Abstract
This chapter describes how a bad reaction to a sinus operation in 1990 led to a series of inappropriate diagnoses and drug treatments. Over the next 20 years, Montagu was given an array of psychiatric drugs which caused a range of negative effects, for which more unwarranted drugs were prescribed. Montagu describes how his career as an entrepreneur was shattered by his doctor’s misguided advice to detox rapidly from a benzodiazepine and the debilitating withdrawal symptoms which still continue several years after coming off. Montagu subsequently discovered a large online community of fellow sufferers providing each other with peer support, often in the face of denial by their doctors and psychiatrists. Montagu then details his experience as he pursued a lawsuit against one of his prescribing doctors, demonstrating how psychiatrists sometimes refuse to accept that their drugs can cause harm and instead seek to blame the patient instead.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
All my doctors’ names have been changed to protect their identities.
References
Csoka, A. B., & Shipko, S. (2006). Persistent sexual side effects after SSRI discontinuation. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 75(3), 187–188.
Fava, M. (2006). A cross-sectional study of the prevalence of cognitive and physical symptoms during long-term antidepressant treatment. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67, 1754–1759.
NHS Digital. (2016). Prescription cost analysis—England 2015. Health and Social Care Information Centre. Retrieved from http://content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB20200
Kendrick, T., Stuart, B., Newell, C., Geraghty, A. W. A., Moore, M., et al. (2015). Did NICE guidelines and the quality outcomes framework change GP antidepressant prescribing in England? Observational study with time trend analyses 2003–2013. Journal of Affective Disorders, 186, 171–177.
Royal College of Psychiatrists. (2016). Coming off antidepresstants. Retrieved from http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/treatmentswellbeing/antidepressants/comingoffantidepressants.aspx
Shipko, S. (2013). Playing the odds: Antidepressant ‘withdrawal’ and the problem of informed consent. Mad in America Retrieved from http://www.madinamerica.com/2013/08/ssri-discontinuation-is-even-more-problematic-than-acknowledged/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Montagu, L. (2017). Desperate for a Fix: My Story of Pharmaceutical Misadventure. In: Davies, J. (eds) The Sedated Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44911-1_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44911-1_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44910-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44911-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)