Stephen’s Voice - Suicide Prevention

Stephen dedicated his life to helping others. He will continue to help others through his story. We are not anti-medication, we are pro-informed choice and transparency . If only we knew then what we know now. Read Stephen’s story here: facebook.com/10737080412829…

@KSchnickelfritz @Yrrepmot Doxy can act like serotonin reuptake inhibiting drug. I find this article useful explaining the similarities: davidhealy.org/doxycycline-an…

@VoiceStephen @Yrrepmot Doxy is an antibiotic. Maybe I misunderstood the post.

💬 PSSD after doxycycline A member of the wider prescribed harm awareness community is reaching out to anyone who has experienced post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) after taking doxycycline. They’re hoping to connect with others who have gone through this, share experiences, and offer support. If this applies to you, please PM this page to get in touch 💜

Government data blackout 'fundamental failure in accountability' | Impartial Reporter. ⁦@mikenesbittni⁩ impartialreporter.com/news/25880945.…

Stephen's Voice stands with the families of Sayo, Florian, Romain, and Bertrand. I have met and liaised with Romain’s parents. Together we offer one another a listening ear and work together to bring awareness to the serious risks associated with psychotropic medications. Through this ongoing effort, we aim to bring attention to these experiences and advocate for change to prevent future tragedies. By sharing our stories, as tough as it is, we feel it is our responsibility to raise much needed awareness to fill the gap and silence of those who hold the power to make change. Shame on our leaders, our governments and all those who turn a blind eye. antidepeffects.wordpress.com/les-psychotrop…

“We, the parents of Sayo, Florian, Romain, and Bertrand, gather in front of the Palais des Congrès where the Congress of the Encephalon, the major event of French psychiatry, is being held. We believe our children died as a result of the prescription of psychotropic medications, particularly #antidepressants. These tragedies are not isolated. For over thirty years, it has been well-established that these treatments can lead to suicidal or violent behaviors, and sometimes even homicides. We are facing a major health crisis. Numerous consistent testimonies have reached us, reporting serious neurological and psychiatric side effects related to these medications: #akathisia, disinhibition, detachment, mood disorders, loss of judgment, as well as persistent sexual dysfunctions (#PSSD), and dangerous withdrawal syndromes that are sometimes impossible to overcome. We have repeatedly called on doctors and health authorities. No satisfactory response has been provided to us. No action has been taken to better protect citizens. Meanwhile, an organized scientific fraud continues to minimize the risks linked to psychotropics, which are more widely prescribed than ever. We denounce: ▪️The impunity of prescribers covered by the denial of the medical profession ▪️The dominance of the pharmaceutical industry over academic medical research ▪️Conflicts of interest and corruption ▪️The lack of public information on the dangers of psychotropics ▪️The inaction of public authorities and health authorities 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐮, 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐊𝐮𝐦𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐮: On December 14, 2018, our daughter Sayo passed away as a result of the combined effects of several psychotropic medications. She was 23 years old. This tragedy is the result of 4years of therapeutic wanderings marked by polypharmacy, overmedication, and the denial of the side effects of heavy prescriptions. This first consultation for a simple discomfort in a young adult, Sayo ultimately paid for with her life. 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐆𝐢𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐢: On February 18, 2021, our son Florian died by suicide after 19 days of treatment with the antidepressant Paroxetine (GSK), along with an anxiolytic Xanax, "as needed." He was 20 years old. Florian had consulted a psychiatrist because he was suffering from abdominal rumblings. He was a brilliant and passionate third-year medical student. He was in no way depressed. "Our son was murdered by the system,” 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭, 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐤𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭: Romain passed away on September 10, 2021, by suicide, probably iatrogenic. He was 16 years old. He had been on the antidepressant Paroxetine for 6 months. His condition deteriorated as the doses were increased. The antipsychotic Tercianwas prescribed to him in addition in the last month. Romain would still be alive if the psychiatrist had only informed us of the suicide risks linked to antidepressants. His mother Yoko says, "I could not imagine that a doctor would kill their patients." 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐞̀𝐬, 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐞-𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞: After facing difficulties related to a job change, Bertrand consulted a psychiatrist for depression. The psychiatrist prescribed sertraline, then vortioxetine for more than a year. During treatment, Bertrand's condition deteriorated. He noticed a sudden change in his genital organs, lost sleep, and suffered from violent headaches. After a gradual discontinuation of the treatment, his sexual and emotional issues persisted. After about 8 months of great suffering due to #PSSD, he ended his life in December 2022. Bertrand suffered greatly from PSSD, but none of the doctors he consulted, understood either his pain or the illness caused by the medications prescribed.” @antidepeffects

“When Freddie’s dad Bill is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, his medication gives him a new lease of life. He starts ticking things off his retiree bucket list - travelling, skydiving, golf. But then Freddie notices that his previously sensible father has started behaving unusually. BBC Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge has spent more than a year speaking to people whose behaviour changed radically after taking a category of prescription drugs called dopamine agonists. These drugs boost dopamine activity in the brain - they were prescribed more than 1.5 million times in the UK last year to treat Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. But they have well established side effects - around 1 in 6 people who take them develop impulse control disorders, which can include hypersexuality, binge eating, compulsive gambling and shopping. If these side effects have been known about for decades, why weren’t some patients and their families properly warned or monitored?” Link to broadcast: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…? #StephensVoice #CouldItBeMyMeds

There’s something deeply silencing about the phrase “I take them and I’m fine.” We’re genuinely glad you are. Truly. But your good experience does not cancel out someone else’s harm.  Prescribed medications can save lives…..that’s the message we often hear. But they can also cause devastating side effects and adverse reactions, including akathisia, severe agitation, emotional blunting and medication-induced suicidal thoughts When people speak about being harmed, they are not attacking you or your treatment……they are asking to be heard. We need space for those experiences too. Dismissing them protects no one. Listening, acknowledging and demanding safer prescribing does. There must be room in this conversation for the people who were not “fine.” #StephensVoice #YourVoice #PrescribedHarm #SuicidePrevention #CouldItBeMyMeds

@thecomebac6529 I totally agree. It’s so frustrating!

@VoiceStephen Why isn’t being openly discussed???? It’s like screaming into a void. No one will listen.

The recent article highlighting that “hundreds of people died by suspected suicide after recent contact with HSE services” is deeply troubling. But once again, it not only tiptoes around the elephant in the room. It ignores it altogether. We are told about under-resourcing, overwhelmed staff, long waiting lists and fragmented services – all of which are real problems. Yet the most obvious question remains almost entirely unasked: what treatment were these people actually receiving? If someone is in contact with mental health services, there is a very strong likelihood they have been prescribed psychoactive medication – antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilisers, benzodiazepines. These are powerful drugs that act on the brain and nervous system, and many of them list increased suicidal thoughts and behaviours as recognised side effects, particularly in the early stages of treatment, during dose changes, or during withdrawal. Some antibiotics also work like SSRIs and can trigger the same problems. Why is this never discussed openly? We talk endlessly about the system being overwhelmed. But overwhelmed by what? Could part of that burden be created by people experiencing adverse reactions to the very medications meant to help them? Could some of the repeat crises, emergency presentations and deteriorations be driven not by “untreated mental illness,” but by treatment-induced harm that is going unrecognised? There is a circular logic at play. A person feels down, is prescribed medication, they then experience agitation, emotional blunting, akathisia, insomnia, or suicidal impulses as side effects, returns to services in worse shape, and is often given more medication. With no acknowledgment or awareness that the meds have caused the worsening state. The system becomes busier. Waiting lists grow. Clinicians are stretched thinner. And the original trigger…..the drugs themselves…..is rarely questioned. Of course services need more funding and staff. No one disputes that. But pouring more resources into a model that refuses to examine its own practices will not solve the crisis. A simple, uncomfortable question needs to be asked: if these medications worked as safely and effectively as we are told, would we be seeing suicide figures like this among people actively engaged with mental health care? Medication can help some people. But it can also harm. That is not anti-psychiatry rhetoric – it is written plainly in patient information leaflets and drug safety warnings. Yet when tragedies occur, the possibility that prescribed treatment played a role is almost never explored. Families deserve honest investigations. Patients deserve proper monitoring and informed consent. And the public deserves a conversation that looks at the full picture…..not just staffing levels and service structures, but the actual interventions being delivered within them. Until we are willing to confront that issue, we will continue to discuss the crisis while ignoring one of its central drivers. Medication-induced suicide. Enough is enough. #StephensVoice #PrescribedHarmAwareness #CouldItBeMyMeds

Sertraline-induced serotonin toxicity, this article focuses on Zoloft but all SSRIs can cause serious adverse effects and precipitate suicide. mirror.co.uk/news/health/nh…

BBC File on 4 Investigates whether the risks associated with the popular hair loss drug Finasteride are understood, after a 2024 review by UK drug safety regulator the MHRA prompted by a lack of awareness of the drug’s side-effects. Finasteride’s most common side effects are reduced libido and erectile dysfunction, affecting more than one in a hundred patients. Some people also report low mood and suicidal thoughts. Listen to Mary from Glenravel, N Ireland telling the story of what happened to her only and much loved son Conall. Conall took Finasteride and developed PFS. Despite Conall telling his clinicians that he firmly believed that his deteriorating health was due to Finasteride, they gaslighted him, telling him it was all in his head and that he had “delusional disorder”. Over a 3 year period he was put on antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzos, sedatives and even Ritalin.......all of which exacerbated the effects brought on by Finasteride. He became suicidal but instead of being heard and understood, he was thrown more tablets. Listen to to BBC File on 4 Investigates: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0… #IfOnlyWeKnewThen #WhatWeKnowNow #PrescribedHarmAwareness #SuicidePrevention #ConallsVoice #StephensVoice @conalls_mum @MaryGixy

Britain’s mental health reckoning - part one PODCAST A public inquiry is currently investigating the deaths of over 2000 mental health inpatients in the care of NHS trusts in Essex. The inquiry resumes this week, but the fact it exists at all is largely down to the campaign of one woman; Melanie Leahy, whose son Matthew died in Chelmsford in 2012. This programme includes material that some listeners may find distressing, including descriptions of suicide. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times #matthewscampaign thetimes.com/podcasts/the-s… @Scouse_ma @AnnaKennedy1 @HJAcivillibs @maggiewatts @NevilleSouthall @CharitySANE @lizanelly1 @Lisalunaanne @DebatINQUEST @MHtimeforAction @CarolineAldrid5 @cchruk @CCHR_Florida

This is my new account, although I have access to my old one (old phone), I have been unable to access it due to some anomalies with @X @willcpowell @MelanieLeahy @ppr @VoiceStephen @tumtumtum @Allyncondon please share, thank you

Christmas can be joyful for many, and painfully heavy for others. We hold space for those living with iatrogenic illness, those struggling after harm from prescribed drugs, and those carrying the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one to medication-induced suicide. If Christmas feels quieter, lonelier, or harder this year……you are not failing it. You are surviving it. Stephen’s Voice exists because truth matters, because harm must be named, and because no one should suffer in silence or be dismissed. Even in the darkest seasons, connection, honesty, and compassion still light the way. This Christmas, may you feel less alone. May your pain be believed. May remembrance sit beside hope. And may the light return……gently, in its own time. With solidarity, Stephen’s Voice 💜

“𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟏 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠: ‘𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐲, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞’.” 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥.𝐨𝐫𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲: “Prescription rates for mood and anxiety disorders increased regionally and for the most and least deprived areas between 2019 and 2023, with the rate in the most deprived areas two-thirds higher than in the least deprived areas. The statistics also showed that in 2021–23 the suicide mortality rate in the most deprived areas was almost three times the rate observed in the least deprived areas, with the gap widening over the analysed period. Northern Ireland already has higher levels of mental illness and suicide rates than other parts of the UK, a trend that is not showing any signs of declining. Meanwhile, Stormont’s 10-year Mental Health Strategy has now been scaled back due to a lack of funds.” (Link to full article in comments) We want to sincerely thank Mary for everything she continues to do, despite the devastating loss of her only son. To carry such grief and still fight for other families takes extraordinary strength. Her advocacy is rooted in lived experience, and that matters more than any policy paper. Stormont doesn’t necessarily need more funding or yet another strategy to tackle suicide …..it just needs to LISTEN!! To parents. To families. To communities. To those who have watched their loved one deteriorate while being passed through a system that too often defaults to medication over care. Many families are raising serious concerns about over-prescribing, medication-induced suicide (when the medication itself causes suicide, a known “side effect”), polypharmacy, and the harm this can cause when distress is medicalised rather than understood. These voices are not anti-medication - they are asking for help. If we are serious about reducing suicide, listening to people like Mary must come first. #ConallsVoice #StephensVoice #PrescribedHarm #SuicidePrevention #CouldItBeMyMeds? @conalls_mum @PPR_Org @mikenesbittni @moneillsf @aislingreillysf @PamCameronDUP @paulfrewDUP

Today would have been Stephen’s 58th Birthday. Today we celebrate the Stephen we were blessed to know……the talented singer with the unforgettable voice, the gifted artist who could create magic with a brush or pencil…..and the bright soul who made everyone around him feel lighter, happier, and seen. You had a way of lighting up a room without even trying. Your laugh, your music, your creativity - they were all pieces of you that made the world better. And they still do. Losing you will never make sense. But the love people had for you and the goodness you carried, now fuels a purpose bigger than any of us ever imagined. Your story is guiding conversations about safer prescribing and giving families the knowledge we wish we’d had. Your voice hasn’t faded in our minds….it’s grown stronger. It sings, it speaks, it warns, and it helps. Today, we honour the man who made everyone smile…and the legacy that is now saving lives. Happy Birthday, Stephen xx Forever talented. Forever loved. Forever making a difference. Forever 48 💜 #StephensVoice

Natalie should be 32 today. Akathisia stole that. We've worked hard for more than a decade to ensure others are better informed about wrongful prescribing, hidden risks, and mistreatment--and we'll continue sharing the lived experiences of real people. Akathisia stories podcast at youtube.com/watch?v=ZdTzi7…

MISSD supports this legislation -- accurate info about life-threatening medication risks is a basic human right and should be available to all.

🧵Imagine building your whole identity on a chemical foundation. Prozac at 12 for anxiety, followed by hormonal birth control. My story starts there. I didn’t understand who I became while medicated, because I never met the version of me that existed underneath.