There is more to this story than medications and their side-effects.
People say, "get a second opinion" but from Rebekah’s account we see that she got second, third and fourth opinions. She was hospitalised in the Private and Public sector and not once did any of the doctors question her medications - the type, the amount or the sometimes blatantly contraindicated combinations.

Through her mother’s intervention, one psychiatrist fairly early on, obviously suspected her medications but his mistake was to try to cease them abruptly. Rebekah, not coping with the unbearable ‘withdrawal’ effects, ran straight back to the clutches of Max, whose power and control now thwarted, rejected her.

There is the issue of Psychiatry’s apparent belief that a patient ‘belongs’ to a particular psychiatrist. Rebekah was treated like a commodity or a runaway slave when she made an attempt to change doctors. The psychiatrist expert in mood disorders ‘refused’ to take her as a patient and sent her back to the blinkered, self-important and incompetent Maarsten. The general hospitals who treated her in times of crisis would just send her right back to the doctors who were slowly but surely killing her!

There is the issue of ECT being administered so early in the piece; the so-called ‘informed consent’ whilst under the influence of mind-altering drugs; her development of Type 1 insulin dependent diabetes; the fact that the general hospital that detected it did not inform anybody. Had her mother not been present during the initial irregularity in the urine test was Rebekah destined to die from her untreated diabetes? The issue of threats and fear tactics to coerce a patient into taking medications –a Community Treatment Order or being made an involuntary patient.

Rebekah’s story is a truly harrowing tale that needed to be told. Thankfully she survived with her intelligence in tact and had the commitment and determination to research and the courage to write it in her book Dying For A Cure. Congratulations to you Rebekah and 3 cheers for your husband for his undying support & your mother’s master stroke of keeping a diary !

Hi Rebekah
I have been ill for the past 10 years. It started out as panic attacks that became more frequent and more dibilitating. I was tried on many antidepressants to find the best one for me. After some time efexor was the one that worked. After about 12moths i was feeling that the panic attacks were mostly under control so i stopped taking the efexor and started feeling all these other symptoms, eventually i could not get out of bed because i could not stand up as everything just kept moving and the dread feelings and palpitations just didnt stop. I had no idea what was going on.

I went back to my doctor to whom i explained what i had done and he said that was good and all i had to do was try yoga or some relaxation techniques. He also recomended that EFT thing which only made my palpitations worse.

To cut things short i spent the next 9 years spiraling towards the end result of going through 3 different doctors and going to the last one and saying basically she was my last resort and that i was seriously considering suicide. She sat and listened to all i had to say and at the end she asked me if i would consider going back on the efexor, to which i said i would do anything to feel better. With that she put me back on them. And after getting the dose to where it had me living again she explained that it seemed that the panic attacks were only the start of my problems and that there was a seritonin embalance that needed medication to fix(not really the right word because i may need to take this medication for ever).

Since then i have been 99.9% with my life back im going outside the house, driving again, all sorts. If it had not been for this doctor taking my cry for help seriously i would not be here today.

Yesterday, I commenced reading Rebekah Beddoe's shocking and courageous book "Dying for a Cure," I have just finished reading it, and am in total awe. I felt the contents of her book detailed my personal and horrific drug induced state of madness.

My 5 month hospitalisation involved the callous treatment of a psychiatrist who came very close to killing me with his constant misdiagnosis, verbal and emotional abuse, and enough medication to sedate 3 adult elephants - I was on a daily medical regime of 8 different medications including 2 types of antidepressants, 2 antipyschotics, 1 mood stabiliser, 2 different sleeping pills and 40 mg of valium. I was highly suicidal for much of that time. Had it not been for the intervention of my darling brother who had me transferred to another mental health facility where I was under the care of a decent, compassionate and highly experienced doctor, Professor Gordon Johnson, at Northside Clinic, Greenwich.
My drug regime was immediately rationalised by taking me off 6 of the 8 drugs I was consuming daily and then commenced my slow withdrawal off valium and stilnox sleeping wills. The nurses were peeling me off the walls for 6 weeks. For anyone addicted to valium, please take care, it is a devil of a drug to come off. My shocking withdrawals were comforted by the capable and compassionate staff at Northside Clinic, their constant encouragement was my saviour. For anyone who is suffering or not confident with their treatment, I urge you to seek a second or more opininon/s or engage the help of a loved one or friend who can intervene on your behalf.

Rebekah, thank you for sharing your amazing courage and insight. I would strongly recommend your book to all individuals who are suffering from some form of mental illness and particularly to all those professionals working in the medical health sphere.

Glo123

Dear Rebekeh
I have just finished your book - thank you for sharing your life so openly with us. Your book has the potential to make great change by increasing peolpe's awareness/knowledge and by doing so their personal ability to do something and not get into the powerlessness than can often occur within the medical model. I work in the health industry and plan to recommend your book to my colleagues.
Last year I received this article on neurogenesis and depression - will send the link as it does appear to give a plausible explananation as to why SSRIs can help some people long term. Best wishes Nik Nik
http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/02/the_reinvention_of_the_self.php?page=all&p=

Dear Rebekah, I have read and reread your book. It gives me some comfort thinking that the difficulties that you overcame may somehow happen to my son who is now suffering terribly while being treated for "mental" (or non-mental?) problems.