sounding the alarm
I was put on medication at the age of 11 because I was a sad kid (I struggled in school and had a very dysfunctional family). They just continued to add medications and up the doeses because my depression was only getting worse and I was experiencing psychosis and paranoia at different times. Instead of ever taking me off of any of the meds they just continued to up and change/add more and more psychiatric medications. I ended up developing hypothyroidism because of this along with other health issues. I was on this carousel of medications until I checked myself into a hospital at the age of 20 years old because I had become so suicidal and depressed than I had ever been before. The attending doctor there saved my life! Within the first 48 hours he said he thought I was severely misdiagnosed, I had never had a manic episode in my life. (Previously the psychiatrists claimed i had bipolar/schizoaffective, major depressive disorder, adhd and so on) this amazing docter slowly took me off of all my medications except my Lamictal. (I eventually decided to take myself off of the Lamictal too) I had the same experience, it felt like I had been wearing muddy goggles for all of my childhood, the trees were vibrant and SO green. I'll never forget it. I slowly started to experience joy for what felt like the first time. It was SO beautiful. That was 12 years ago. I'll forever be grateful to that doctor. I havent dealt with a depressive episode or anything of the sort since I've been off them. I've been sad, mad, glad, happy, and excited since but now I can deal with them in a very normal well regulated way. I have a beautiful family and life now with three (soon to be four) beautiful children of my own and while I can understand from my mother's point of view how scared she was and that she thought she was doing the best thing for me by trusting the doctors, I don't think I could ever do that to my children. When it's a child we should be looking at every other solution first (diet, exercise, toxins, other health issues, therapy, environment, ect.). Medications should be an absolute last resort.
I totally agree with you. But unlike our parents we have so much more information now, and the clarity to look for answers instead of accepting the first thing professionals tell us.
@@bsiem Thank you for sharing your story too! I felt so validated of my experience after hearing yours, I didnt realize I needed that until I heard your testimony. I have memory gaps from my time on the medication too, makes sense now, I was zombified during most of that time.
My father passed away when I was 11. That was back in 1973. He died in an accident also. Now I’m grateful my mother didn’t take me to a psychiatrist or psychologist. He was only 36 and something strange happened when I turned 37. It’s like I could then exhale because I lived longer than he did.
The connection between gut health and your brain/ mental state is very strong. I experienced it first hand when I had a very bad dysbiosis from antibiotics, I had sever anxiety along with other health issues, this was from imbalance in gut flora, I have no doubt.
I was on anti- ds for 25 years. I'm a creative person, and it dulled my creativity for sure, but I thought I needed it at the time. I had panic attacks all day every day, depressed because of loss and regret. After 25 years, I weaned myself off and suffered a year of withdrawal, dizzy mostly, vertigo, emotional rollar coster.. Now I feel fine, not depressed but I feel like it affected my memory, and I permanently lost my sense of smell. People tell me things I did, I said, and I can not remember it. Also, I now have auto immune stuff going on. Just be aware that science is not absolute and Drs. are called practitioners. They are just practicing. What really healed me was the serenity prayer. You can not control life. It ebbs and flows and fighting for control just brings on anxiety and depression. Let go of your life and trust the living God!
I am sorry you went through that. You are so immensely blessed just the serenity prayer healed you. Most aren't cured so easily. I want off these meds. I do a TON of holistic treatments,from exercise to worship to supplements to diet, etc. I can't afford holistic care. Of course I trust Jesus to cure me, but He didn't heal Paul. These pills are horrible, but for the truly mentally ill, there is often no easy solution.
I can heavily relate to this women’s experience with anti depressants. I was on them from 15-25, reality is all I really needed was nutritional assistance and parents who weren’t serious alcoholics (lol).
Thank you so much for having Brooke on the show! I've heard her personal testimony before and this SERIOUS issue HAS to be addressed. I was put on psychiatric meds at 18 years old and never given informed consent. Each time I'd try to come off was disastrous. I was also put on benzos. It took MANY years to figure out what was wrong with me because the doctor who prescribed them kept saying they were safe. I never had DEPRESSION OR SI BEFORE THE MEDS. EVER. It was on the meds those symptoms started to emerge. And now I'm stuck in the horrific situation of tapering off. I have young kids. I try so hard to live in the moment everyday but when you are under chemical assault 24/7 it's hard. I'm missing out on their childhood because of these evil drugs. WHY ARE THEY BEING HANDED OUT LIKE CANDY?! WHY CAN YOU JUST GO ONLINE AND GET AD's?! Big Pharma has an agenda and even the doctors are being uneducated, straight up LIED TO!!! They numb your frontal lobe. It's a chemical lobotomy. Dr. Peter Breggin speaks about this in his books and lectures. We are being told we NEED these drugs for no reason. It has to stop.
Thank you so much for this!! As soon as I saw the words “anti-depressants” and “children” I knew I had to watch. My husband’s ex put their son on anti-depressants at the age of nine after he was tested for depression and told he was depressed. She immediately put him on these pills and never tried to get him any other help. I have been worried about him since and he is now almost 17 and still on them. I don’t see that they have helped him these past eight years and he seems to be constantly struggling. My heart breaks for him. I am going to pass this on to my hubby and maybe he can get his ex to watch it and get him off them while he’s still at home.
They stunt your emotional growth and development. I know because I was put on medication after my father died when I was just 12 years old. When I stopped cold turkey at age 28 (kind of like Brooke did,) I basically had to experience a floodgate of emotions that I never felt, as well as a lifetime's worth of emotional growth and development that never happened.
That does not surprise me. I am sorry you had to go through that and I pray you are doing well now. I really worry about my stepson. We’ve tried to tell him mom that he needs off them and she doesn’t listen. Trying to tell him now that he’s almost an adult doesn’t help either because he has been told for so long that he needs them. He’s also on ADHD medication that neither his father or I have ever felt he truly needed. We don’t have full custody of him and his thoughts and trying to tell his mom is like speaking to a brick wall. He has so many emotions that he keeps in and I think one day he’ll explode and I worry what he’ll do to himself or someone else. He’s like a zombie and I feel so helpless.
I remember coming off Zoloft as a teenager and being so grateful to feel emotions again. Even sadness.. just to feel is such a gift. I felt dead on the drugs.
I have an eerily similar story. Lithium had me practically on my death bed. I have lasting damage as a result. With fear of being institutionalized, I too, stopped my meds cold turkey and discharged myself from the psych office. I have never been happier or healthier.
Shocked but glad you were blessed to survive withdrawal. Also, I am so sorry you had such awful side effects. I don't know how lithium is still legal. It's so horrible!
@@libbyannbest1723 it caused a severe b12 deficiency that went untreated and misdiagnosed for years. Now I have peripheral neuropathy in all my limbs and can no longer feel my feet or hands.
I could go into all kinds of details about this but I'll try to keep it short. I have been on lithium consistently for over 17 years and off & on prior to that dating back to age 19. I've been told by my psychiatrist that it helps protect against Alzheimer's which must be false but I found comfort in it. Now I'm facing a probable diagnosis of Diabetes Insipidus as the excessive thirst and dry mouth is overbearing. I'm on other medications as well Lamictal, Abilify, Wellbutrin for Bi-polar & anxiety. I'm turning 50 this year Lord willing & I feel much of my life has been stolen from me & I experience major FOMO because of mental illness dating back to 16 years old (started with panic attacks) but a very dysfunctional household so prior to that really. I started psychiatric medication when I was around 19-20. I felt pretty good the times I was off of them in the past but would inevitably have mania episodes that landed me in the hospital 7 or 8 times in my life. It's all very disconcerting & traumatic & as I type this I'm struggling with depression (suicidal thoughts when briefly tried Latuda) numbness towards life which makes me doubt my faith at times & I feel like a Christian in name only very discouraging. Have lots of intrusive thoughts & weird side effects. No, most of those in the industry are not looking out for your best interest. There's so much more I could say and welcome any comments & suggestions, but I said I'd be short..sorry. Very weary😓
I was misdiagnosed with epilepsy and a neurologist put me on Lamotrigine or lamictal- a common mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder. Once it was determined I didn’t have epilepsy the neurologist told me to stop taking this med cold turkey. I was crying uncontrollably for months! Couldn’t control my emotions, was super anxious and depressed… it was horrible. I tried to tell this neurologist I was having withdrawal symptoms and he straight up told me it wasn’t a thing. And the amount needed to treat seizures is WAY higher than bipolar. So I was on a really high dose of meds… 🙁🤦♀️ some doctors just shouldn’t be doctors!!!
Listened to this and wanted to thank you and Brooke for presenting a balanced conversation about risk vs benefit. I’ve been a pharmacist for a few years and knew how hard it could be to stop venlafaxine back in the early 2000’s, so just wanted to put a plug to talk to a pharmacist as we can help work with your doctor to taper. When I see a new prescription for an antidepressant unfortunately I don’t get all the information about why it is being prescribed, I’m not called to scare people out of taking with all the risks, as I do see some benefit in certain patients. However, I always try to encourage friends and family to try stopping after a season, as a drug is a just one tool in mental and physical health. There are some conditions where the drug is the fix, but many times it is just there to stabilize until the true fix is made by God changing our habits and hearts.❤
Fantastic comment! A family member used an antidepressant for a short period of time after dealing with depression for many years. She met with a Christian counselor and was able to wean off the medication within a year and has been a much more pleasant and joyful person ever since. She would argue it is a tool to be used for a limited time to allow a person to work through the causes of depression. After watching a family member nearly die from an adverse reaction to medication, we are generally more wary of medications when other treatments or life changes could be just as effective. But we are also grateful for the many life saving and preserving treatments. What a blessing for your community to have a pharmacist who is so balanced and wise!
I am currently reading Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America by Robert Whitaker for bookclub right now. It’s blowing my mind as someone who has been a nurse for 20 years and on an SSRI on/off for 23 years. This Relatable episode is so apropos. Thank you for discussing difficult topics. God bless!
Sad how ignorant so many Christians are about this stuff. They just automatically believe whatever their TV commercials and celebrity experts say and can't be bothered to read books or do any critical thinking. No discernment. Christians are supposed to believe that the love of money is the root of all evil and human souls exist. Yet they unwittingly buy into a philosophy of bio determinism and materialism simply because those people endorsing it are rich and famous.
I just saw a functional holistic psychiatrist today. She recommended some supplements, herbs (proper dosage) along with acupuncture, meditation. It was so refreshing to speak to a doctor who agreed to help with a more natural route to my anxiety/CPTSD. I’ve already been doing EMDR therapy and a lot of self work. Some doctors like to prescribe medications for everything. They don’t consider diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors. I have been on Prozac, other psych meds years previously. After a while they stopped working and the only solution was to add another med or keep raising the dose. I realized prescription meds weren’t a good long term solution and the side effects weren’t fun either.
I wish all insurance covered holistic care. That's the reason I can't get holistic doctors. I don't want prescriptions, but they are free and I am poor.
@@WCove99 I am very lucky-the place I go to accepts my insurance. Most holistic or integrative doctors don’t accept insurance at all. And it can be very expensive!! I had to find a community acupuncture place with a sliding scale fee that’s way more affordable. I wish insurance covered more holistic options. But here in the US it’s not healthcare- it’s “sick care.” And they truly don’t care about the wellbeing of citizens.
Allie Beth is on the case. A great 'trail of bread crumbs' to borrow phrase from Hansel & Grettel / I, Robot 2004. I am supremely happy to witness the rise in well-rounded, non-new-age advice. A return to finding what is best in natural conditions for our bodies, development, and even minds and social settings. Getting back to basic nutrition, lifestyle, household, fellowship, self-sought education, career pursuit that will (sooner or later) resolve around human competency, with office & automation artifice as our aids - rather than complete replacement of the human and the natural.
I'm thankful for her testimony because she seriously helped someone tonight! People search high and low for answers to various health and mental issues that they can't get help for. God has a way of sending us help... whether through speaking to someone in person or through a podcast like this one 👌🏽 Withdrawal symptoms can be terrible... especially when dealing with a doctor whose not educated on it 🤦🏽♀️
I went through this exact same thing getting off of Lexapro cold turkey. For me, the issues I was trying to medicate were issues I needed to work on myself, not try to numb through.
I am currently going through this process right now. I have been taking Lexapro since I was 19 and I am 30 now. I have slowly been getting memory loss, getting used to not feeling, and just all the other things. My 5 year old son has an aggressive tumor growing in his hand that keeps coming back and now they think it has turned into cancer and so I have forgot to take my meds for awhile because it's just not something I was thinking about. In this hard time I have realized how numb I actually was and how scary that was. I have been able to cry and to have true love feelings for my husband that I haven't felt in so long. Thank you for sharing this story. It is going to help so many people.
This video was shared in a fb group. I too was damaged by antidepressants. I hope one day the companies are held accountable, and one day I will make a video as well.
@@Sam12_13 Been there. Done that. Doctors just blame your brain disease (you) and up the dose. Their precious pills can do no wrong. How do you know it's rare since the alleged brain disease causes the very issues these pills are supposed to fix?
Brooke's experience coming off anti-depressants has been my experience on them, I will always be on them, so just be aware they will affect people differently and not to take one persons advice as gospel.
i’ve suffered from major depression, all my life, and only recently managed to get help for it. I went on antidepressants and very quickly. The world turned gray. It didn’t hurt, but I am an emotional person and I don’t care if it can be more negative than positive and every day life I’d rather feel everything and feel nothing. I have to be honest. I don’t know how else to describe it other than disgusting and unhuman. but I feel bad for the people who are environments that they can’t change use antidepressants make you feel. I just never wanted to get used to living life turned down and as I stayed on it, I realize how easy it would be to get used to it. It’s really really scary and it doesn’t even solve anything. It just turns you into a robot to be able to cope with your life.
My husband and I were on antidepressants when we were first married. I didn’t have the joy I hoped I would have on my wedding day and it still hurts me to think about. We both decided a couple years into our marriage that we were going to get off our medicine cold turkey and we felt the same emotions that Brooke did where a veil had been lifted and we were seeing life for the first time. We are so glad we trusted the Lord and took that step. We are thriving years later and have learned how to cope with our depression and anxiety by leaning on the Lord in prayer and on each other. Thank you for sharing Brooke’s story!
Thank you for bringing this to light. I was over medicated for depression and anxiety after I had my first baby and lost our second child. The medication gave me suicidal ideations and I ended up trying to end my life. Praise God it didn’t work. Thankful I got off of them. I also went cold turkey and then stayed unfortunately in dead end therapy to the point they’d convince I had a couple of mental health disorders. I just agreed with them because I trusted the “professionals”. I was also a people pleaser and just wanted my therapist to like me so I agreed to whatever he said, even if it was false. So thankful I am not wrapped up in that situation anymore. It’s been about 4 years since stopping therapy and almost 6 since stopping medication. I’m finally who I was before all of that and my husband said I’m back to the woman he married. There are some people that need them of course but I think it’s way over prescribed.
When both of our kids started getting depressed and high anxiety (at different times), we took them out of school. (Upper class Christian school) Best. Decision. Ever. A lot of kids need to be home educated with interest based learning, spending time laughing, talking and playing. My kids are doing very well now.
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing your experience. As being a mom of 2, this was helpful information for me. I just told my husband the other day that it seems like kids are struggling more & more with mental health issues than ever before. And we were wondering why that’s the case. Also an interesting note that I was thinking of when listening to this… we have lost several people to suicide within our community/circle & all of them where either from a change in medication or people coming off of antidepressant medications.
Dr Peter Breggin MD has spoken on this and wrote books on this and he is a Harvard trained Psychiatrist!!! This is a real problem!!! These drugs are not studied enough!!
27 years on antidepressants! Through trial and error my side effects have been insane. Obstructive sleep apnea, binge eating, binge spending, teeth grinding, fist clenching, no joy, hopelessness... the list goes on and on. I'm just came off 300mg of Effexor XR, on to and old faithful, Celexa. My sleep apnea, which was absent during Effexor, is now back. But my binge eating and spending has totally vanished, its crazy.🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ I just told my sister today that I should get off all these meds, then I found this video. I did a very slow step down of the Effexor, but it was still horrible. Now if I want to breathe at night, I guess I'm going have to come of the other too. Thanks so much for doing this interview. It just confirmed what I already knew. That's priceless when no one believes you, and they think you sound crazy..❤❤❤❤
PLEASE look in to a hyperbolic taper. Anything more than a 5 to at most 10% taper at a time can lead to catostrophic, devastating effects. I am almost at 3 years post cold turkey and I’m still experiencing hell. You will either need to find a compounding pharmacy or buy a scale that will measure mg’s depending on the medication. It could take you years to come off but that’s ok. You will be so much better off in the long run. Surviving antidepressants website was a life saver for me.
@@awakeosleeper3930 It's been several months and I'm feeling so much better now. I'm still taking a low dose of another one, but I'm so glad to be off the high dose of Effexor. For a minute I didn't think I was gonna get through it. Thanks for the information. I will definitely check into it before coming of another one.💝💝
That is drug withdrawal. I made it through myself. It angers me how so many of us were tricked into becoming drug addicts because we were lied to and well meaning friends and family also believed the lie and shamed us for "not taking our meds" when we really were and the drugs were making things worse.
With my first pregnancy I had major sleeping problems that was mistaken as postpartum), but I was hallucinating. After months feeling as though I should die, I went and started drinking chamomile tea, and switched my prenatal. Changed everything. I would run for hours and I had the perfect baby, but the second pregnancy I tried zoloft for three days and I started losing sight in my right eye. So I stopped it and just used the same prenatals and wish garden postpartum drops. Everything was fine. Our planet is wonderful.
I LOVE Wish gardens drops! It’s such a good company. I am post partum and started using them. I wish I used it while I was pregnant because they work so well. I also saw an integrative, functional- holistic psychiatrist yesterday who recommended some other herbs and supplements. They seem to be working wonders today! I’ve been dealing with ppd/ppa and really want to avoid psych meds at all costs.
This video is so powerful. I was put on antidepressants for a few months when i was 15 after I experienced a suicide attempt. My dad put both of us in biblical counseling and this is even a mistake with Christians ive learned. The parent is the seed thats planted in the child. It is 100% necessary to not downplay the effect a parent can have on a childs depression and anxiety. My mom passed away when i was 9 months old and i was my dads first child. He needed guidance as a widower and a first time dad. I needed that parental guidance. Not for the counselor to read me scripture that i had memorized since i was in elementary school.
I heard the term medical merry-go-round. For example, a cousin of mine took Accutane for her acne. And then she got Crohn's disease from the Accutane . Then she had to take immune suppressant drugs because of the Crohn's disease. Then she was considered high risk for Covid. Then she got jabbed and who knows what the results of that will be... what she should've done ( and I don't blame her. We've all been there) is find out what's the root of the acne and treated it that way.
I was fortunate in the Accutane area. One dermatologist I went to for Not Acne prescribed it for a few pimples that showed up once a month. The next Dr said "No! That is like using an atom bomb to kill an ant!" I was told more recently that my seizure medication "was a bandaid" then handed four boxes of a new anti depressant last month. It's been the hardest thing to go through, apparently there's withdrawal from anti seizure meds too. Slapping an anti depressant on top of this? I prayed again today for real clarity. Then.. I looked up & this video was starting.
Accutane should have stayed off the market. It's horrible and over prescribed. Unfortunately, acne isn't always cured with everything else. I refused Accutane recently. I was on it for a month in my teens in the 90s. Horrible stuff. I'm so sorry she is going through that. I have tried everything for 30 years. My Dad is 72 and still has it. It's like a lot of health issues: not always cured.
@@WCove99have you ever tried adjusting your diet? It could be a gluten or sugar sensitivity or maybe some other food trigger. Doctors rarely suggest diet changes but I’ve heard many people talk about their skin clearing up after cutting certain foods out of their diet.
@yahyeet4383 tyvm I see a nutritionist and am well aware from personal research. I am on a very strict diet because of my bad stomach. I literally said I tried everything for 30 years. I also said its genetic. Both my Dad and I eat healthy. I know junk food causes issues for many. I don't eat it. Sugar I cant really have, so that's not it. Gluten I don't eat much of, and it's not gluten. Not everything has an easy solution. Please try to respect me. Tyvm. Be blessed.
Fabulous interview! My dad passed when I was 19 and 4 years later I started Zoloft because I had been depressed really for that entire time and was now a recent liberal arts grad with shaky career prospects and dealing with losing the structure of school. At the beginning of this year I started tapering off my Zoloft, after 8 years on it. I *so* relate to the "this has to be the time" mentality because there is never going to be a perfect, easy time to get off psychiatric drugs. I've got a 2.5 year old and a 7 month old. We moved to a new state in August when I was nine months pregnant and just moved again (this time just within town 😜). There's a lot going on, and I have certainly noticed my emotions being stronger and feeling the stresses of life more intensely, but I am really glad to be working on this. It's gonna take a while, but I want to be free of this thing, to no longer need to be worried about not picking up my prescription in time or not having it in an emergency. I'm also in such a different place in my life. When I started Zoloft, I was a single, recent college grad, sharing a bed with my mom in her and my brother's 2 bedroom apartment, trying to find a job and move back to the big city and friends and church community I'd just left, and hoping I might find a husband someday. As it turns out I had just met my husband when I started taking the Zoloft. I'm now a happy stay home mom, with a wonderful husband. I have purpose and joy and haven't dealt with depression or panic attacks in at least 7 years, so why should I continue putting something into my system that doesn't even help the way they thought SSRIs did with depression?
What makes me beyond angry is when you live in a state that allows your child to circumvent you, even when they are too young and unknowledgeable to make informed decisions, but you are aware of all of these issues so your entire goal is to protect your child from the consequences of such medications, especially those that you know are ineffective for treating teens anyway, especially teens, who do not need it in the first place, but your state ties your hands to be able to do anything to prevent it.
I’d love to speak with Brooke about my experience with these meds. I’m so glad she is speaking out about all this. I went through a real nightmare roller coaster ride getting off the drugs. Would love to share how it all happened for me.
@@awakeosleeper3930 doing great. Took me about 2 months. I used vitamins and supplements and cleaned up my diet while coming off of them. That’s was over 10 years ago. Healthy Diet, exercise and good sleep have made all the difference. Plus I learned better coping skills than I had at age 10-30.
I’m sorry to anyone who has had a negative experience with antidepressants or any other psychiatric medication. However, I hope this video and these comments don’t scare people away from reaching out to their doctor if they’re mentally struggling. Medication is not the answer for everyone but can be very beneficial and life changing for some. I have been taking Zoloft for the past year to help with generalized anxiety that I was struggling to deal with on my own. I had very mild side effects the first couple weeks of taking the medication (mainly fatigue) but everything eventually leveled out. I do not feel numb on this medication. This medication has never made me suicidal or homicidal. I still have emotions. I still find happiness and joy in every day life. The only difference is my anxiety has become more manageable. If you are struggling mentally, please reach out to an actual medical professional to determine the best course of treatment for you. If you feel the treatment is not helping or making you feel worse, tell your physician right away so they can make necessary changes.
There’s a time and a place for medication. My brother is schizophrenic and must be on them. Anyone who would argue differently I would immediately disregard. I have also been on them at times for bipolar. YES- some due have outrageous side effects but others have not and have allowed me the ability to function. It’s just not a black and white issue. It’s good Allie is using her platform to warn against the overprescribing of ssri’s- but there will always be those who do need them.
I'm glad a bipolar person chimed in. Antidepressants (I'm sure you know this) can be dangerous for bipolar people if not accompanied with a mood stabilizer.
I completely understand your perspective! But I’ve heard great things about the keto diet and schizophrenia. Might be something for him to ask his doctor about! Just thought I’d mention it because it’s worked wonders for my brother. But I do understand everyone is different.
I'm wary when someone says that they "have" to be on psychiatric medication. These pills do not make life better they create problems that weren't there in the first place.
I have seen both sides of the coin. I have struggled with full panic attacks, deep depression since childhood (I had a great upbringing and stable household so that’s not to blame). As a young adult I tried antidepressants for the first time. It did nothing but take all sex drive away, my poor husband, so I went off of them and continued to live in my anxiety stricken mind. In my early 30s, I sought out a psychologist who did a thorough exam and determined I had been struggling with ADHD all my life. After doing my own research on it, it explained my experience to a T. With some education, life changes, and the help of the correct meds, I can say my life has improved greatly. I think the medical world and the public need to find a balance. It’s all but lost for the most part and people that are actually struggling aren’t helped the way they need.
I would look into upping protein and animal fats for reducing anxiety. We have been brainwashed into believing animal fats are bad for us, but they contain many essential amino acids that our bodies and brains need.
This was such a wonderful interview . I lost my mom when I was 23 and went on SSI meds and quickly realized how much they impact your well being. I had no emotion for the 6 months I took them. I think they do help people; however, I believe they are way over-prescribed especially to children and the elderly. I feel like drs are prescribing SSI meds for any kind of issue you have and that is not good.
I see the Lord through this woman’s life and am so grateful she is sharing, I hope she can see his providence over her life and know that nothing is luck but God’s sovereignty love and mercy over her life & that inner voice is the Holy Spirit ❤ Thank you for sharing there’s so many that need to hear this
Anti-Depressants saved my life. I’ve always had OCD and it developed into severe postpartum OCD. I wanted to die, but thankfully my husband forced me to reach out for help. I understand I’m not your target for this particular video and I absolutely love your videos, but I feel as though talking negatively about anti-depressants could be really bad for those that truly need them.
I think they have different side effects as adults vs children, for sure. You don't even have enough self-awareness or agency as a child to know something is wrong or is caused by an external source, especially when you've been told by a medical professional that the source is the "solution."
As someone who started antidepressants after post partum depression set in (which I know is something you talked about), I can say with 200% certainty that it gave me back the ability to enjoy motherhood. I'm so sorry others haven't had the same experience, but it's not bad for all of us. For some, it has saved our lives so we can continue to live for God and raise little ones for him.
Her experience is totally valid and I believe her and anyone else with a story like this. But it’s not everyone’s experience on/coming off antidepressants. Consume a lot of different media to get the full picture. Also she admitted coming off cold turkey was not the best way. There are safer ways of stopping antidepressants.
I have been on an anti depressant for 25 years. My father left our family and my mother completely fell apart so lost her as well. This was in 1999 so def no real knowledge re these drugs like we have now. I have tried to stop the drug as I know I don’t need it, but the withdrawals have been so terrifying I can’t ever follow through. I am so angry that I am a slave to this medication. I am planning to google the hyperbolic tapering she referred to and hopeful that maybe I can get off once and for all.
Surviving antidepressants website has a plethora of info on hyperbolic tapering. Wish I would have known about this website before my cold turkey. It’s almost three years latter and I am still experiencing hell.
Thank you for sharing. I was Zoloft for anxiety . The first year of withdrawal was awful. I am on the second year. I am doing better but i am still dealing with withdrawal symptoms
For those of you arguing for the use of antidepressants, I can promise you that within one millisecond of experiencing severe withdrawal, your perspective will completely change. I am at almost 3 years of protracted withdrawal with little improvement to speak of. These drugs are no joke friends. There are other answers, but antidepressants will never be one of them.
@@WCove99 I was on Cymbalta and Wellbutrin. I was not aware of a hyperbolic micro taper at the time nor was I aware that severe protracted withdrawal could last for years. I knew that Cymbalta was next to impossible to come off of so over the course of about three years, I weaned down to 4 tiny beads (out of the approximately 209 beads in a 20 mg capsule.) I had a really rough time but nothing compared to coming off the last 4 beads and 75 mg if welbutrin all at once. Literal hell broke loose. And stayed that way for about two years. I started seeing some small windows at the two year mark but they were minimal. It will be 3 years in July and I am still in a place of absolute physical and psychological horror. Don’t ever attempt to come off of these meds without doing thorough research on the micro taper method. The LAST thing I would ever recommend is talking to your doctor. 🙄
Not true. I went thru hell with one antidepressant because the psychiatrist had me taper too quickly. Another one got me out of the bed and I am still on it.
@@RoseyPosey545 There are definitely different levels of severity when it comes to withdrawal. For those with severe withdrawal (As in potentially deadly) can experience akethesia, Psychosis, burning in the muscles that feels like your insides are on fire, stomach pain so severe that it feels like you swallowed a beehive and have a thousand bees stinging you stomach, curled up in the fetal position for hours on end, involuntarily demonic imagery, and a list of about 100 other possible symptoms. I personally did not sleep for ten months. I did not say that I had trouble sleeping for ten months, I said I didn’t sleep for ten months. The website called surviving antidepressants has THOUSANDS of testimonies of people experiencing the exact same thing. Again anyone who has experienced SEVERE withdrawal would Tell you it’s not worth it. For the record, I am still on antidepressants. Until my brain heals and stabilizes from the initial injury, it is not safe for me to taper.
Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, psychotropics are over prescribed. However, in some cases, as in a psychiatric crisis medications are life saving. In her case, psychotherapy is likely all that she needed due the fact that the depression is situational vs chronic or long-term.
@@karenmartin4221she definitely offered advice a few times via her own words “I always tell parents who approach me, ____” and implied through her experiences (e.g. my doctor told me not to stop Wellbutrin but I told her in the hallway I was going to anyway).
Brooke testimony was fantastic and informative and an honest account of her experience..Life has ups and downs, unfortunately life isn't going to stay on the mountain top we have valleys as well, and I think God wants us to experience that and learn how to cope..and not just take a pill that numbs everything..grant it there are situations that need medication., i think maybe, idk,.we are broken from the sin in the garden life is not going to go perfectly:/..Brooke is well speaking, intelligent and eloquent in her speech..I will see about purchasing her Book! Well done Brooke!❤
KC here. It depends on the anti-depressants. I switched to Citalopram. But it was Welbutrin that made the difference. Yes, I experience joy now. Not on Prozac or Paxil numbed me out. No emotions and some others
I don’t think anti-depressants are for everyone, but they really are life-savers for so many!! I don’t want everyone just ruling them as bad when it’s forever going to be a case-by-case…so many factors go into it.
I have long known that anti depressants can actually cause suicidal tendencies in teens. It is sad that it is not known far and wide. Also, I didn't know I was borderline schizophrenic, until my Mom saw something that was mentioned in notes by the psychiatrist had written. I think that's an important thing to know. I was 18 when I took my first anti-psychotic. It took me years to get things right. We (my Dad) and sisters were living in a hotel for a while. I wasn't taking my meds regularly then. Now I have a good balance. It's been about 20 years since I was diagnosed with schizo-effective Disorder and about 7 more years of that that I had been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. One good thing I have learned is the Acronym H.A.L.T. Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.
Wellbutrin caused me great nerve pain and physical pain. glad to be off!! Praying for people going through things that they think warrant an antidepressant. Advocate for yourself! ❤
I had really bad postpartum anxiety. I felt trapped in my head like I was never going to stop worrying about my precious baby girl. I had already had terrible experience with the medical field during my pregnancy for physical ailments so I started to go to a natural doctor prescribing herbs, vitamins and minerals. When I experienced the anxiety I started taking ashwagandha and chamomile and it helped me tremendously! There is not 1 size fits all with vitamins and herbs and it depends on your body and what is depleted but that really worked for me!
I took Effexor for 2 -3 years, and it's AWFUL to get off of. The worst! I was weened off of it, and it made me feel crazy. God bless her for going cold turkey.
I think it might be helpful to do a follow-up video on alternatives to antidepressants. While these stories are tragic, there are some people out there who are truly worse off when they don't take them. I wonder if there are ways we can help people get off them through alternative methods? One thing that was not mentioned in this podcast is how our physical health might be affecting your mental health. Exposures to heavy metals and other toxin overloads, hormone imbalances, imbalances in our gut microbiome, vitamin deficiencies can all contribute to depression, so there is something to think about. We live in a very toxic world. I just thought I'd put that out there because a lot of people aren't aware of how these things might be affecting them. Visiting an alternative doctor who can help you balance everything may help some people out of depression/anxiety.
Sunshine, exercise, improved diet, family counseling and a change in school environment could all make a difference. However, if depression is related to a major physical illness like cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome or head trauma will likely need antidepressants due to physical problems. Genetic tests can help doctors figure out the best antidepressant and dose for the genetic profile.
While awareness of this topic is crucial, as a Christian who is on year THREE of severe protracted antidepressant withdrawal, I would not recommend Brooke Siem’s Book. It is not written from a Christian perspective and includes her experience with a New Age guru that helped her find the light. ALLIE, I would encourage you do do more episodes on this incredibly important topic but from a Christian perspective. THIS IS CRUCIAL.
Going off of Effexor is the worst! I can’t believe your dr let you go off of it cold turkey. I’ve been on mental heath meds for over two decades. Now I’m questioning everything.
Her story is basically my story I lost my dad suddenly at age 12 and it really threw me into a rough spot then I got put on antidepressants and it was all downhill from there.
I am quite sure I am not autistic and yet I just took an autism questionnaire and scored "You show autistic traits slightly above the population average." The point is that these autism tests are full of leading questions that often depend on a person's own perception of themselves, and the generic nature of these tests (which are usually developed by pharmaceutical companies) catch far more people than they should. All that to say, I have no idea if withdrawal symptoms are contributing to autism diagnoses, but if I plug the symptoms into a poorly designed rubric, I shouldn't be surprised to get an inaccurate result.
@bsiem luckily, online quizes are not used for autism screening, but I could see new psychologists making mistake if they didn't ask about medication history or don't know about these side effects. In general, the dsm5 catches more autism diagnoses than it should, and ADOS doesn't catch women with autism. People with intellectual disability on the severe end of ID are often not diagnosed with autism because of their other developmental delays. If they can't get autism diagnosis right, maybe they aren't getting depression identified right either. Insurance requires a psychlogical evaluation with depression on it before the psychiatrist can prescribe antidepressants. Psychologists and psychiatrists have different training, but one relies on the other in the system. I can say that I've seen good things from prescribers who are psychiatric nurse practitioners. Their education is more well-rounded, and they notice these things.
@@beepbopboop3221 I've also seen some great work from NPs, and some terrible work too. A tale as old as time. Re: adult autism. I've known folks who get an autism diagnosis from one-off telehealth meetings. It's all a mess from my perspective.
Yes absolutely. When I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I got off my antidepressants. The pregnancy and birth were horrible. My son was then diagnosed with autism years later. Not sure if there’s a connection but it totally makes sense. Coming off of these meds can cause brain damage and potentially YEARS of protracted withdrawal. I am on year 3 and am still experiencing hell.
At sixteen after one year of depression (stemming from chaotic home life- parent actively using/going to rehab/relapsing over and over again) I was put on Prozac, Ativan and trazadone. As a 16 year old. I attempted suicide while taking those. I still remember the day- it felt like I was in a trance out of body doing it. Evil stuff.
I’ve been on multiple antidepressants, anti anxiety, antipsychotics, and that is just the tip of the iceberg, since I was 24 yrs-old and had post-partum depression. I am now 54 and I feel like I have wasted my life by just sitting there and being “gray.” No emotion, except for feeling dragged and tired, and exhausted, always, and just sitting there waiting to get old so that I can quietly die. I am 54 years old and I hate it. I hate me! Don’t get me wrong, I love Jesus the Christ, but I sat there and allowed the more pills, and more pills, instead of doing the hard work and dealing with the issues. My life is basically gone! Ask me anything that you want to know, I am just too upset to think straight right now.
Jesus doesn't heal everyone. I can't afford holistic treatment, but I worship Jesus, eat healthy, drink a lot of water, exercise, socialize, use a UV light, volunteer, go to therapy, take supplements, I deal with my problems head on because I am very self aware, pray, sometimes prayer journal, and more. Meds are an aid I hate, but overall, I was worse without. Other than your faith, what helps you cope with your mental illness?
@@WCove99 Talking with my sister helps a lot, but she has a personal life & a professional life & a husband, but she does give me her best, each time that she can. She has to keep her life very together, because she has two grown austistic perfect children & they really need her. Even her Service Dog has to be retired for Insulin Dependent Diabetes. But my Sissy helps & she knows the truth about everything & she is my best friend. I wake up super early to talk with her… Thank you for asking.
12:12 I was told by 3 different doctors that antidepressant withdrawal was not possible. 😆😆😆 Ridiculous. As in, what I was experiencing could not be real/wasn't actually happening.
I was told this as well! I went to a doctor to get help tapering, and he said antidepressant withdrawal wasn’t real and I could just stop taking it! Incredible.
- the song PROMISES IN THE DARK/Pat Benatar :like a thief in the night comes along so in love to the promise someday :never give up to a delusion otherwise
Let me correct one thing this woman says. She states that she knows that God doesn’t give us more than what we can handle and that is not true. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” And John 16:33 states, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Further, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 states, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
I agree. I believe these meds can help some people, but I hate how our culture is easily pushing pills as if it’s the only option. I’m 100% with you that it should be the last option.
Wonderful and important podcast. Thank you for this. My mom was on all kinds of pharmaceuticals (including klonopin for over decades) and it was killing her. I would have lost my mom this month if she hadn't gone to the E.R. for something completely unrelated. I hated her being on so many meds and told her how I wish she would wean off of them for yeeeeaaaars. She looked so sickly and was dealing with other health issues and kept trying to get her to go to a Dr. and demand a thorough panel of blood tests, hormone tests, etc. She wouldn't do it and it drove me crazy because there was something very wrong. There were a lot of things that was wrong with her health from her meds that the Dr.s at the hospital found and treated her for. She is now off of all her meds. I went and disposed of all her meds before she came home from the hospital. I have a strong dislike towards meds now because of my mom and watching how they were affecting her. I get so mad at the fact that I DONT have a medical degree and could tell what it was doing to her. Now she is dealing with massive withdrawal symptoms and is overwhelmed by how they make her feel. Also, I want to comment on one thing that Brooke mentioned that I don't agree with. It is this notion some Christians believe in that God will never give you more than what you can handle. Not true and God never promises that He won't give us more than what we can handle. God DOES promise that HE is enough to get you through a situation when you aren't. That is what God promises.
If you feel like a medication is helping you, then you're likely defiecient in nutrition and need to figure out the root cause of whats making you feel whatever way. Which i would imagine is really common in post partum.
Damaged by a "cocktail." At least I didn't start the drugs till 18. Still numb from time to time. Permanent autoimmune and neurological damage. Just remember...do not cold turkey. That causes so many problems. I've seen it but avoided it myself.
I am sorry for Brooke Siem's experience, but this is a ridiculously extreme case of medical ignorance and failure, or very poor long-term 'health' care of a young woman on (six?) different drugs by incompetents. The lowest dose of one common anti-anxiety/anti-depressant changed our teenage daughter's brain chemistry FOR THE BETTER, after exhausting all other options. It enabled her to regulate her emotions, curb her meltdowns, and cause peace in her and in our family again. Gamechanger
I don’t think either of them is saying there is no place for ANY antidepressant EVER. She is talking first hand about her own experience which, sadly, matches that of many people I know.
One concern is people getting on these medications and then staying on them indefinitely. Especially people who are grieving over a particular loss and then remain on them for years.
That's exactly what my psychiatrist said to me when I was going through recovery from all this I said how could these doctors let this happen to me she says, "that was poor care"
Sadly, my experience is not extreme and is in fact, very common. Half of people who take antidepressants experience withdrawal if they come off of them, regardless of how they come off of them. While I'm glad you found something you think works for your family, I would encourage you to keep a close eye on this as the years pass by because there are zero clinical trials about the long-term effects of these drugs. What worked today may not work tomorrow, and it's important for people to be fully informed about that.
@@bsiem I remember when I was about 14 or 15 years old and had just gotten put on these medications, I was very scared at the fact that they kept upping my dose because I developed tolerance. I asked them one day what are the long-term effects of these medications what is this going to do to me they said "we don't know. we simply just don't know the long-term effects of these meds."
I lost my son in Oct 27 2021 because antidepressants. I called his doctor and they would not do anything. This is a Hugh concern. He had anxiety NOT depression. Doctors have no idea what this medication is doing to people. I'm broken. 😢
Wow I can so relate to this it makes me so sad. I feel like I lost years of my life to anti depressants. Abusive father and they put me on drugs. Doctors are evil.
@lilafeldman8630 drs will Not take time to counsel - just based on this guest's story alone. She recounts how her doctor left her to her own devices to get off her meds. Drs may not get officially Paid to prescribe drugs. But they get a lot of "gifts" and other nice incentives (free trips, gifts) from Big pharma companies if they DO prescribe their drugs. - that's a lot more incentiving to a dr than billing a patient's insurance for an office visit to "counsel" them. After much reading and 1st hand accounts from friends in the medical field, the US medical system is a racket.
Thank you for shedding light on this! My story is similar to Brooke's. I was over medicated in my late 20's to late 30's after loosing my only child. I spent nearly 9 years in my room. I stayed in the dark physically, mentally and emotionally. If it wasn't for my belief in Jesus, I could have never made it through. I felt absolutely nothing, years robbed of my life, and fought suicidal thoughts daily. I wanted to live again, so I quit cold turkey and had to go to a rehab to learn to function again. It took a few years for my brain to heal from the withdrawals, severe daily torture but worth it in the end. I've been told, and can personally tell, that there's some damage that may never heal. God never let go of me and I praise Him for finally living again!
As a former medical professional, I can tell you it's no longer based on helping. It's a market for making money at our expense. I'm all for therapy with the right professional.
Was it Xanax?
@@johnstow5613 It's in the benzodiazepine class and often used for anxiety. It's highly addictive, causes damage to the brain when used for long periods of time, extremely hard to get off of and many overdose on it. It can cause seizures and death when not tapered off of properly. My suggestion is to research it and there's also videos on TH-cam about benzo brain injury. Hope this helps.
Allie, as someone who was put on antidepressants at 15 for things that were out of my control I'm so glad you are addressing this topic. Heavy medications - especially ones that alter the chemistry of a young, still-developing brain - are so dangerous when not regulated or prescribed properly. I love your show. Keep up the good work, and stay strong!
Did you experience bad side effects when you weaned yourself from the meds?
I was put on them around the same time, and this comment would be exactly what I would write, haha. Stay strong!
Same here, and I feel exactly how she does. I was 15 also. Got off around 25 and never again! God is so Amazing and his grace is sufficient ! Life is a roller coaster and you have to learn to deal with it, not treat symptoms all the time!
As someone who had a pretty similar experience (18-29, was heavily medicated for adhd), I really resonated with what she said about feeling as if she questioned whether or not she would have made decisions while on certain psychiatric drugs. That really struck a cord with me. I have been off the medication for over a year now and have found Jesus in that time period. I feel so blessed and fortunate to be moving forward after being heavily prescribed psychiatric medications.
God bless you!!!
I have always struggled with anxiety and depression. Was put on psych meds in college and started experiencing hallucinations and paranoia. Their response was to up my dose! I finally went off them about the time I graduated and never experienced anything like that again.
The side effects of the anti depressants seem to do more damage than they help. It only masks the problem and the withdrawal is no fun. The intrusive thoughts while coming off of them were flat out horrible. Prayers for anyone going through this ❤ I know the pain.
W/drawal is absolutely horrible. I was on one well over a decade that was easier than most to titrate off of. I did it very slowly, well over 6 months. It irks me they don't admit they are addiction. I think they call it habituation. A few of them have such severe w/drawal that people just can't get off them, and are forced to keep taking them. I've heard of brain zaps, and such increased anxiety that it's unbearable to get off them. Yet the ones most prone to severe w/drawal aren't taken off the market, or even a black box warning that I know of.
I almost lost my life because of antidepressants in my 20’s. I went into a psychosis and nearly died with each cut I made to get off of it. It took me a year of shaving with a nail file and was diagnosed with a plethora of mental illnesses. I can tell you today I am very mentally stable and have none of those labels, it was ALL withdrawals. I never talk about this because it makes me so unbelievably angry what is happening to people. I am so grateful for this woman and her book, keep sounding the alarm
😊😊😊positive energy for me today as always thank thank 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
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😊😊😊pls let 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
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I was put on medication at the age of 11 because I was a sad kid (I struggled in school and had a very dysfunctional family). They just continued to add medications and up the doeses because my depression was only getting worse and I was experiencing psychosis and paranoia at different times. Instead of ever taking me off of any of the meds they just continued to up and change/add more and more psychiatric medications. I ended up developing hypothyroidism because of this along with other health issues. I was on this carousel of medications until I checked myself into a hospital at the age of 20 years old because I had become so suicidal and depressed than I had ever been before. The attending doctor there saved my life! Within the first 48 hours he said he thought I was severely misdiagnosed, I had never had a manic episode in my life. (Previously the psychiatrists claimed i had bipolar/schizoaffective, major depressive disorder, adhd and so on) this amazing docter slowly took me off of all my medications except my Lamictal. (I eventually decided to take myself off of the Lamictal too) I had the same experience, it felt like I had been wearing muddy goggles for all of my childhood, the trees were vibrant and SO green. I'll never forget it. I slowly started to experience joy for what felt like the first time. It was SO beautiful. That was 12 years ago. I'll forever be grateful to that doctor. I havent dealt with a depressive episode or anything of the sort since I've been off them. I've been sad, mad, glad, happy, and excited since but now I can deal with them in a very normal well regulated way. I have a beautiful family and life now with three (soon to be four) beautiful children of my own and while I can understand from my mother's point of view how scared she was and that she thought she was doing the best thing for me by trusting the doctors, I don't think I could ever do that to my children. When it's a child we should be looking at every other solution first (diet, exercise, toxins, other health issues, therapy, environment, ect.). Medications should be an absolute last resort.
I totally agree with you. But unlike our parents we have so much more information now, and the clarity to look for answers instead of accepting the first thing professionals tell us.
It made me tear up to hear you talking about the color too. Thank you for sharing your story.
@@bsiem Thank you for sharing your story too! I felt so validated of my experience after hearing yours, I didnt realize I needed that until I heard your testimony. I have memory gaps from my time on the medication too, makes sense now, I was zombified during most of that time.
My father passed away when I was 11. That was back in 1973. He died in an accident also. Now I’m grateful my mother didn’t take me to a psychiatrist or psychologist. He was only 36 and something strange happened when I turned 37. It’s like I could then exhale because I lived longer than he did.
My mom experienced the same thing at 63. Her own mother dies at that age.🥲
@@karenmartin4221 it must be a thing because I’ve heard several people say they felt the same way.
Interesting. There is a book by Maxine Harris, about loss of a parent, that describes this.
The connection between gut health and your brain/ mental state is very strong. I experienced it first hand when I had a very bad dysbiosis from antibiotics, I had sever anxiety along with other health issues, this was from imbalance in gut flora, I have no doubt.
Yes, for instance, multiple studies have shown the relationship between gluten and several psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia.
I was on anti- ds for 25 years. I'm a creative person, and it dulled my creativity for sure, but I thought I needed it at the time. I had panic attacks all day every day, depressed because of loss and regret. After 25 years, I weaned myself off and suffered a year of withdrawal, dizzy mostly, vertigo, emotional rollar coster.. Now I feel fine, not depressed but I feel like it affected my memory, and I permanently lost my sense of smell. People tell me things I did, I said, and I can not remember it. Also, I now have auto immune stuff going on. Just be aware that science is not absolute and Drs. are called practitioners. They are just practicing. What really healed me was the serenity prayer. You can not control life. It ebbs and flows and fighting for control just brings on anxiety and depression. Let go of your life and trust the living God!
I am sorry you went through that. You are so immensely blessed just the serenity prayer healed you. Most aren't cured so easily.
I want off these meds. I do a TON of holistic treatments,from exercise to worship to supplements to diet, etc. I can't afford holistic care. Of course I trust Jesus to cure me, but He didn't heal Paul.
These pills are horrible, but for the truly mentally ill, there is often no easy solution.
I can heavily relate to this women’s experience with anti depressants. I was on them from 15-25, reality is all I really needed was nutritional assistance and parents who weren’t serious alcoholics (lol).
Thank you so much for having Brooke on the show! I've heard her personal testimony before and this SERIOUS issue HAS to be addressed. I was put on psychiatric meds at 18 years old and never given informed consent. Each time I'd try to come off was disastrous. I was also put on benzos. It took MANY years to figure out what was wrong with me because the doctor who prescribed them kept saying they were safe. I never had DEPRESSION OR SI BEFORE THE MEDS. EVER. It was on the meds those symptoms started to emerge. And now I'm stuck in the horrific situation of tapering off. I have young kids. I try so hard to live in the moment everyday but when you are under chemical assault 24/7 it's hard. I'm missing out on their childhood because of these evil drugs. WHY ARE THEY BEING HANDED OUT LIKE CANDY?! WHY CAN YOU JUST GO ONLINE AND GET AD's?! Big Pharma has an agenda and even the doctors are being uneducated, straight up LIED TO!!! They numb your frontal lobe. It's a chemical lobotomy. Dr. Peter Breggin speaks about this in his books and lectures. We are being told we NEED these drugs for no reason. It has to stop.
Dr. Breggin about psychiatric drugs: th-cam.com/video/XfThKVNl0Oc/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much for this!! As soon as I saw the words “anti-depressants” and “children” I knew I had to watch. My husband’s ex put their son on anti-depressants at the age of nine after he was tested for depression and told he was depressed. She immediately put him on these pills and never tried to get him any other help. I have been worried about him since and he is now almost 17 and still on them. I don’t see that they have helped him these past eight years and he seems to be constantly struggling. My heart breaks for him. I am going to pass this on to my hubby and maybe he can get his ex to watch it and get him off them while he’s still at home.
They stunt your emotional growth and development. I know because I was put on medication after my father died when I was just 12 years old. When I stopped cold turkey at age 28 (kind of like Brooke did,) I basically had to experience a floodgate of emotions that I never felt, as well as a lifetime's worth of emotional growth and development that never happened.
That does not surprise me. I am sorry you had to go through that and I pray you are doing well now. I really worry about my stepson. We’ve tried to tell him mom that he needs off them and she doesn’t listen. Trying to tell him now that he’s almost an adult doesn’t help either because he has been told for so long that he needs them. He’s also on ADHD medication that neither his father or I have ever felt he truly needed. We don’t have full custody of him and his thoughts and trying to tell his mom is like speaking to a brick wall. He has so many emotions that he keeps in and I think one day he’ll explode and I worry what he’ll do to himself or someone else. He’s like a zombie and I feel so helpless.
@@shasta4107 that's so sad, I'm so sorry. But I've been there, keeping it all in then exploding.
I remember coming off Zoloft as a teenager and being so grateful to feel emotions again. Even sadness.. just to feel is such a gift. I felt dead on the drugs.
I have an eerily similar story. Lithium had me practically on my death bed. I have lasting damage as a result. With fear of being institutionalized, I too, stopped my meds cold turkey and discharged myself from the psych office. I have never been happier or healthier.
Shocked but glad you were blessed to survive withdrawal.
Also, I am so sorry you had such awful side effects. I don't know how lithium is still legal. It's so horrible!
Lithium is poison. What side effects do you still experience?
@@libbyannbest1723 it caused a severe b12 deficiency that went untreated and misdiagnosed for years. Now I have peripheral neuropathy in all my limbs and can no longer feel my feet or hands.
I could go into all kinds of details about this but I'll try to keep it short. I have been on lithium consistently for over 17 years and off & on prior to that dating back to age 19. I've been told by my psychiatrist that it helps protect against Alzheimer's which must be false but I found comfort in it. Now I'm facing a probable diagnosis of Diabetes Insipidus as the excessive thirst and dry mouth is overbearing. I'm on other medications as well Lamictal, Abilify, Wellbutrin for Bi-polar & anxiety. I'm turning 50 this year Lord willing & I feel much of my life has been stolen from me & I experience major FOMO because of mental illness dating back to 16 years old (started with panic attacks) but a very dysfunctional household so prior to that really. I started psychiatric medication when I was around 19-20. I felt pretty good the times I was off of them in the past but would inevitably have mania episodes that landed me in the hospital 7 or 8 times in my life. It's all very disconcerting & traumatic & as I type this I'm struggling with depression (suicidal thoughts when briefly tried Latuda) numbness towards life which makes me doubt my faith at times & I feel like a Christian in name only very discouraging. Have lots of intrusive thoughts & weird side effects. No, most of those in the industry are not looking out for your best interest. There's so much more I could say and welcome any comments & suggestions, but I said I'd be short..sorry.
Very weary😓
@@Art_thecl0wn That's terrible. It's awful that you can't sue.
Wow what a story! This woman is so brave for sharing that… I am sure her story well help so many people with the amount of truth she shared
I was misdiagnosed with epilepsy and a neurologist put me on Lamotrigine or lamictal- a common mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder. Once it was determined I didn’t have epilepsy the neurologist told me to stop taking this med cold turkey. I was crying uncontrollably for months! Couldn’t control my emotions, was super anxious and depressed… it was horrible. I tried to tell this neurologist I was having withdrawal symptoms and he straight up told me it wasn’t a thing. And the amount needed to treat seizures is WAY higher than bipolar. So I was on a really high dose of meds… 🙁🤦♀️ some doctors just shouldn’t be doctors!!!
Listened to this and wanted to thank you and Brooke for presenting a balanced conversation about risk vs benefit. I’ve been a pharmacist for a few years and knew how hard it could be to stop venlafaxine back in the early 2000’s, so just wanted to put a plug to talk to a pharmacist as we can help work with your doctor to taper. When I see a new prescription for an antidepressant unfortunately I don’t get all the information about why it is being prescribed, I’m not called to scare people out of taking with all the risks, as I do see some benefit in certain patients. However, I always try to encourage friends and family to try stopping after a season, as a drug is a just one tool in mental and physical health. There are some conditions where the drug is the fix, but many times it is just there to stabilize until the true fix is made by God changing our habits and hearts.❤
Amen!
Thank you so much saying this, Rachel. I think pharmacists are an underused resource.
Fantastic comment! A family member used an antidepressant for a short period of time after dealing with depression for many years. She met with a Christian counselor and was able to wean off the medication within a year and has been a much more pleasant and joyful person ever since. She would argue it is a tool to be used for a limited time to allow a person to work through the causes of depression. After watching a family member nearly die from an adverse reaction to medication, we are generally more wary of medications when other treatments or life changes could be just as effective. But we are also grateful for the many life saving and preserving treatments. What a blessing for your community to have a pharmacist who is so balanced and wise!
I am currently reading Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America by Robert Whitaker for bookclub right now. It’s blowing my mind as someone who has been a nurse for 20 years and on an SSRI on/off for 23 years. This Relatable episode is so apropos. Thank you for discussing difficult topics. God bless!
Such a great book.
I just downloaded a sample of this book based on your recommendation. Started reading it and already I'm hooked.
Sad how ignorant so many Christians are about this stuff. They just automatically believe whatever their TV commercials and celebrity experts say and can't be bothered to read books or do any critical thinking. No discernment.
Christians are supposed to believe that the love of money is the root of all evil and human souls exist. Yet they unwittingly buy into a philosophy of bio determinism and materialism simply because those people endorsing it are rich and famous.
I just saw a functional holistic psychiatrist today. She recommended some supplements, herbs (proper dosage) along with acupuncture, meditation. It was so refreshing to speak to a doctor who agreed to help with a more natural route to my anxiety/CPTSD. I’ve already been doing EMDR therapy and a lot of self work. Some doctors like to prescribe medications for everything. They don’t consider diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors. I have been on Prozac, other psych meds years previously. After a while they stopped working and the only solution was to add another med or keep raising the dose. I realized prescription meds weren’t a good long term solution and the side effects weren’t fun either.
I wish all insurance covered holistic care. That's the reason I can't get holistic doctors. I don't want prescriptions, but they are free and I am poor.
@@WCove99 I am very lucky-the place I go to accepts my insurance. Most holistic or integrative doctors don’t accept insurance at all. And it can be very expensive!! I had to find a community acupuncture place with a sliding scale fee that’s way more affordable. I wish insurance covered more holistic options. But here in the US it’s not healthcare- it’s “sick care.” And they truly don’t care about the wellbeing of citizens.
Allie Beth is on the case. A great 'trail of bread crumbs' to borrow phrase from Hansel & Grettel / I, Robot 2004. I am supremely happy to witness the rise in well-rounded, non-new-age advice. A return to finding what is best in natural conditions for our bodies, development, and even minds and social settings. Getting back to basic nutrition, lifestyle, household, fellowship, self-sought education, career pursuit that will (sooner or later) resolve around human competency, with office & automation artifice as our aids - rather than complete replacement of the human and the natural.
I agree that medication should NEVER be a replacement for those things.
I'm thankful for her testimony because she seriously helped someone tonight! People search high and low for answers to various health and mental issues that they can't get help for. God has a way of sending us help... whether through speaking to someone in person or through a podcast like this one 👌🏽
Withdrawal symptoms can be terrible... especially when dealing with a doctor whose not educated on it 🤦🏽♀️
I went through this exact same thing getting off of Lexapro cold turkey. For me, the issues I was trying to medicate were issues I needed to work on myself, not try to numb through.
I am currently going through this process right now. I have been taking Lexapro since I was 19 and I am 30 now. I have slowly been getting memory loss, getting used to not feeling, and just all the other things. My 5 year old son has an aggressive tumor growing in his hand that keeps coming back and now they think it has turned into cancer and so I have forgot to take my meds for awhile because it's just not something I was thinking about. In this hard time I have realized how numb I actually was and how scary that was. I have been able to cry and to have true love feelings for my husband that I haven't felt in so long. Thank you for sharing this story. It is going to help so many people.
This video was shared in a fb group. I too was damaged by antidepressants. I hope one day the companies are held accountable, and one day I will make a video as well.
Antidepressants cause suicidal and homicidal ideation, ideas
That is rare, your dr should warn you about that and then you contact him/her if that happens.
@@Sam12_13 Been there. Done that. Doctors just blame your brain disease (you) and up the dose. Their precious pills can do no wrong. How do you know it's rare since the alleged brain disease causes the very issues these pills are supposed to fix?
Not all of them a few do
@Sam12_13 It's not rare and Dr's don't warn you or even consider that your new symptoms are side effects.
@@Freedom-nu5kp Like I stated above they should, if a Dr. doesn't that's a red flag to see a different Doctor.
Brooke's experience coming off anti-depressants has been my experience on them, I will always be on them, so just be aware they will affect people differently and not to take one persons advice as gospel.
i’ve suffered from major depression, all my life, and only recently managed to get help for it. I went on antidepressants and very quickly. The world turned gray. It didn’t hurt, but I am an emotional person and I don’t care if it can be more negative than positive and every day life I’d rather feel everything and feel nothing. I have to be honest. I don’t know how else to describe it other than disgusting and unhuman. but I feel bad for the people who are environments that they can’t change use antidepressants make you feel. I just never wanted to get used to living life turned down and as I stayed on it, I realize how easy it would be to get used to it. It’s really really scary and it doesn’t even solve anything. It just turns you into a robot to be able to cope with your life.
My husband and I were on antidepressants when we were first married. I didn’t have the joy I hoped I would have on my wedding day and it still hurts me to think about. We both decided a couple years into our marriage that we were going to get off our medicine cold turkey and we felt the same emotions that Brooke did where a veil had been lifted and we were seeing life for the first time. We are so glad we trusted the Lord and took that step. We are thriving years later and have learned how to cope with our depression and anxiety by leaning on the Lord in prayer and on each other. Thank you for sharing Brooke’s story!
Thank you for bringing this to light. I was over medicated for depression and anxiety after I had my first baby and lost our second child. The medication gave me suicidal ideations and I ended up trying to end my life. Praise God it didn’t work. Thankful I got off of them. I also went cold turkey and then stayed unfortunately in dead end therapy to the point they’d convince I had a couple of mental health disorders. I just agreed with them because I trusted the “professionals”. I was also a people pleaser and just wanted my therapist to like me so I agreed to whatever he said, even if it was false. So thankful I am not wrapped up in that situation anymore. It’s been about 4 years since stopping therapy and almost 6 since stopping medication. I’m finally who I was before all of that and my husband said I’m back to the woman he married. There are some people that need them of course but I think it’s way over prescribed.
When both of our kids started getting depressed and high anxiety (at different times), we took them out of school. (Upper class Christian school) Best. Decision. Ever. A lot of kids need to be home educated with interest based learning, spending time laughing, talking and playing. My kids are doing very well now.
Agreed. Children and teens were never meant to be in school full time Monday to Friday. This is putting so much stress on them.
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing your experience. As being a mom of 2, this was helpful information for me. I just told my husband the other day that it seems like kids are struggling more & more with mental health issues than ever before. And we were wondering why that’s the case.
Also an interesting note that I was thinking of when listening to this… we have lost several people to suicide within our community/circle & all of them where either from a change in medication or people coming off of antidepressant medications.
Dr Peter Breggin MD has spoken on this and wrote books on this and he is a Harvard trained Psychiatrist!!! This is a real problem!!! These drugs are not studied enough!!
Love the work and person of Dr. Peter Breggin!!!
Lovely interview, God Bless both of you. Thank you for everything you are doing to help others. Sweet!
27 years on antidepressants! Through trial and error my side effects have been insane. Obstructive sleep apnea, binge eating, binge spending, teeth grinding, fist clenching, no joy, hopelessness... the list goes on and on. I'm just came off 300mg of Effexor XR, on to and old faithful, Celexa. My sleep apnea, which was absent during Effexor, is now back. But my binge eating and spending has totally vanished, its crazy.🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ I just told my sister today that I should get off all these meds, then I found this video. I did a very slow step down of the Effexor, but it was still horrible. Now if I want to breathe at night, I guess I'm going have to come of the other too. Thanks so much for doing this interview. It just confirmed what I already knew. That's priceless when no one believes you, and they think you sound crazy..❤❤❤❤
PLEASE look in to a hyperbolic taper. Anything more than a 5 to at most 10% taper at a time can lead to catostrophic, devastating effects. I am almost at 3 years post cold turkey and I’m still experiencing hell. You will either need to find a compounding pharmacy or buy a scale that will measure mg’s depending on the medication. It could take you years to come off but that’s ok. You will be so much better off in the long run. Surviving antidepressants website was a life saver for me.
@@awakeosleeper3930 It's been several months and I'm feeling so much better now. I'm still taking a low dose of another one, but I'm so glad to be off the high dose of Effexor. For a minute I didn't think I was gonna get through it. Thanks for the information. I will definitely check into it before coming of another one.💝💝
That is drug withdrawal. I made it through myself. It angers me how so many of us were tricked into becoming drug addicts because we were lied to and well meaning friends and family also believed the lie and shamed us for "not taking our meds" when we really were and the drugs were making things worse.
Thank you for sharing this to everyone!
With my first pregnancy I had major sleeping problems that was mistaken as postpartum), but I was hallucinating. After months feeling as though I should die, I went and started drinking chamomile tea, and switched my prenatal. Changed everything. I would run for hours and I had the perfect baby, but the second pregnancy I tried zoloft for three days and I started losing sight in my right eye. So I stopped it and just used the same prenatals and wish garden postpartum drops. Everything was fine. Our planet is wonderful.
I LOVE Wish gardens drops! It’s such a good company. I am post partum and started using them. I wish I used it while I was pregnant because they work so well. I also saw an integrative, functional- holistic psychiatrist yesterday who recommended some other herbs and supplements. They seem to be working wonders today! I’ve been dealing with ppd/ppa and really want to avoid psych meds at all costs.
Did your vision get better? They put me on Zoloft against my will after a surgery for no reason. I can barely see and walk now
This video is so powerful. I was put on antidepressants for a few months when i was 15 after I experienced a suicide attempt. My dad put both of us in biblical counseling and this is even a mistake with Christians ive learned. The parent is the seed thats planted in the child. It is 100% necessary to not downplay the effect a parent can have on a childs depression and anxiety. My mom passed away when i was 9 months old and i was my dads first child. He needed guidance as a widower and a first time dad. I needed that parental guidance. Not for the counselor to read me scripture that i had memorized since i was in elementary school.
I heard the term medical merry-go-round. For example, a cousin of mine took Accutane for her acne. And then she got Crohn's disease from the Accutane . Then she had to take immune suppressant drugs because of the Crohn's disease. Then she was considered high risk for Covid. Then she got jabbed and who knows what the results of that will be... what she should've done ( and I don't blame her. We've all been there) is find out what's the root of the acne and treated it that way.
I was fortunate in the Accutane area. One dermatologist I went to for Not Acne prescribed it for a few pimples that showed up once a month. The next Dr said "No! That is like using an atom bomb to kill an ant!"
I was told more recently that my seizure medication "was a bandaid" then handed four boxes of a new anti depressant last month. It's been the hardest thing to go through, apparently there's withdrawal from anti seizure meds too. Slapping an anti depressant on top of this? I prayed again today for real clarity. Then.. I looked up & this video was starting.
@@amylynnhunt55so sorry. Hope you heal 🙏
Accutane should have stayed off the market. It's horrible and over prescribed. Unfortunately, acne isn't always cured with everything else. I refused Accutane recently. I was on it for a month in my teens in the 90s. Horrible stuff.
I'm so sorry she is going through that.
I have tried everything for 30 years. My Dad is 72 and still has it. It's like a lot of health issues: not always cured.
@@WCove99have you ever tried adjusting your diet? It could be a gluten or sugar sensitivity or maybe some other food trigger. Doctors rarely suggest diet changes but I’ve heard many people talk about their skin clearing up after cutting certain foods out of their diet.
@yahyeet4383 tyvm I see a nutritionist and am well aware from personal research. I am on a very strict diet because of my bad stomach. I literally said I tried everything for 30 years. I also said its genetic. Both my Dad and I eat healthy. I know junk food causes issues for many. I don't eat it. Sugar I cant really have, so that's not it. Gluten I don't eat much of, and it's not gluten. Not everything has an easy solution. Please try to respect me. Tyvm. Be blessed.
Fabulous interview!
My dad passed when I was 19 and 4 years later I started Zoloft because I had been depressed really for that entire time and was now a recent liberal arts grad with shaky career prospects and dealing with losing the structure of school.
At the beginning of this year I started tapering off my Zoloft, after 8 years on it. I *so* relate to the "this has to be the time" mentality because there is never going to be a perfect, easy time to get off psychiatric drugs. I've got a 2.5 year old and a 7 month old. We moved to a new state in August when I was nine months pregnant and just moved again (this time just within town 😜). There's a lot going on, and I have certainly noticed my emotions being stronger and feeling the stresses of life more intensely, but I am really glad to be working on this. It's gonna take a while, but I want to be free of this thing, to no longer need to be worried about not picking up my prescription in time or not having it in an emergency. I'm also in such a different place in my life. When I started Zoloft, I was a single, recent college grad, sharing a bed with my mom in her and my brother's 2 bedroom apartment, trying to find a job and move back to the big city and friends and church community I'd just left, and hoping I might find a husband someday. As it turns out I had just met my husband when I started taking the Zoloft. I'm now a happy stay home mom, with a wonderful husband. I have purpose and joy and haven't dealt with depression or panic attacks in at least 7 years, so why should I continue putting something into my system that doesn't even help the way they thought SSRIs did with depression?
What makes me beyond angry is when you live in a state that allows your child to circumvent you, even when they are too young and unknowledgeable to make informed decisions, but you are aware of all of these issues so your entire goal is to protect your child from the consequences of such medications, especially those that you know are ineffective for treating teens anyway, especially teens, who do not need it in the first place, but your state ties your hands to be able to do anything to prevent it.
I’d love to speak with Brooke about my experience with these meds. I’m so glad she is speaking out about all this. I went through a real nightmare roller coaster ride getting off the drugs. Would love to share how it all happened for me.
How long did it take you to come off the meds? How are you doing now?
@@awakeosleeper3930 doing great. Took me about 2 months. I used vitamins and supplements and cleaned up my diet while coming off of them. That’s was over 10 years ago. Healthy Diet, exercise and good sleep have made all the difference. Plus I learned better coping skills than I had at age 10-30.
I’m sorry to anyone who has had a negative experience with antidepressants or any other psychiatric medication. However, I hope this video and these comments don’t scare people away from reaching out to their doctor if they’re mentally struggling.
Medication is not the answer for everyone but can be very beneficial and life changing for some. I have been taking Zoloft for the past year to help with generalized anxiety that I was struggling to deal with on my own. I had very mild side effects the first couple weeks of taking the medication (mainly fatigue) but everything eventually leveled out. I do not feel numb on this medication. This medication has never made me suicidal or homicidal. I still have emotions. I still find happiness and joy in every day life. The only difference is my anxiety has become more manageable.
If you are struggling mentally, please reach out to an actual medical professional to determine the best course of treatment for you. If you feel the treatment is not helping or making you feel worse, tell your physician right away so they can make necessary changes.
Absolutely!
There’s a time and a place for medication. My brother is schizophrenic and must be on them. Anyone who would argue differently I would immediately disregard. I have also been on them at times for bipolar. YES- some due have outrageous side effects but others have not and have allowed me the ability to function. It’s just not a black and white issue. It’s good Allie is using her platform to warn against the overprescribing of ssri’s- but there will always be those who do need them.
I'm glad a bipolar person chimed in. Antidepressants (I'm sure you know this) can be dangerous for bipolar people if not accompanied with a mood stabilizer.
I completely understand your perspective! But I’ve heard great things about the keto diet and schizophrenia. Might be something for him to ask his doctor about! Just thought I’d mention it because it’s worked wonders for my brother. But I do understand everyone is different.
I'm wary when someone says that they "have" to be on psychiatric medication. These pills do not make life better they create problems that weren't there in the first place.
Of course there are people who need them.
The problem is when it’s used in cases where there are other options.
You actually don’t get to tell anyone else whether meds make them better bc you aren’t them !!
I have seen both sides of the coin. I have struggled with full panic attacks, deep depression since childhood (I had a great upbringing and stable household so that’s not to blame). As a young adult I tried antidepressants for the first time. It did nothing but take all sex drive away, my poor husband, so I went off of them and continued to live in my anxiety stricken mind. In my early 30s, I sought out a psychologist who did a thorough exam and determined I had been struggling with ADHD all my life. After doing my own research on it, it explained my experience to a T. With some education, life changes, and the help of the correct meds, I can say my life has improved greatly. I think the medical world and the public need to find a balance. It’s all but lost for the most part and people that are actually struggling aren’t helped the way they need.
I would look into upping protein and animal fats for reducing anxiety. We have been brainwashed into believing animal fats are bad for us, but they contain many essential amino acids that our bodies and brains need.
This was such a wonderful interview . I lost my mom when I was 23 and went on SSI meds and quickly realized how much they impact your well being. I had no emotion for the 6 months I took them. I think they do help people; however, I believe they are way over-prescribed especially to children and the elderly. I feel like drs are prescribing SSI meds for any kind of issue you have and that is not good.
I see the Lord through this woman’s life and am so grateful she is sharing, I hope she can see his providence over her life and know that nothing is luck but God’s sovereignty love and mercy over her life & that inner voice is the Holy Spirit ❤ Thank you for sharing there’s so many that need to hear this
Anti-Depressants saved my life. I’ve always had OCD and it developed into severe postpartum OCD. I wanted to die, but thankfully my husband forced me to reach out for help. I understand I’m not your target for this particular video and I absolutely love your videos, but I feel as though talking negatively about anti-depressants could be really bad for those that truly need them.
I think we, as adults, need to remember that not everything is about us as individuals.
@@WCove99 No one with out a medical background should be talking about this.
@@Sam12_13 You need a medical degree to talk about your first-hand experience with medicine and it's effects on you and those around you?
@@sammichaels3196 No not at all, however I wouldn't take advice from someone on TH-cam.
I think they have different side effects as adults vs children, for sure. You don't even have enough self-awareness or agency as a child to know something is wrong or is caused by an external source, especially when you've been told by a medical professional that the source is the "solution."
As someone who started antidepressants after post partum depression set in (which I know is something you talked about), I can say with 200% certainty that it gave me back the ability to enjoy motherhood. I'm so sorry others haven't had the same experience, but it's not bad for all of us. For some, it has saved our lives so we can continue to live for God and raise little ones for him.
Her experience is totally valid and I believe her and anyone else with a story like this. But it’s not everyone’s experience on/coming off antidepressants. Consume a lot of different media to get the full picture. Also she admitted coming off cold turkey was not the best way. There are safer ways of stopping antidepressants.
I have been on an anti depressant for 25 years. My father left our family and my mother completely fell apart so lost her as well. This was in 1999 so def no real knowledge re these drugs like we have now. I have tried to stop the drug as I know I don’t need it, but the withdrawals have been so terrifying I can’t ever follow through. I am so angry that I am a slave to this medication. I am planning to google the hyperbolic tapering she referred to and hopeful that maybe I can get off once and for all.
I hear you. I was able to come off, but I felt the same way. I was a slave.
Surviving antidepressants website has a plethora of info on hyperbolic tapering. Wish I would have known about this website before my cold turkey. It’s almost three years latter and I am still experiencing hell.
Thank you for sharing. I was Zoloft for anxiety . The first year of withdrawal was awful. I am on the second year. I am doing better but i am still dealing with withdrawal symptoms
For those of you arguing for the use of antidepressants, I can promise you that within one millisecond of experiencing severe withdrawal, your perspective will completely change. I am at almost 3 years of protracted withdrawal with little improvement to speak of. These drugs are no joke friends. There are other answers, but antidepressants will never be one of them.
You eased off and are still having withdrawal three years later? Which pill?
@@WCove99 I was on Cymbalta and Wellbutrin. I was not aware of a hyperbolic micro taper at the time nor was I aware that severe protracted withdrawal could last for years. I knew that Cymbalta was next to impossible to come off of so over the course of about three years, I weaned down to 4 tiny beads (out of the approximately 209 beads in a 20 mg capsule.) I had a really rough time but nothing compared to coming off the last 4 beads and 75 mg if welbutrin all at once. Literal hell broke loose. And stayed that way for about two years. I started seeing some small windows at the two year mark but they were minimal. It will be 3 years in July and I am still in a place of absolute physical and psychological horror. Don’t ever attempt to come off of these meds without doing thorough research on the micro taper method. The LAST thing I would ever recommend is talking to your doctor. 🙄
Not true. I went thru hell with one antidepressant because the psychiatrist had me taper too quickly. Another one got me out of the bed and I am still on it.
@@RoseyPosey545 There are definitely different levels of severity when it comes to withdrawal. For those with severe withdrawal (As in potentially deadly) can experience akethesia, Psychosis, burning in the muscles that feels like your insides are on fire, stomach pain so severe that it feels like you swallowed a beehive and have a thousand bees stinging you stomach, curled up in the fetal position for hours on end, involuntarily demonic imagery, and a list of about 100 other possible symptoms. I personally did not sleep for ten months. I did not say that I had trouble sleeping for ten months, I said I didn’t sleep for ten months. The website called surviving antidepressants has THOUSANDS of testimonies of people experiencing the exact same thing. Again anyone who has experienced SEVERE withdrawal would Tell you it’s not worth it. For the record, I am still on antidepressants. Until my brain heals and stabilizes from the initial injury, it is not safe for me to taper.
Yup. My spouse can’t get off them because of the withdrawal. He wants so badly to be. The withdrawal is torturous no matter how slow he goes.
Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, psychotropics are over prescribed. However, in some cases, as in a psychiatric crisis medications are life saving. In her case, psychotherapy is likely all that she needed due the fact that the depression is situational vs chronic or long-term.
EXACTLY
Yes! Situational depression and clinical depression are not the same.
Many people have bad experiences with the medical field, however do not take medical advice from a TH-cam channel.
I don’t think she was offering advice, just doing an interview.
@@karenmartin4221👍👌
@@karenmartin4221she definitely offered advice a few times via her own words “I always tell parents who approach me, ____” and implied through her experiences (e.g. my doctor told me not to stop Wellbutrin but I told her in the hallway I was going to anyway).
Nah, this isn’t advice. This is a warning story.
Tell us her lipstick shade! LOL I love it 😊
Really informative. Thank you 💕
Brooke testimony was fantastic and informative and an honest account of her experience..Life has ups and downs, unfortunately life isn't going to stay on the mountain top we have valleys as well, and I think God wants us to experience that and learn how to cope..and not just take a pill that numbs everything..grant it there are situations that need medication., i think maybe, idk,.we are broken from the sin in the garden life is not going to go perfectly:/..Brooke is well speaking, intelligent and eloquent in her speech..I will see about purchasing her Book! Well done Brooke!❤
It really depends on the person, situation, drug, dosage, etc. Some people it can truly help while others it only makes things worse.
KC here. It depends on the anti-depressants. I switched to Citalopram. But it was Welbutrin that made the difference. Yes, I experience joy now. Not on Prozac or Paxil numbed me out. No emotions and some others
Allie, please have Abigail Shrier on to talk about her new book, Bad Therapy! It’s so eye opening!
I don’t think anti-depressants are for everyone, but they really are life-savers for so many!! I don’t want everyone just ruling them as bad when it’s forever going to be a case-by-case…so many factors go into it.
I have long known that anti depressants can actually cause suicidal tendencies in teens. It is sad that it is not known far and wide. Also, I didn't know I was borderline schizophrenic, until my Mom saw something that was mentioned in notes by the psychiatrist had written. I think that's an important thing to know. I was 18 when I took my first anti-psychotic. It took me years to get things right. We (my Dad) and sisters were living in a hotel for a while. I wasn't taking my meds regularly then. Now I have a good balance. It's been about 20 years since I was diagnosed with schizo-effective Disorder and about 7 more years of that that I had been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. One good thing I have learned is the Acronym H.A.L.T. Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.
Wellbutrin caused me great nerve pain and physical pain. glad to be off!! Praying for people going through things that they think warrant an antidepressant. Advocate for yourself! ❤
Great program!
- people go through things for a reason and wisdom is the end cause so to help others by it :and this is the truth as love
I had really bad postpartum anxiety. I felt trapped in my head like I was never going to stop worrying about my precious baby girl. I had already had terrible experience with the medical field during my pregnancy for physical ailments so I started to go to a natural doctor prescribing herbs, vitamins and minerals. When I experienced the anxiety I started taking ashwagandha and chamomile and it helped me tremendously! There is not 1 size fits all with vitamins and herbs and it depends on your body and what is depleted but that really worked for me!
I took Effexor for 2 -3 years, and it's AWFUL to get off of. The worst! I was weened off of it, and it made me feel crazy. God bless her for going cold turkey.
I think it might be helpful to do a follow-up video on alternatives to antidepressants. While these stories are tragic, there are some people out there who are truly worse off when they don't take them. I wonder if there are ways we can help people get off them through alternative methods?
One thing that was not mentioned in this podcast is how our physical health might be affecting your mental health. Exposures to heavy metals and other toxin overloads, hormone imbalances, imbalances in our gut microbiome, vitamin deficiencies can all contribute to depression, so there is something to think about. We live in a very toxic world. I just thought I'd put that out there because a lot of people aren't aware of how these things might be affecting them. Visiting an alternative doctor who can help you balance everything may help some people out of depression/anxiety.
Sunshine, exercise, improved diet, family counseling and a change in school environment could all make a difference. However, if depression is related to a major physical illness like cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome or head trauma will likely need antidepressants due to physical problems. Genetic tests can help doctors figure out the best antidepressant and dose for the genetic profile.
While awareness of this topic is crucial, as a Christian who is on year THREE of severe protracted antidepressant withdrawal, I would not recommend Brooke Siem’s Book. It is not written from a Christian perspective and includes her experience with a New Age guru that helped her find the light. ALLIE, I would encourage you do do more episodes on this incredibly important topic but from a Christian perspective. THIS IS CRUCIAL.
Are you sure about the New Age guru thing..how did you learn that?
@@cpg1355 I read the book
Joss Stone and the two Nephite books to Entertainment Week magazine. From Foster's beer to feverfew herbal preparation.
- the song DON'T MISUNDERSTAND ME/Rossington Collins Band -back in the days when antidepressants were never actually ever totally considered
I pulled myself off meds and experienced the same, horrible systems!
Thank you!
Thank you!! ❤❤❤❤
I'm going through protracted withdrawal. To the point I can't seem to feel my minds inhibitions.
Going off of Effexor is the worst! I can’t believe your dr let you go off of it cold turkey. I’ve been on mental heath meds for over two decades. Now I’m questioning everything.
Her story is basically my story I lost my dad suddenly at age 12 and it really threw me into a rough spot then I got put on antidepressants and it was all downhill from there.
I’m sorry for your loss. I hope you are doing okay now. Griefshare was a big help to me.💜
@@karenmartin4221thanks, 🙏, I'm doing ok
What's the link between children on antidepressants and gender confusion?
Amazing episode 🎉
Do you think these withdrawal symptoms are contributing to the increase in autism diagnosis? You mentioned a ton of sensory symptoms.
I am quite sure I am not autistic and yet I just took an autism questionnaire and scored "You show autistic traits slightly above the population average." The point is that these autism tests are full of leading questions that often depend on a person's own perception of themselves, and the generic nature of these tests (which are usually developed by pharmaceutical companies) catch far more people than they should. All that to say, I have no idea if withdrawal symptoms are contributing to autism diagnoses, but if I plug the symptoms into a poorly designed rubric, I shouldn't be surprised to get an inaccurate result.
@bsiem luckily, online quizes are not used for autism screening, but I could see new psychologists making mistake if they didn't ask about medication history or don't know about these side effects. In general, the dsm5 catches more autism diagnoses than it should, and ADOS doesn't catch women with autism. People with intellectual disability on the severe end of ID are often not diagnosed with autism because of their other developmental delays. If they can't get autism diagnosis right, maybe they aren't getting depression identified right either. Insurance requires a psychlogical evaluation with depression on it before the psychiatrist can prescribe antidepressants. Psychologists and psychiatrists have different training, but one relies on the other in the system. I can say that I've seen good things from prescribers who are psychiatric nurse practitioners. Their education is more well-rounded, and they notice these things.
@@beepbopboop3221 I've also seen some great work from NPs, and some terrible work too. A tale as old as time.
Re: adult autism. I've known folks who get an autism diagnosis from one-off telehealth meetings. It's all a mess from my perspective.
Yes absolutely. When I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I got off my antidepressants. The pregnancy and birth were horrible. My son was then diagnosed with autism years later. Not sure if there’s a connection but it totally makes sense. Coming off of these meds can cause brain damage and potentially YEARS of protracted withdrawal. I am on year 3 and am still experiencing hell.
At sixteen after one year of depression (stemming from chaotic home life- parent actively using/going to rehab/relapsing over and over again) I was put on Prozac, Ativan and trazadone. As a 16 year old. I attempted suicide while taking those. I still remember the day- it felt like I was in a trance out of body doing it.
Evil stuff.
I’ve been on multiple antidepressants, anti anxiety, antipsychotics, and that is just the tip of the iceberg, since I was 24 yrs-old and had post-partum depression. I am now 54 and I feel like I have wasted my life by just sitting there and being “gray.” No emotion, except for feeling dragged and tired, and exhausted, always, and just sitting there waiting to get old so that I can quietly die. I am 54 years old and I hate it. I hate me! Don’t get me wrong, I love Jesus the Christ, but I sat there and allowed the more pills, and more pills, instead of doing the hard work and dealing with the issues. My life is basically gone! Ask me anything that you want to know, I am just too upset to think straight right now.
I want to know, did I miss the mention of God/Jesus/Savior in this video?
Jesus doesn't heal everyone. I can't afford holistic treatment, but I worship Jesus, eat healthy, drink a lot of water, exercise, socialize, use a UV light, volunteer, go to therapy, take supplements, I deal with my problems head on because I am very self aware, pray, sometimes prayer journal, and more. Meds are an aid I hate, but overall, I was worse without.
Other than your faith, what helps you cope with your mental illness?
@@WCove99 Talking with my sister helps a lot, but she has a personal life & a professional life & a husband, but she does give me her best, each time that she can. She has to keep her life very together, because she has two grown austistic perfect children & they really need her. Even her Service Dog has to be retired for Insulin Dependent Diabetes. But my Sissy helps & she knows the truth about everything & she is my best friend. I wake up super early to talk with her… Thank you for asking.
Allie, interview Dr. PETER BREGGIN about the damage of psych meds and how he tapers patients off of them.
12:12 I was told by 3 different doctors that antidepressant withdrawal was not possible. 😆😆😆 Ridiculous.
As in, what I was experiencing could not be real/wasn't actually happening.
I was told this as well! I went to a doctor to get help tapering, and he said antidepressant withdrawal wasn’t real and I could just stop taking it! Incredible.
@@isabel6453 It's so sad that this seems to be a common experience for most who want to try weening off!
- the song PROMISES IN THE DARK/Pat Benatar :like a thief in the night comes along so in love to the promise someday :never give up to a delusion otherwise
Let me correct one thing this woman says. She states that she knows that God doesn’t give us more than what we can handle and that is not true. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” And John 16:33 states, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Further, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 states, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Thanks!
The trend to diagnose and medicate is dangerous and extremely lazy. Pharmaceuticals should be closer to the last option, not the first.
I agree. I believe these meds can help some people, but I hate how our culture is easily pushing pills as if it’s the only option. I’m 100% with you that it should be the last option.
Wonderful and important podcast. Thank you for this. My mom was on all kinds of pharmaceuticals (including klonopin for over decades) and it was killing her. I would have lost my mom this month if she hadn't gone to the E.R. for something completely unrelated. I hated her being on so many meds and told her how I wish she would wean off of them for yeeeeaaaars. She looked so sickly and was dealing with other health issues and kept trying to get her to go to a Dr. and demand a thorough panel of blood tests, hormone tests, etc. She wouldn't do it and it drove me crazy because there was something very wrong. There were a lot of things that was wrong with her health from her meds that the Dr.s at the hospital found and treated her for. She is now off of all her meds. I went and disposed of all her meds before she came home from the hospital. I have a strong dislike towards meds now because of my mom and watching how they were affecting her. I get so mad at the fact that I DONT have a medical degree and could tell what it was doing to her. Now she is dealing with massive withdrawal symptoms and is overwhelmed by how they make her feel.
Also, I want to comment on one thing that Brooke mentioned that I don't agree with. It is this notion some Christians believe in that God will never give you more than what you can handle. Not true and God never promises that He won't give us more than what we can handle. God DOES promise that HE is enough to get you through a situation when you aren't. That is what God promises.
I had some misgivings about you about "you are not enough" as if you praised antidepressants.
I will share this one immediately.
If you feel like a medication is helping you, then you're likely defiecient in nutrition and need to figure out the root cause of whats making you feel whatever way. Which i would imagine is really common in post partum.
Damaged by a "cocktail." At least I didn't start the drugs till 18. Still numb from time to time. Permanent autoimmune and neurological damage.
Just remember...do not cold turkey. That causes so many problems. I've seen it but avoided it myself.
Allie, I’m curious… did you share the Gospel w/ this young woman? I hope she knows she can find unexplainable peace & healing through God.
I am sorry for Brooke Siem's experience, but this is a ridiculously extreme case of medical ignorance and failure, or very poor long-term 'health' care of a young woman on (six?) different drugs by incompetents. The lowest dose of one common anti-anxiety/anti-depressant changed our teenage daughter's brain chemistry FOR THE BETTER, after exhausting all other options. It enabled her to regulate her emotions, curb her meltdowns, and cause peace in her and in our family again. Gamechanger
I don’t think either of them is saying there is no place for ANY antidepressant EVER. She is talking first hand about her own experience which, sadly, matches that of many people I know.
One concern is people getting on these medications and then staying on them indefinitely. Especially people who are grieving over a particular loss and then remain on them for years.
That's exactly what my psychiatrist said to me when I was going through recovery from all this I said how could these doctors let this happen to me she says, "that was poor care"
Sadly, my experience is not extreme and is in fact, very common. Half of people who take antidepressants experience withdrawal if they come off of them, regardless of how they come off of them. While I'm glad you found something you think works for your family, I would encourage you to keep a close eye on this as the years pass by because there are zero clinical trials about the long-term effects of these drugs. What worked today may not work tomorrow, and it's important for people to be fully informed about that.
@@bsiem I remember when I was about 14 or 15 years old and had just gotten put on these medications, I was very scared at the fact that they kept upping my dose because I developed tolerance. I asked them one day what are the long-term effects of these medications what is this going to do to me they said "we don't know. we simply just don't know the long-term effects of these meds."
I lost my son in Oct
27 2021 because antidepressants. I called his doctor and they would not do anything. This is a Hugh concern. He had anxiety NOT depression. Doctors have no idea what this medication is doing to people. I'm broken. 😢
😢 so sorry for your loss
I tried weaning off of antidepressants. It was hell...
😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
Are you better now? Was it worth it?
@@WCove99 yes I think AD prevented me from taking my life...but who knows what it's...
Wow I can so relate to this it makes me so sad. I feel like I lost years of my life to anti depressants. Abusive father and they put me on drugs. Doctors are evil.
Drs aren't going to he taught to take people off these drugs- once you're on them you are a Customer for life.
Yes, but if doctors actually did the work to get people off, they still make money. Because it takes time and counsel.
@lilafeldman8630 drs will Not take time to counsel - just based on this guest's story alone. She recounts how her doctor left her to her own devices to get off her meds. Drs may not get officially Paid to prescribe drugs. But they get a lot of "gifts" and other nice incentives (free trips, gifts) from Big pharma companies if they DO prescribe their drugs. - that's a lot more incentiving to a dr than billing a patient's insurance for an office visit to "counsel" them. After much reading and 1st hand accounts from friends in the medical field, the US medical system is a racket.