Understanding Antidepressant Withdrawal © Coral Smith 2025 This post by Harriet Vogt follows on from her recent Ruptures in Clinical Care post The members of Shane Cooke and Mary Hennessey’s antidepressant withdrawal peer support group decided there was more to explore together after our first meeting. They wanted to dig deeper into their experiences of protracted … [Read more...] about Withdrawal Syndromes: Lost in Translation
Politics of care
Over-Diagnosing or Under-Diagnosing
This post follows on from Repairing Ruptures in Clinical Care and the Future of Health App-Ointments. It also links to An Appleby a Day and Tangled up in Bureaucracy. Repairing Ruptures had a lot of comments from Lucy. One of them kicks things off here. Lucy’s Struggle Since waking up to the adverse effects of psychiatric drugs, I have written countless letters to … [Read more...] about Over-Diagnosing or Under-Diagnosing
The Future of Health App-ointments
Several of the many people who write or track RxISK posts, have had input to this one, which dovetails with Harriet Vogt's post last week Repairing Ruptures in Clinical Care and the work of Shane Cooke and Mary Hennessey in getting health systems to listen to the voices of those harmed by treatment. The post, maybe, casts an ominous light on our abilities to get medicine to … [Read more...] about The Future of Health App-ointments
Repairing Ruptures in Clinical Care
Better Times Will Return © Josie Russell 2017 This post is by our warzone correspondent Harriet Vogt from frontline trenches. A few weeks ago I was invited to join an online discussion with a group of experts on iatrogenesis who have an in-depth knowledge of antidepressant withdrawal and the risks of polypharmacy. These highly informed, articulate, empathic medical … [Read more...] about Repairing Ruptures in Clinical Care
Who Will Make Medicine Great Again
Apologies to all readers outside of Britain who may never have heard about The Pirates of Penzance, definitely not The Pirates of the Caribbean. PoP though has a famous song - I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General - featuring a dimwit General who knows everything about everything except military strategy. This post ideally needs an … [Read more...] about Who Will Make Medicine Great Again
Deciphering the Web We Have Woven
Three people who got in touch recently, one with a problem, one with an idea, and one 'outraged' contributed to this post. The problem and idea illustrate what happens when doctors take Probity Blockers. The outrage tells you almost everything you need to know about the Web we are enmeshed in. Using the problem, idea and outrage, this post gives a punchier version of the … [Read more...] about Deciphering the Web We Have Woven
Embracing Healthcare’s Opportunities
Up to 1980, the pharmaceutical industry was small beer. Most of the companies had recently demerged from chemical companies, and were hiring management consultants to help them work out how to do the job. A steady stream of life-saving drugs from the 1940s to 1960s that people and health services were willing to buy at prices greatly in excess of their costs of production … [Read more...] about Embracing Healthcare’s Opportunities
It is Hard for Thee to Kick Against the Pricks
The title of this post by Peter Selley comes from the Acts of the Apostles. It captures the moment where the Divine is advising Paul to stop persecuting Christians. Acts 9:5 (KJV). An if you can't beat them, why not join them moment. The words lend themselves to the situation of anyone attempting to grapple with the growth of a new RSV religion in more than one sense. Among … [Read more...] about It is Hard for Thee to Kick Against the Pricks
No One Expects the Reformation
The title of this post borrows a famous line from Monty Python: No one expects the Spanish Inquisition This is an advance notice of things to come rather than a post per se. To get a sense of the things to come, it is worth reading the Antidepressants, Homicide and a Challenge post and the comments that come after it where many regular contributors to RxISK pick up … [Read more...] about No One Expects the Reformation
Where is the Great Light that is Supposed to Shine?
Around the time Bob Whitaker asked me to do a Webinar on Stopping Antidepressants, K filed a RxISK Report on her efforts to get off Prozac. Like many Reports, in her case it seemed clear she should never have been put in the situation she is now in - she didn't have a mental illness. She got sucked into a situation not of her own making. Some wonderful touches to her … [Read more...] about Where is the Great Light that is Supposed to Shine?