Hi Rebekah,

I am reading your book at the moment, and finding it a bit of an eye opener. Since my childhood I have been medicated on the insistance of my mother, and in my teenage years my mother took me to the doctor and insisted I be started on anti depressants. I have taken Aurorix (from memory), Zoloft, Lithium, and anti psychotic drugs (very briefly). I found that the only drug that didn't give me immediate side effects, to be Aropax however. I have spent a lot of my early adult life addicted to Aropax, once being prescribed 6 a day. I began to wonder if I really needed Aropax, and tried to come off them. Withdrawal however is awful, but I can now say that I am no longer taking any drugs.

Which makes me wonder if I did need them to begin with. (I think I was suffering from a dysfuntional home life, as opposed to mental problems!) I was diagnosed with a hormonal imbalance (which there was evidence for), which may have affected my state of mind at times, but I am starting to think that all the drugs that my mother had me taking have caused me more harm then good.

I now belive that my mother used my 'problems' to get attention for herself. A former nurse, she had me diagnosed with ADD from my earliest memory, behavioural problems, depression and even psychosis. She was always reading books looking for a new disorder. What is scary is she convinced these doctors to over medicate me. I have suffered such a lot, but now at the age of 31 I am trying to get my life and self esteem back. I have lost so much, and no longer have a relationship with my mother (who still tells people I am mentally ill).

Thankyou for your book, and best of luck Rebekah. I hope "Max" is no longer practising!

Rebekah, your story is remarkable and speaks of your brilliance and determination. To have recognized what was happening to you and why it was occurring was a stroke of genius! Knowing the necessity of GRADUALLY reducing dosage of drugs you were eliminating is unknown to many, if not most, doctors. You were fortunate, as well, to have had a mum and husband who believed in your worth and in spite of your horrible times, stuck by you. I am fortunate to have read your story as it is not available in our book stores or our U.S. Internet companies to date but hopefully this will change. Your book should be REQUIRED reading for all students at medical schools. It gives a perspective often overlooked by members of the medical profession. I have found that doctors generally dismiss "side-effects" as being rare and not to be considered! Continue your research and I look forward to your next book! Good luck and enjoy your new freedom.

Holy moly!!
I'm halfway through the book and am horrified at the 'care' Rebekah received. I can't decide whether I'm heartbroken at the torment she and her family endured, or furious at the stupidity of those responsible.
These people are supposed to be health professionals, with your very best interests at heart. I find it inconceivable that the adverse reactions to these classes of drugs have gone ignored for all this time. (And by all accounts, continue to be.) These consequences are catastrophic!! Do these care givers sincerely believe that they are providing the best possible care for their charges by throwing drugs at the 'problem'?
The fact that Rebekah had to wean herself in secret so as not to be forcibly medicated is just appalling - words just fail me at the situation. And as for that 'Max Braydle', I sincerely hope that he is no longer practicing his brand of therapy on ANYONE. What a creep.

I'm shocked at the amount of posts that support the "no doctors, no drugs" line. If you applied that to all medicine we'd be back to medicine men and blood letting.

If you haven't felt the wrath of depression you know nothing and should listen and learn, not repeat rubbish you have "heard".

The deep depression sufferers, of which I have been and still am one, would all be dead if we didn't have meds and doctors who try with the limited arsenal they have.

Yes drugs are dangerous and yes drug companies don't want a cure as it defeats their purpose. And yes some of us go through hell in treatment. Rebekah has and so have I.

What would you suggest? No meds, no doctors? We'd be suicidal or out on the streets looking for a truck to stand in front of in our droves. Maybe we should anyway, this society is so sick in itself.

Why are prisons and police the first line of help for the mentally ill? Why do our "leaders" turn a blind eye to us? Don't dare quote "Beyond Blue" as any help at all. It's simply a government funded PR exercise to show they are doing "something"
Are you aware how many road deaths are actually suicides? Yes, that's right, people driving around looking for an end for themselves. Often taking out others.

Our doctors and medical support generally knock themselves out trying to help and all they get is abuse. As an extreme example of this how about under trained nurses being responsible for all patients overnight and legally liable if anything should go wrong?Large corporations understaff their private hospitals, make them sign contracts stating they are responsible and then sit back to rake in the money. John Howard, take a bow.

Did you know about 25% of all Aussies will feel the pain of depression during their lifetimes? Did you know most deep depression sufferers never recover, they learn to live with it and manage it. With doctors and meds.

Ignorance is excusable. Displaying it is not.

I just recently finished reading Dying For a Cure by Rebekah Beddoe. I have a family member who suffers from mental illness, so Rebekah's story was very interesting. I found this book to be very well written, and I had a hard time putting it down. Here are the main points I took from the book; 1) Anti depressants (SSRIs) do cause more harm than good in SOME patients, 2) SSRIs do have side effects, sometimes manifesting themselves into life threatening conditions in SOME patients, 3) SOME doctors need to educate themselves better on the potential side effects of anti depressants, 4) anti depressants should not always be the first line of defense in treating mental illness, 5) when anti depressants are determined to be the appropriate treatment option, SOME doctors need to do a better job monitoring their patients, 6) if the condition of the person taking anti depressants worsens, then it is very likely caused by the anti depressant itself, and 7) the drug companies need to do a much better job of making the potential harmul side effects known to their patients.

After reading the book completely, I did not come away with the impression that Rebekah was saying anti depressants never work, or that they aren't appropriate for some people. The main message I took from the book was that anti depressants, like any other medication, do carry side effects which in some people can be detrimental. And, for whatever reason, the pharmaceutical companies are not making the public aware of the negative side effects of these drugs. My personal opionion is that the pharmaceutical's have a public responsibility to make patients/doctors aware of the side effects of all medications, so that the patient/doctor can make an informed risk/benifit decision as to whether or not to take a particular medication.

Finally, the family member I spoke of, my brother, does take anti depressant and anti psychotic medications. After much tweaking by some very dedicated doctors, I can say the medications appear to help him lead a much more functional life. I am very thankful for that.

Well said Sarge. You have read correctly. Why do drug companies and doctors hide side effects? Well, they don't. There are just so many possible side effects that they are all listed in doco given with ALL meds. And available on the web under many reputable sites.

Regardless of that though it is true drug companies publish this simply to try and avoid any legal responsibility. No doubt about that at all.

Doctors on the other hand? Ignornace is usually the reason they don't spend an hour telling all patients what may happen. Whose ignorance is the question.

If you take anti depressants for goodness sake see a specialist, not a GP who is trying to cope with ALL illnesses in usually 5 minute sessions. That's like asking our government to keep us informed of the law. Too much information so we don't read or listen right?

If you are going to take these drugs, as I do, then read, research, discuss with others who have already used them. All available on Aussie web sites, user to user.

Someone above stated they were "admitted" to ECT. All my sympathy but please be clear. You don't just get "admitted" to ECT. Unless you are a danger to society and 2 psychiatrists agree you are, or yourself, then ECT is not a possibility. You must sign for it, read and sign away your rights which we will do when at the worst of depression.

It is not forced these days.