Hey @Peggy Wallace, thank you so much for sharing!
I heard something incredibly disheartening in an interview recently that rang horribly true: the medical system won't change easily unless (and I hate to even say this, as I wish this on absolutely no one) there is a high-profile celebrity case or a senator's kid to really shake the mainstream medical world awake.
But maybe I'm wrong. I truly hope that experienced advocates like you can make a dent, even though advocating for yourself in this situation is incredibly hard. We are all stuck in an "unreliable witness" boat because of the diagnoses they love to hand out so willy-nilly (dementia, depression, bipolar, borderline...). I'm NOT saying mental illness doesn't exist, but I will say these labels often fall way short of any actual medical testing.
As for finding a doctor you can actually trust: maybe try looking for someone from the younger generation. They haven't spent decades handing these pills out, so they don't carry the heavy ego or the guilt of having to admit to themselves what they've done to patients. (I actually heard Dr. Mark Horowitz mention his own prescribing guilt, saying he wanted to ring up old patients to see what happened to them). You might find a younger doctor is much more open to being educated by their patients. Mine basically "leaves me alone" with my tapering, since he has no idea how to help me besides suggesting exercise, waiting for life to get better, or taking benzos. (But at least he is not condescending).
People like you have literally changed the course of the world, and this ordeal can't be kept under wraps forever. You are also helping so many people just by being visible. Seeing an educated, fierce lady speak up makes others realize, "Wait, maybe this didn't happen to me because I'm too weak or too naive. Maybe I had no way of knowing or handling this any better. Maybe there is hope and healing."
So it looks like you basically just have to continue your advocacy career a bit longer. Sorry about your peaceful retirement plans, Mrs. Wallace! (Please forgive my dark humour 😅).
Thank you for what you did in the past, and for what you will hopefully do for yourself and all of us in the future.
TaperCommunity
