Brooke Seam was 15 years old when her father died. After this tragedy, Brooke’s newly widowed mother became concerned about Brooke’s stoic demeanor. So she took her daughter to the doctor. Her doctor referred her to another doctor, who diagnosed her with anxiety and depression and put her on a cocktail of antidepressants.
Brooke thus lost 15 years of her life.
She continued taking medication until she was 30 because her doctor said she needed to.
“When your doctor tells you that you need insulin because you have diabetes, you don’t doubt it. He says I have depression. So he told me to take antidepressants. I didn’t question it. Why?” she tells Allie Beth Stuckey.
However, at age 30, Brooke found herself more depressed than ever, suffering suicidal thoughts and a lack of emotion. in spite of drag. She realized that this meant they were not working.
So she decided to quit cold turkey on her doctor’s orders, which is not recommended. It is important to properly wean off these drugs under the guidance of an experienced medical professional.
Brooke’s doctor said she might feel like she had the flu for a few days, but it was nothing serious. Instead, Brooke was the first to be subjected to a “full-scale psychological attack.”
Brooke detailed the severity of her withdrawal symptoms on last week’s episode of Relatable, “How Antidepressants Stole Her Childhood.”
In addition to violent intrusive thoughts and mood swings, Brooke experienced a variety of physical symptoms.
“All of my senses changed. Literally, the colors seemed more vibrant and the edges went from being a little soft to being really sharp. I developed really bad noise sensitivity. My skin developed something called vasculitis nodosa, which is basically an autoimmune reaction within the blood vessels and is caused by extreme physical stress on the body.
But amidst all this darkness, she also explained how she began to experience small moments of joy. This was a completely foreign feeling to her for the past 15 years.
“As I said earlier, I also had moments where I felt color. I felt like I was finally seeing color for the first time, and I was able to laugh at something and feel true joy.”
Brooke is now on a mission to share what happened to her, expose the realities of antidepressant withdrawal, and advocate for safe prescribing of psychiatric medications. She details her personal history in her memoir. “It may cause side effects.”
To hear Brooke’s story, watch the episode below.
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