TRANSCRIPT
In June of 2012, 23 of us came together to discuss the taboo subject of coming off psychiatric drugs: Prozac, Pristiq, Lorazepam. A far majority of us were either users or survivors of the psychiatric system, and between us, we shared a wealth of knowledge on the subject.
I wanted to come to this training to be with my peers and to be open in a safe environment to talk about my experience with coming off of medication: Ambien, Seroquel. I came to this training because it’s so easy to get on medication and so difficult to get off. ‘Cause I think it’s pretty easy to come off drugs and just quit taking them, but it’s really hard to stay off and maintain your own wellness while doing that.
I came to this training because I want to know how to safely come off from them. I’ve been on psychiatric meds for about five years now, and I just want to be able to think more clearly and not be, um, drugged all the time. I came to this training to empower myself with more knowledge so I’m able to bring that to my community and help my peers in their quest to get off psychiatric drugs.
We were led by Will Hall, author of the world-renowned harm reduction guide to coming off psychiatric drugs, and Oryx Cohen, a leader in the alternative mental health movement. I wanted to come to the training because, um, coming off psych drugs was a huge part of my own recovery. To share what I’ve learned about coming off medications because I see too many people are trying to come off medications on their own, without support and without, uh, good information.
We came together to share, but we also came together for inspiration, and over the course of three days, that is what we found.
Do you see yourself as a mental patient now?
Hell no.
Do you see him that way?
I don’t see him as a mental patient, no.
How do you see him?
I see him as someone who went through struggles of, you know, altered perceptions and someone who really took the effort to gain the knowledge about what was going on and to move through it without just re-going through the system and re-going through that cycle. I just see him as my brother. I don’t see him as no mental patient.