I was hospitalized in state hospital for the worst depression I’d ever experienced. I’d been hospitalized several times before but this was the worst. I was seriously suicidal and with all the precautions they took, I didn’t see any easy way out. I’d had three heart attacks and I decided that the easiest way to die was to exercise my right to refuse medication(s) including my heart medicine. I quit taking all medications and then, miraculously I started to recover. Within weeks, I was well enough to leave the hospital. I fought and with assistance from an attorney, I received the right to leave. Afterward, I went through the PDR (Physician’s Desk Reference) and looked up the medications. It turns out that one of the major effects of Inderal (a beta-blocker for my heart) is serious depression. Unfortunately, none of the psychiatrists ever looked beyond my behavior for a physical cause for my depression. My life was saved, perhaps literally, by being non-compliant and treatment resistant. I suspect that my heart problems were a result of my being compliant with over ten years of psychiatric medications that included Stelazine, Navane, Sinequan, Imipramine, Cogentin, Valium and Benadryl as a daily cocktail. I now warn people that compliance can kill (people receiving public mental illness services are dying over 25 years younger than the general population) and non-compliance can save lives.
Patrick Risser patrickrisser@gmail.com, http://www.patrisser.com/
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
When non-compliance works!
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