SSRIs and SNRIs are more physically addictive than nicotine, on par with drugs like heroin and alcohol. Addiction is an expected and anticipated outcome with every person taking antidepressants. Doctors gloss over this fact when listing potential risks of their prescription, and they avoid the word "addiction". Instead, they tell patients something like what I was told: 'You won't enjoy it, but your body will come to expect it. That's normal. If you decide to reduce your dosage or come off it completely, I'll be here to slowly adjust your prescription. Don't just stop taking it.'
And of course, the greatest selling feature of all: It's 100% covered and free for the patient.
As I mentioned in my previous article on this issue, I worked in psychiatry for 10 years, and put LOTS of Effexor (and other dangerous addictive drugs) into trusting patients. I told them similar things about it having low side effects and that it isn't addictive. But that was long before I ever needed it to save my life, in August 2016, soon after losing my beloved grandmother and feeling abandoned by my family.
A psychiatrist diagnosed me with PTSD. She saved my life with Effexor (and nearly killed me with it as well), then moved departments, and I can't see her anymore. My 'family' doctor is completely useless for anything but delivering babies, and accused me of hypochondriasis/malingering rather than help me. Clinics don't prescribe antidepressants like Effexor. I've been offered opiates though - I have several unfilled prescriptions for Codeine and Percoset. More addiction is the only solution offered to me. In short, to get off Effexor, I've had to do it myself.
Even the mainstream media has been forced to finally acknowledge what scientists (and patients) have been saying for generations: CANNABIS is one of the safest and most effective substances for treating addiction.
Pharmaceutical capsules saved my life, but nearly killed me. Now cannabis is saving my life from pharmaceuticals. I'm trying to spread awareness of the real dangers of pharmaceutical antidepressants, and the therapeutic benefits of cannabis.
This has also been uploaded to YouTube as a backup.
DRutter
