The more I suffered, the more medical treatments I was convinced I needed, but the more treatments I received, the more I suffered. Laura Delano, Unshrunk
…(W)hat does healing look like without a prescription? Justin Garson, PhD, Psychology Today
The full title of Laura Delano‘s recently released memoir is
It all began with Delano’s diagnosis at age 14 of bipolar disorder. According to Christopher Lane, PhD, Psychology Today, there would be seven additional types of diagnoses over the next 13 years and a total of 21 different psychiatric drugs. As Lane explains, “Despite her many adverse reactions, which she shares openly with her psychiatrists, Delano’s contraindications are routinely re-diagnosed as an overlooked or previously misidentified psychiatric disorder.”
Kirkus Reviews: The drugs “were given to counteract effects of other drugs, which were given to counteract effects of still other drugs: the classic ‘cascade of prescriptions.’ She quickly became one of the 80% of 59 million Americans on psychiatric meds long-term. Only after years of brain-fogging drugs-upon-drugs, punctuated by years of hospitalizations, did she stumble into an Alcoholics Anonymous group, which focused on taking responsibility for one’s own life. That simple notion, along with the common fellowship of people helping each other without professionals—and without pharmaceuticals—led her to wonder if her worsening mental health was due not to her lack of response to drugs, but to the drugs themselves.”
Sandra Steingard, MD, Mad in America: “Laura stopped her medications and learned at least two things: they can be hard to stop and there is limited knowledge about this within the medical establishment. Millions of people turn to the internet to find answers because their psychiatrists do not acknowledge the validity of their experiences withdrawing from these drugs; Laura is not an outlier. After many years of advocacy, there are now guidelines for tapering drug doses in the UK. As Laura writes, this topic remains largely unrecognized in the US. Why?”
The practices of Big Pharma as well as mainstream psychiatrists are indeed challenged in Unshrunk. But what about the author’s decision? Was it the right one? Kirkus provides part of Delano’s conclusion: “I don’t need to ‘figure myself out,’ to force a change in my day-to-day reality. I trust fully in my own process—in this intelligence within me, within each and every one of us…that sits deeper than thought, that knows where to take us each from here….We’re built for tribes and villages and neighborhoods and potluck dinners. We’re meant to feel it all, and bear it all, together.”
Are you interested in further info about safe withdrawal from psychiatric medications?
- In 2018 Delano founded
- Delano’s website has a Resources page.
- Bruce E. Levine (Counterpunch) recommends both Delano’s chapter on “Pharmaceutical Trauma” and videos created by UK psychiatrist Mark Horowitz. Put his name in the YouTube search bar.
