IMPORTANT: the symptoms of psychiatric drugs withdrawal can sometimes look exactly like the “mental illness” that the medications were prescribed for in the first place.
People can become “psychotic,” anxious, or any other psychiatric symptom from drug withdrawal itself, not because of their psychiatric “disorder” or condition.
When someone goes off a psychiatric drug they can have anxiety, mania, panic, depression and other painful symptoms. These may be the same, or even worse, than what got called psychosis or mental disorder before the drug was taken. Typically people are then told that this proves their illness has come back and they therefore need the drug. However, it may be the withdrawal effect from the drug that is causing these symptoms.
Withdrawal symptoms do not necessarily prove you need a psychiatric drug any more than headaches after you stop drinking coffee prove you need caffeine, or delirium after stopping alcohol shows you need to drink alcohol. It just means your brain has become dependent on the drug, and needs time to adjust to being off it. Psychiatric drugs are not like insulin for a diabetic: they are a tool or coping mechanism.
Scientists used to believe that the brain could not grow new cells or heal itself, but this is now known to be untrue. Everyone can heal. A strong and healthy body with good lifestyle and positive outlook will help support and nurture your brain and body to heal. When you have been on psych drugs for years, it can however sometimes take years to successfully reduce or go off them. Many people on these drugs, especially long-term neuroleptic anti-psychotics, develop brain injury and damage. This may not be permanent, but sometimes people live the rest of their lives with these brain changes. You may find that the goal of going off completely might not be right for you. You may feel better staying on them, and decide instead to reduce your medication or stay at the same dosage, and focus on other ways to improve your life.
(…) People are bad, good, clever, stupid, pleasant and unpleasant; but superfluous… no. That’s to say, if you want to understand me: the universe could get along without such people… of course; but uselessness is not their chief quality, not their distinctive characteristic, and when you talk about them the word “superfluous” is not the first one that springs to one’s tongue. But in my case, nothing else can be said about me: I’m superfluous and that’s all there is to it. Redundant - nothing else. Nature did not count on my appearance and therefore treated me like an unexpected and unbidden guest. One joker has said of me not inappropriately, keen on cards as he was, that I was the throwaway card in my mother’s hand. I talk about myself now calmly, with no bitterness… The game’s long over! During the course of my life I constantly found my place already occupied, perhaps because I looked for it in the wrong place. I was highly strung, pitifully shy, extremely irritable, like all ill people; in addition, perhaps through excessive self-regard or generally through the unsuccessful structure of my personality, there existed between my feelings and my thoughts — and the expression of these feelings and thoughts — some senseless, incomprehensible and impregnable obstacles. And when I tried to overcome this obstacle by force, to smash this barrier, my movements, my facial expression, my whole being acquired a look of intense effort: I not only looked, but I actually became unnatural and over-wrought: I felt this myself and hastened to return to what I was. Then a frightful panic would arise in me. I used to analyse myself down to the last thread, used to compare myself with others, recalled all the smallest glances, smiles and words of those to whom I’d tried to be frank, interpreted everything in a bad light, laughed viciously at my attempts “to be like the rest” — and suddenly, in the midst of my laughing, I’d give way to sadness, fall into ludicrous despondency and once again start the whole process all over again — in short, I went round and round like a squirrel on a wheel. Whole days went by in this tormenting, fruitless activity. Well, now just you tell me, to whom and for what is such a man necessary? Who knows and who will say why this happened to me, what was the cause of this nitpicking concern with myself?
I remember I was once travelling away from Moscow in a diligence. The road was good, but the driver hitched up a fifth horse to the four already in harness. This unfortunate fifth horse, completely useless, tied somehow to the shaft by a short, stout rope which mercilessly cut its haunch, rubbed its tail and forced it to run in the most unnatural fashion, lending its whole body the shape of a comma, always aroused in me profound pity. I remarked to the driver that on this occasion one could get by without a fifth horse… He said nothing, shook his head, lashed the horse ten times with his whip across its thin back and distended stomach — and muttered, not without a grin: “Look, it’s dragged itself along right enough! Devil knows why, eh?“
And I’ve dragged myself along just like that… though, thanks heavens, the post-station’s not far off now.
— Ivan Turgenev.
“The Diary of a Superfluous Man” First Love & Other Stories. Trans. Richard Freeborn. Oxford& NY: Oxford UP, 1989. pp33-34.
All in his eyes – From Social Action to People’s Theatre
Foo Bing Wing’s Photo Exhibition
- In memory of “Foo Lo Bing”
Foo was one of the founding members of Asian People’s Theatre Festival Society. Foo claimed himself as a people’s theatre worker. Foo Bing Wing was a member of the radical youth group 70s Biweekly and was involved actively in social protests movements including many anti-colonial activities since the 70s. He became a founding member of the Asian People’s Theatre Festival Society. He was the legendary barman at Club 64, great friend of many people’s theatre workers of different countries of Asia and performance artists of China.
During the last years before his death, Foo focused on visual documentary productions –photo and video records. Here are the photos taken by him when he visited different Asian countries. He used his camera and video to record the people’s theatre performances in these countries. In his photos, people were poor but full of self-confidence, ability and wisdom to face their daily life. For the performances, he presented the whole process with his own unique eyes and approaches. All these photos were part of Foo’s works not shown publicly hitherto.
Venue: Experimental Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Date: 19/11/2007* - 2/12/2007
* 19/11 An Opening Yellow Wine Party will be served at 5PM
