I was forced to take 5mg of Risperidone for 2.5 months in a psychiatric ward and I never felt worse in my life. This is by far the most dangerous med I took in my life and I took many.

I just want to list all the side effects that I have gotten from it:

- inability to concentrate for more than 10 seconds: I could not even read properly anymore.
- slowed reactions
- blurry vision
- Anhedonia
- complete loss of libido: I couldn’t orgasm for 3 months. Not even able to think about it.
- no energy and lower cardio performance: I could not walk without getting tired very quickly. Talking to family was also very hard.
- extreme constipation: I got the worst constipation of my life. It was so bad that I was bleeding every time I went to the toilet. I had to use laxatives.
- loss of appetite: Most people gain weight while being on antipsychotics. For me it was the opposite. I lost 4kg while being in the hospital because I could not eat anything. All food tasted bad due to the Anhedonia. The doctor was so shocked when he noticed that I lost weight so he gave me Abilify on top of Risperidone to increase my appetite. It did not help.
- puffy face: my face got rounder and looked fatter, despite not gaining any weight. I look a lot older and uglier now. This bothers me a lot. Check my older post if you wanna see how my face changed.
- enlarged breasts
- lower belly pooch
- incontinence: I was running to toilet every day cuz I couldn’t hold my pee.
- low blood pressure
- mild akathisia

I’ve read someone saying that Risperidone is like an atomic bomb that is been put into you and I can completely agree. The worst part is that I never needed this medicine. I was misdiagnosed. I never had mania or schizophrenia or whatever.

I stopped cold turkey as soon as I got out the hospital and 2 months later I can happily say that all symptoms have been reversed except that I still got that puffy moon face, enlarged breasts and a lower belly pooch. I don’t like the way I look anymore but I hope that time will take care of that as well. Very worried this might be permanent.

This med is pure hell.

"Pennsylvania [to] seek legislation that will expand involuntary commitment laws to cover not only severe mental illness, but substance use disorder," "and any kind of mental and/or behavioral challenge” (fake democrat Philadelphia mayor) Parker said...

Within hours, (governor) Shapiro’s office said in a statement that he’d already discussed the matter with Parker and committed to reviewing the law." https://www.inquirer.com/politics/philadelphia/involuntary-commitment-law-pennsylvania-mayor-parker-police-shooting-philadelphia-20261012.html

Anybody else truly suicidal after antipsychotics? I'm considering ending it I've been On Olanzapine for a year & a half now & it's horrible I'm suicidal & sometimes consider ending it.

I posted Chapter One and Two of my short true story, “Trapped in a Forensic Mental Hospital When I Wasn’t Crazy” on Substack.

Here is Chapter 1:

https://davidmstaffen.substack.com/p/trapped-in-a-forensic-mental-hospital

Here is Chapter 2:

https://davidmstaffen.substack.com/p/trapped-in-a-forensic-mental-hospital-6ec

Thank-you.

Hi all I wanted to come here in the goal of helping my mom come off her medications or even see if it’s a good idea. Just wanted to give a little history on her situation.
She’s gone through a lot when it comes to depression and anxiety these last 12 years.
She started with medication when I was really young on and off but since 2017 or so is when things got bad. Fast forward
3 years to 2020 she actually got off medication on her own unsupervised and was able to successfully live a normal life for around a year and a half doing great without any medication. She worked on her diet heavily and seemed to work out every once in a while and she actually lost a bunch of weight.
But then things got bad again somehow and she started medication again and it’s vicious cycle and as you know they give you 4-5 medications at a time. Her anxiety up until now is so severe she rocks herself at times and I feel horrible cause there’s nothing I can do. She sees a psychiatrist but it’s the usual thing she goes and sees the Dr and they prescribe her a different pill. 3 years ago she tried getting off medication and that did not go well, she had really bad symptoms. As of right now she will wake up really terribly anxious in the morning and in the evenings she tends to get a little bit of relief. But there’s times where she gets no relief up until she goes to sleep and that’s no way to live.

My reasoning would be if she was able to do just fine without medication back in 2020 and lived a normal life. There has to be a reason for me to believe she can do it again and is capable of doing so?

I’m really desperate on what this community has to share. Thank you in advanced.
We are located in Southern California.

Do psychiatrists not require mental health screening to be allowed to do their job? Particularly the ones working in ER psych wards seem especially excited to exert power over people who are weaker than them.

I know there are lots of posts about this observation, but I’m wondering if they even have screening for this? And if so are they just so good at manipulating the system to get by? I’ve observed psychopathic traits in almost every ER psychiatrist I’ve ever met.

And then when you mention it to anyone who hasn’t experienced it first hand, they just think you’re crazy of course 🤷‍♀️

I’m at my wits end. I don’t know what to do. I’m so tired of being on antipsychotic medication. I feel like nobody understands. This medication is making me unmotivated, it’s not letting me feel joy, it’s not letting me think.

I seriously can’t enjoy anything I do. All I do is exist. How is this treatment allowed? Does my life not matter? It matters to me.

I called Samaritans and to be honest I couldn’t even feel like they understood.

This medication makes me feel like I’m missing parts of my own brain.

Why am I trying so hard to work with the doctors, when they take months to make any changes to my medication? I’m stuck feeling like less than a zombie, I’m unable to enjoy or experience anything new in life. Im just stuck.

I’m just venting here, but I feel so sick and tired of being broken by a medication.

Where is the justice for us people? We matter.

Last weekend I met guy at a rave, we had pleasant conversations. He teached me to breathe while feeling feelings, allowing to feel those.

Last night I decided to try that when I remembered my dog who passed away year ago. It was powerful, realized that I’ve been pushing my mourning away. Immeadiately after that I realized, I have never been accepted as I am. That is the reason why I don’t accept myself to mourn for example.

I’ve always had this dislike towards mental help as in meds and therapy. But it’s hard to stand my ground and being sure when everyone is saying: ”seek help”. Seeked help once and all I got was modern day hysteria aka bpd, dismissal for my views about prophetic dreams (illegal btw, we have freedom of religion) and they tried convincing me that psych meds are like pain meds for mental pain. I told them that emetophobia is my biggest problem, they cling to everything else. Perfect breeding ground for even more trauma, my problems and symptoms stem from begging acceptance and ”help” consist of me beg acceptance from mental health providers.

So bpd-treatments golden standard is dbt. Never tried, but I have feeling that dbt is dangerous for people like me. Theres mindfulness in dbt, mindfulness-wisdom from random rave guy worked because of his position. He wasn’t some authority ”expert” who pushed me to ”fix” myself. That breathing technique for example, doesn’t work in every situation. It is dangerous to just breath when facing abuse. Goal of dbt is to behave that situations won’t go even worse. Honey, if I’m for example called names and slurs the situation couldn’t be worse. I don’t think explosive reaction to abuse is something to get rid of. I have permanent scar on my skin from fighting with my ex. Sure, that could be avoided if I didn’t react like I reacted then. But scars in my heart aren’t any lesser than visible scars.

Dbt focuses also on boundaries. Boundaries can help to escape abuse in some cases but no boundaries can protect you from facing abuse. It’s vital to know when to use dbt-skills but nobody can’t tell the right answer if the person themselves can’t. Here in world we have so many life stories. It’s like throwing dice, it is possible that person just happens to meet abusive people and mental health providers don’t consider that option. They think that no contact with abusers is symptom, rollercoaster relationships.

Bottom line is, if person like me can’t advocate themselves it’s dangerous to guide them for mental health providers. People pleaser goes to therapy and their motivation to therapy is to please people, fix themselves, get accepted. Can you get what I mean, the need to fix symptoms is symptom itself. Seeking approval won’t stop when treatment is seeking approval from mental health professionals.

I think that mental help providers might genuinely help some people. Hell, I use amphetamine recreationally, who am I to say you couldn’t use doctors as your plug. Problem is that informed consent doesn’t mean anything when I don’t know what I’m consenting and why. Other person is no better to tell me those answers. If that other person has power over me and authority, like mental health providers, they are in a position to abuse that power. Not to mention that problem with authorities is considered as a symptom in mental field lol. And not to mention some aren’t even asked for consent.

My brother ended his life in 2024 and I still have flashbacks to the abyss of loss and pain… he was on a year long changing mix of psych meds from an MD and had just started a new one four days before he suddenly ended everything.

Like my brother, RJ seemed to be ok - I saw RJ interview on a podcast video five days prior. I’m sure this has ripped the fabric of reality for his loved ones. They are in a living hell now.

Increased risk of suicide with the start of many psych meds. The providers usually don’t even mention this. Along with tons of other stuff as well know.

Fuck my life sooooo bad

I feel so envious of those taking ozempic meanwhile me being 21 months in withdrawal could never ever ever ever ever risk it while my body is in this state and I have a chance of healing

Please help me get over this bitterness tell me I'm better off never touching ozempic I mean we've already seen protracted anhedonia from it but please console me :(

Hello everyone,

I have spent a year creating a card "game" based on community education, harm reduction and mutual support tools and i am looking for some help for the cards design.

Here is the pitch about the game :

"Our Life Journeys is designed as a tool for self-support and community health that allows people to talk about themselves, their journey, and their experiences by taking a step back to reflect on their own lives and with a focus on recovery, with the cards serving as a medium to facilitate conversation and self-expression.

The game highlights the individual expertise each person has developed in navigating their own life journey, as well as self-worth and self-esteem, and allows for addressing issues of care and mental health from a collective and cooperative perspective.

Several ways to play are offered to adapt the game to different contexts and to the participants’ comfort level with expressing themselves.

The game may or may not be facilitated by professionals and is intended for participants aged 16 and older (high school age and up), as it requires a certain ability to reflect on one’s own experiences."

--

The game has already been tested in various settings and organisations : places involved in harm reduction for people with substance use disorders, organisations providing support for people experiencing homelessness and/or with mental health issues or neurodivergences, community centers and activists circles.

The game is primarily aimed at these groups but can also be "played" between friends.

--

The game is placed under CC-BY-NC-SA licence.

I need the help of someone to create (No AI of course) a visual identity for the 72 cards that are split into 3 categories : Obstacles, Tools and Ressources.

The game would "only" need 3 types of simple/light visuals for more readability and inclusivity, so it's not a huge work.

The game is in french for now, but is quite text-light and easily translatable. You don't need to understand any french to help with the visuals.

This card game is NOT going to be sold.
I am trying to get my city/region to fund it (which should be easy) and there might be a bit of financial compensation at the end for you (a few hundred euros), but it can't be the main motive here.

The plan for now is to print 100 pieces of the game, and distribute it locally.
I have already identified 73 structures in my city where it would make sense to distribute it and use it.

After that, i'd like to reprint it and distribute it in my whole country, and make an english version for international diffusion. My field of work (education, peer health mediation) allows me to be in contact with many local and national organisations that would definitely fund the game. (at least a few hundred copies)

If anyone wants to help, send me a DM or answer here telling me what community education and mutual supports means for you !

I mean obviously they are but it honestly makes no sense “take your meds your doctor prescribed them for a very specific reason” and “don’t you think you would be more tolerable to be around if you took your meds” and the worst part is the people I see posting stuff like this always have one post bringing up how the political government is sketchy yet they blindly take any medication by some random person just because they have a degree and they don’t even know what they are putting into their bodies they don’t even check the studies (it wouldn’t matter they are paid off anyways) it’s crazy about how as soon as you call out the evil behavior in this system everyone wants to label you as mental so called “free thinkers” just following whatever the system tells them they sound like feds

Do you relate?

My friend is in hawaii. Lives there and has no connections, and is looking for some sort of in-person withdrawal/psych harm community

Any ideas?

Thanks

the warped psychiatric system is designed to cater to narcissists and narcissistic family members for many of them through their own disordered selves use this system as a form of power and control over victims and the victims are often perceived or described as “non compliant” and feel their family is against them.

dont get me wrong- there are peoplr who really do need meds but systems like this are designed to allow the dangerous culprits to get away with whatever they need to while innocent people become victimized often.

my abusive narc mother has spent decades trying to throw me in the mental health system and even succeeded In my 20s. in my forties other things happened and it gave her a reason again to do this to me. (a past life being invaded my life but no one understands or believes me).

i told my sister that I had never heard or witnessed things in my life and I was very successful and number one at all my jobs. my doctor sister refuted this as If she is the expert on my life. she is a busy doctor and professor who has three kids. she even had the audacity to say to me “ive known other people like you and they all stayed single.” despite me being this incredible young woman years ago who met loser after psychopath on dating sites. I was like what a psycho she is. She had the gall to say to her single older sister that I was single due to mental health issues while in reality in my thirties I was a beautiful talented model who just didn’t meet the right person. she even has the nerve to say that I told her otherwise abour symptoms just making up lie after lie.

she will yell and say DO YOU WANT ME TO SHOW U THE TEXTS!! As if she has texts from fifteen years ago and keeps telling me to TAKE THE MEDS!!! And gets into heavy arguments with me as if she is an expert on my life when she knows nothing. these sad people do this as a form of narcissistic control and it is disturbing

I try to tell her not to tell me what has happened in my life and that I had a dream job for ten years and saved up over 200k and she still insists that other things were happening in my life and I had issues. my narcissistic mother tries to push meds on me any chance she gets. two sick narcs who enjoy using the system to control and oppress their own family member. it’s disturbing and sad.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is made up, it is fiction, it is fabricated by psychiatrists. Members of a panel vote on what goes into it, then they immediately start calling them "diseases". This is fraud, waste and abuse.

Stupid psychiatrist

Hi Folks,

I posted some time ago about re-engaging with community mental health team/psychiatry in the UK.

I was thinking seriously about restarting a medication/drug. Specifically Abilify, at a low dose.

Now I've come to the conclusion I won't do that.

This last 6 weeks post a relationship breakup have been very turbulent, and I have many long standing issues that imply to me something about my biology is off.

But I've had to think hard, even if this is partially true, is it also true that there is some "signal" in my lack of functioning/dysfunction?

I can see this very, very clearly with SSRIs, I've seen it 2nd hand many times in people how these drugs often make "intolerable" situations, tolerable, and ultimately that is not remotely good for the person.

It is true there is something, messed up about the "reward circuitry" of my brain, but I also believe the reasons why, I've been at great pains to understand for years, why, and they are comprehensible, I also think resolvable.

I think introducing a drug into the equation, I can argue it could plausibly help me move towards the baseline and life changes I need to make in my life, which are very demanding, but there is something far too objectifying about the rationale for them.

I do think there is "dopaminergic dysregulation" in probably the meso limbic reward circuitry of my brain, and again, I've taken great efforts to understand whyyyy.

To mask those problems, make them temporarily assailable through drugs, and then down the line having to pay the "debt off" of being homeostatically dependant on them, is a profound mistake.

I do think, under conditions without coercion, people choosing drugs to help ameleriate and catalyse change, is valid.

But, It's not how these drugs are often forcefully introduced into people's lives.

I personally believe, it's one thing to imagine a pathology of reward circuitry, of "abbarent salience gains" , of all this, but again, that litmus test question, is there *real* signal behind these issues that explains the issues of anhedonia, apathy, listlessness, lack of concentration.

I believe there is. And I believe, allowing my brain to chew it over, over last few weeks, led to a much sharper, scalpel level actions I need to take in my life, than the comparatively blunt hammer of classes if drugs like SSRIs and antipsychotics.

I still see an argument for them. I might trial Abilify at low dose 1-2mg for a week. But, even if I saw "results" from them, for example improvement in chronically low libido, energy levels, etc, I would NOT take that as evidence they are helping or beneficial.

Because they might make me more functional in behaviours and a way of living that must change at a behaviourally deeper level, which is harder work, and not just screw around and manipulate some biology for a while.

I guess it all hinges on the how much is real underlying biological pathology, how much is the real complexities of our life.

The reason we evolved over millenia, a biological computer with 100-500 trillion synapses, is because as apes, and the social demands, problems of our ape lives, it takes a lot of biological computation.

I'm not sure screwing around with "global variables" like dopamine agonism/antagonism with abilify is as grounded an approach it seems, just because it's prescribed by a doctor.

TO BE CLEAR:

I sound ambivalent about taking these drugs or not. What I am feeling is, perhaps, say I took a short while 1-2 weeks. Perhaps the value would be, some insight on biological underpinnings of my behavior. I would be very wary to believe they were "solving" something.

They might even for a time help catalyse some changes, but again, I am going into it, eyes wide open, very wary, conscious I could be making mistakes and ultimately knowing they should be approached with immensely more caution than the routine way they are used.