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Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs – Successful Withdrawal From PeterLehmannPublishing PeterLehmann(Ed.) ComingoffPsychiatricDrugs SuccessfulWithdrawalfromNeuroleptics, Antidepressants,Lithium,Carbamazepineand Tranquilizers WithprefacesbyJudiChamberlin,PirkkoLahtiandLorenR.Mosher Pdf,baseduponthe2004printedition ContributionsbyKarlBachJensen,ReginaBellion,CarolaBock, WilmaBoevink,MichaelChmela,BertGölden,IlseGold,GáborGombos, KatalinGombos,MathsJesperson,KlausJohn,ManuelaKälin, KerstinKempker,LeoP.Koehne,JanKuypers,ElkeLaskowski, PeterLehmann,UlrichLindner,IrisMarmotte,ConstanzeMeyer, HaraldMüller,EikoNagano,MaryNettle,UnaM.Parker,NadaRath, ErwinRedig,HanneloreReetz,RolandA.Richter,MarcRufer, LynneSetter,MartinUrban,WolfgangVoelzke,DavidWebb, GerdaWozart,JosefZehentbauerandKatherineZurcher TranslationsbyChieIshii,MaryMurphyandChristinaWhite PeterLehmannPublishingBerlin·Shrewsbury 2016 Originally published in 1998 in Berlin, Germany, under the title “Psycho- pharmaka absetzen. Erfolgreiches Absetzen von Neuroleptika, Antidepres- siva, Lithium, Carbamazepin und Tranquilizern.” First English print edition in 2004, see www.peter-lehmann-publishing.com/books/withdraw.htm. This pdf is based upon the 2004 print edition with one exception: For copyright reasons,onechapterbyanauthorfromEx-Yugoslaviaisdeleted. UpdatedEnglishebookeditionsin2013,seewww.peter-lehmann- publishing.com/books1/withdraw-ebook.htm Forotherprintandebookeditionsindifferentlanguages,pleasesee www.peter-lehmann-publishing.com/comingoff.htm Theexplanationsinitalicbracketsandfootnotesarebytheeditor. PublishedbyPeterLehmannPublishing Switchboardaddress:Eosanderstr.15,10587Berlin,Germany Tel.+493085963706·Fax+493040398752 Branchoffice:Shrewsbury,Shropshire(UnitedKingdom). PleasesendallpostalmaildirecttoourBerlinswitchboard. E-mail:[email protected] Internet:www.peter-lehmann-publishing.com © This collection Peter Lehmann Publishing. Individual chapters the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form by any means, electronic, mechani- cal, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written per- mission from the Publisher and the authors. Contact Peter Lehmann with your request, in particular, requests for translations. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. ISBN 978-3-925931-55-0 5 Contents NoteaboutLiability ............................ 9 Prefaces Judi Chamberlin ............................ 11 Pirkko Lahti .............................. 13 Loren R. Mosher ............................ 15 Editor’s Preface ............................. 17 Introduction ................................ 23 TheDecisiontoWithdraw IlseGold:AfterDischarge ....................... 39 PeterLehmann:RelapseintoLife ................... 47 WithdrawalWithoutPharmacogenicProblems GáborGombos:HowtoDenyaPsychiatricFamilyHistory ..... 57 CarolaBock:AndFinallyISaiditAll ................. 65 JanKuypers:DonQuixoteandtheDrug-FreeZoneor: WhatNow,LittleJumpingJack? .................. 72 MathsJesperson:BetweenLobotomyandAntidepressants ..... 75 ComingoffStepbyStep WilmaBoevink:MonstersfromthePast ............... 77 KatherineZurcher:SecondFear ................... 81 MichaelChmela:Escaped ....................... 93 BertGölden:WithPatience ...................... 98 6 Counterweights UnaM.Parker:Talking,Crying,Laughing .............. 107 NadaRath:TotheConventInsteadoftheClinic .......... 111 KatalinGombos:FromElectroshocktotheVoiceoftheSoul ... 115 IrisMarmotte:The“BlueCaravan,”ontheRoad… ......... 117 HaraldMüller:TwentyYearsLater ................. 135 GerdaWozart:Adversities ...................... 138 UlrichLindner:IRanformyLife.HowIHealedmyDepression . 142 ToWithdrawwithProfessionalHelp EikoNagano:NishiTherapy—AJapaneseWay ........... 153 ManuelaKälin:HomeVisitbytheHomeopath ........... 162 DavidWebb:“PleaseDon’tDie” .................. 164 HanneloreReetz:AddictionorSearchforSelf ........... 174 BetterSometimesthanForever MaryNettle:HavingControlAgain ................. 181 WolfgangVoelzke:TogetherwithmyPsychiatrist .......... 185 LynneSetter:ReturntoMyself .................... 189 ProfessionalActing MarcRufer:CreatingFear/RemovingFear.WhenYouWish toWithdraw,theOpinionofYourDoctorisDangerous ..... 197 JosefZehentbauer:WhoisAfraidofWithdrawal?Medical AdviceandPsychotherapeuticCounselingDuring WithdrawalfromSedatives ..................... 210 MartinUrban:“AmIReallyStillDisabled?”Psychotherapeutic SupportDuringWithdrawalfromPsychiatricDrugs ....... 224 RolandA.Richter:SupportingWithdrawalwith OrthomolecularMedicine ..................... 231 Contents: 7 ConstanzeMeyer:“WithdrawalfromDependenceon Medication.ThoughtsAboutWithdrawalfrom BenzodiazepinesandAnalgesicsAmongWomen ......... 239 KlausJohn:WithdrawalandDetoxificationfromPsychiatric DrugsfromaNaturopathicPointofView ............ 253 KerstinKempker:WithdrawingfromPsychiatricDrugsinthe Runaway-House .......................... 270 ElkeLaskowski:BiodynamicBodyandAuraWorkwith BachFlowers,StonesandColors ................. 273 TheTimeAfter ReginaBellion:AfterWithdrawal,theDifficultiesBegin ...... 279 ErwinRedig:AMentalStruggle.HowIStoppedtheUse ofPsychiatricDrugs ........................ 290 LeoP.Koehne:“NowIGiveYouImap.ThisWillAlso HelpwithSocialIntegration!” ................... 297 ClosingWords KarlBachJensen:Detoxification—intheLargeandintheSmall. TowardsaCultureofRespect ................... 303 Closing Remarks by the Editor .................... 309 Appendix Psychiatric Drugs’ Active Ingredients and Trade Names ....... 321 Sources ................................ 327 About the Authors .......................... 335 Index ................................. 342 9 NoteaboutLiability Psychiatric drugs are more dangerous than many (ex-)users and survivors of psychiatry and even physicians realize. Psychiatric drugs can cause serious adverse effects. Psychiatric drugs can also produce powerful physical depen- dence. For example, their withdrawal can cause sleeplessness, rebound and withdrawal psychoses, withdrawal-emergent tardive syndromes, return of base line psychological and emotional problems and even life-threatening withdrawal reactions (see pp. 25–38). Especially when psychiatric drugs have been taken for prolonged periods of time, experienced clinical supervision maybeadvisableorevennecessaryduringthewithdrawalprocess. The problems which led to administration of psychiatric drugs may return when you stop taking them. Decisions to withdraw from psychotropic drugs should be made in a critical and responsible way. It is important to have a safe and supportive environment in which to undertake withdrawal (see pp. 311– 321) and to consider the possibility that you may experience so-called relapse or worsening of your condition. Withdrawal may not work for everyone. Sometimes the difficulty of withdrawal or the base line psychological and emotional problems seem insurmountable, so people may decide to maintain on lower amounts of drugs or fewer drugs. Many psychiatrists do not sup- port withdrawal and are convinced that people with psychiatric diagnoses like “schizophrenia,” “psychosis,” “manic depression” or “major depres- sion” need psychiatric drugs or maintenance electroshock “therapy” for the restoftheir lives. We do not provide medical advice. Although this is the first book to de- scribe positive experiences of coming off psychiatric drugs, it is not intended as a substitute for professional help. Should you have any health care-related questions, please call or see your physician or other health care provider promptly. The publisher, editor, authors and suppliers are not responsible if 10 you decide against this advice. Nor are they responsible for any damage you mayexperiencefromamedicaland,inparticular,psychiatrictreatment. If you choose to give weight to the various opinions expressed in this book, that is your choice, and is not based on any claims of special training or medi- cal expertise by the publisher or editor (for professions and experiences of the authors see pp. 337–343). No alternative medicine, holistic remedy, or self-help method referenced in this book is being recommended as a substi- tute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and no compari- sons are being made between such alternative methods and treatment with electroshock or psychiatric drugs. Neither the publisher, editor, authors nor suppliers make any claim that their information in this book will “cure” or healdisease. All (ex-)users and survivors of psychiatry in this book report from ulti- mately positive experiences with drug withdrawal. This is no coincidence be- cause the editor only asked for positive experiences. Since many individual factors (physical and psychological condition, social circumstances etc.) exert a remarkable influence on the withdrawal process, the authors’ individual statements should not be interpreted as transferable advice for all other read- ers. No responsibility is assumed by the publisher, editor, authors and suppliers for any injury and/or damage to persons or property from any use of any methods, products, instructions or ideas referenced in the material herein. Any unfinished course of treatment as well as any use of a referral and/or subsequent treatment regimen sought as a result of buying and/or reading thisbookisthesoleresponsibilityofthereader. The publisher, editor, authors and suppliers undertake no responsibility for any consequences of unwanted effects either when taking psychiatric drugs or when
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