I have been sick since I was 6, I’m 60 now. For the first 4 years I barely survived. Most of the time I was horribly depressed or psychotic. At 10 I started drinking and taking drugs. I end up in the hospital at 17. Six months later I went to AA. I took no medication until until 29 started on a low dose of Zoloft. That led to; 450mg of Effexor, 450 mg of Wellbutrin, 900 mg of Lithium, 20 mg of Latuda, 150 of Seroquel, 3 mg of Ativan and a variety of drugs to deal with all the side effects, all of these at the same time over 25 years.

The point of a this is that my first Psychiatrist believed in counseling and time, 9 years almost daily. The rest have relied on drugs.

Meanwhile I have gotten sicker and sicker. I’ve lost everything, including my family and my freedom during that time.

My current provider believes in less is more. I have begun reducing and stopping some of my medication, with an eye towards ( don’t tell anyone) getting off of all of it in the next 3 years.

“If one is a hammer everything looks like a nail.”

The worst thing that happened to the Mental Health profession was the separation of therapy from prescribing medication. It was a bad solution to the shortage of providers. Therapist don’t under stand the effect of your medication. And prescribers don’t know who you are.

I found that it has been the meds making me sick. I may not be able to get off of all of them, but I’ve already been able to stop two; Seroquel and Ativan.

I found a prescriber who aligned with my beliefs and then really started to educate myself. It was either that or suicide!

A good place to start is a book titled, “Brain Energy” by Dr. Palmer (40 years Harvard and MacLaine (sp) it change (saved?) my life.

Good luck to all. Beware of hammers unless your a nail!