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I wrote this article on how to safely wean off of anti-depressants and the Compleat Mother web site published it today!

I wrote it out of deep concern that with all of the current talk in the media because of recent Congressional hearings into the psyche profession/pharmacuetical scam regarding the side effects of antidepressants, families may feel justified in stopping medications "cold turkey".

The patient taking these drugs must wean off of them very slowly in order to do it safely.

In the article I posted a variety of web based resources to enable the consumer to help themselves or a loved one to come off the meds with a minimum of de-tox symptoms.

One of the most disturbing facts discovered about these drugs in my research has been the realization that for many patients anti-depressants are harder to come off of than the most hard core street drugs. The anti-depressant patient can expect to experience all of the typical de-tox symptoms that any junkie or addict feels when detoxing from any illegal drug, and for some, the detox will be worse than what is commonly felt by the street drug user.

The more people who are aware of these facts in our society, the more we will be able to understand those around us who have stopped taking the meds and are having a common and even predictable response to drug withdrawal, of which the most disturbing symptoms are Mania and Psychosis.

I am grateful for honest hearted Congress people who are peeling back the layers of lies and propaganda that have befuddled our society as these anti-depressants have wrecked havoc on the families of America.

I am now to the point that when I see a bizarre headline in the news about something strange that has happened in terms of a crime or weird behavior, I automatically think, "I wonder which anti-depressant that person was on".

I pray that we as a society will face this issue head on and realize that drug therapy for psyche patients should be dumped into the dregs of quack medicine where it belongs and replaced with the more humane nutritional approaches of orthomolecular medicine (treating mental illness with nutrients), natural healing, whole foods nutrition, exercise, homeopathy, and herbal healing.

Psyche patients don't need a chemical lobotomy....they need nutrition, rest, time for recovery from traumas experienced, and good sleep.

Jenny Hatch www.NaturalFamilyco.com

of which the most disturbing symptoms are Mania and Psychosis.

In January of this year I went to the doctor to see what was available to aid me in my attempt to quit smoking. The doctor perscribed Wellbutrin and told me to give it about a month to feel it effects. For those who might not know Wellbutrin is an anti-depressant that has a side effect were it makes a smoker not get the rush from cigarettes and also makes them taste bad. Sounds good huh?

Well after about a month of taking this drug I had what is know as a substance induced mood disorder with manic features according to the DSM IV. Again, for those who don't know, (and I was one that didn't know at the time) the characteristics of a manic episode are:
-inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
-decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep)
-more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
-flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing
-attention is easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant items
-increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g., engaging in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments)

At first this all seemed pretty fun. My self-esteem was way up there. I could go days on very little or no sleep at all. I talked to everyone strangers and friends alike. I called distant friends and talk and talked. I talked to every cute girl there was and got a 19 y/o girlfriend, I'm 38 and married 15 years. I also began doing all the drugs I could get my hands on.

This episode lasted for 4 months and ended with the destruction of the first floor of my house and being taken away by police paddy-wagon to the state mental hospital.

I nearly lost my family, my job was adversely effected and I caused about $100K of damage to my house and it's contents.

These drugs can be very dangerous indeed.