After receiving yet another email from a perfectly lovely, SANE person suffering Akathisia, who is not being heard or understood by their doctors, I just have to rant for a moment. This whole medical “care” model is so backward and damaging it doesn’t cease to amaze me. And this isn’t just here in the U.S. the same thing seems to be happening to people all around the world! The pharmaceutical companies have truly taken to ruling the world and there seems to be no end in sight. They have the doctors in their back pocket, because of $$$$, because they can. And those same doctors and medial “professionals” are very happy to marginalize, downplay, ignore patients who have any trouble with whatever pharmaceuticals they’re throwing their way and you can be sure if you have walked through the door of a doctor’s office, you WILL be prescribed pharmaceuticals of some sort.
I could go on and on about how messed up the whole healing model is with this form of “medicine/healing,” but that’s not even really my focus here. It’s simply a matter of doctors, and the like, feigning ignorant to all the tragedy their easy for them, damning for us, mode of “healing” is causing.
Here’s a copy of the last email (I highlighted the sections I see time and again) I received and this one is very mild compared to many I have received about the tragic suffering at the hands of downright malevolent doctors. It just reminded me, yet again, that the problem really lies in the hands of these physicians and psychiatrists who are supposed to be helping and serving people. —
Subject: Akathisia
I hope that I am not bothering you by corresponding too much. Most of what you said in your first blog telling about your experience sounded so much like me. I want to come off everything but am scared because coming off clonazepam is I believe what started my akathesia. My psychiatrist left last year and my new one whom I have never met decided to take me off my clonapin. About a week after I had taken the last one I couldn’t sit still talking terribly fast. I didn’t know what withdrawals were. Had never heard of akathesia. When I would talk to my counselor or nurse practitioner they would just say you’re going to be ok you’re medicine should be out of your system and this should end and started focusing on why I was anxious like it was just mental. I have had issues with depression and anxiety but nothing like this. I have been in the hospital 3 or4 times. Not good experiences. Finally happened to get my old dr back. He diagnosed me with akathesia. He put me on propanolol and ativan but he is 75 years old and stopped taking ins. I can’t afford him and feel kind of hopeless with the other psychiatrists I have dealt with.
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This makes me so damn angry! I’ve seen this a million times, and I’ve LIVED IT. Psychiatrists and physicians need to know what a grave disservice they are doing by either unwittingly or intentionally staying ignorant to the prevalence of this type of drug reaction. The ones who are knowingly putting their head in the sand because the money is just too good should simply lose all capacity to “help” the public and should be thrown behind bars for a very long time. Or better yet, they should be used as pharmaceutical test subjects. Ahhh, if the world were only so just.
Anyway, here are some of the most common phrases I hear over and over again that doctors and psychiatrists are telling their patients:
“You’re just anxious/depressed, you need MORE/DIFFERENT meds.”
WRONG!
“There’s no way that drug is still in your system, you are SCHIZO/ANXIOUS/BI-POLAR/MANIC/ETC.”
WRONG!
“You need to be checked into a mental facility where they will medicate you more/better.”
WRONG!
“There’s no way that drug caused that reaction.”
WRONG!
“Oh, you don’t have Akathisia.”
WRONG!
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
THEN EDUCATE YOURSELF “DOCTOR”!
“I don’t know what Akathisia is.”
THEN EDUCATE YOURSELF “DOCTOR”!
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The bottom line is, we are not going to be able to stop Big Pharma, so as individuals we must call these physicians and mental care professionals to the mat and make them ACCOUNTABLE for this grave mistreatment, which is clearly becoming epidemic. Speak out for yourself, and others, and if a doctor needs to be reported, do so. We need to stop paying to be their victims.
My heart is with each and every one of you.
Angie
Akathisia Info 