Antidepressant Risks

You've been leading the push for real change in mental health, challenging over-medicalization and seeking gentler paths through withdrawal and emotional distress. 1/

In @PsychToday, Justin Garson (@justin_garson) explores new research showing that what we believe about the causes of depression can influence our attitude to recovery: “If we should no longer see depression as a biological abnormality—a chemical imbalance in the brain—how should we see it? What are some more empowering perspectives on depression?” psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-bi…

We shouldn’t have to accept being labelled dysfunctional or disordered in order to receive 'care'; we shouldn't have to become subjects of a disrespectful & misleading ideology. Yet this is how our system works - exacting from us the weighty price of our power & dignity.

In a new article, Antidepressant Risks founder Katinka Blackford Newman explores agency and meaning making in recovery from depression: “One of the last human freedoms is the ability to choose our response to circumstances.” Link below ⬇️

A heartbreaking story. Why do they keep prescribing pills for grief?! 💊💊

Richly informative interview about antidepressants with Piia Tuominen (@TuominenPiia) and John Read (@ReadReadj). This series of discussions have been excellent. Piia speaks to the lived experiences of psychiatrised patients, while John explains the evidence (or lack thereof) underpinning them. youtube.com/watch?v=R_vwmd…

Tomasz Starczewski will be sharing his story at our April monthly support group which takes place on Monday 6th April 2026. 📷 Reserve your spot here: tickettailor.com/.../antidepres…

Introducing Mark's story... Mark died on February 21, 2015, in Wynyard, Saskatchewan, Canada, at the age of 43, shortly after being prescribed Abilify while seeking help for grief following the sudden death of his wife, Cindy. After his death, documents were found showing he had been preparing to join a class action lawsuit alleging that the drug’s manufacturers failed to properly warn about serious risks such as compulsive behaviors. Before his wife’s death, Mark had been committed to sobriety for many years, regularly attending AA and working hard to maintain a stable life. He died from fentanyl poisoning, and his family believes the medication prescribed during his grief contributed to a relapse into addiction. Remembered as a kind and loving brother, Mark was also a talented athlete who excelled in track and baseball. Thanks to Mark's sister Louise for sharing his story on our Stolen Lives page: antidepressantrisks.org/stolen-lives/m…

“A frequent misunderstanding is that a diagnosis provides an explanation. It does not. Psychiatric diagnoses, including autism and ADHD, are, in fact, simply labels for groups of complaints. They are inherently subjective and therefore vulnerable to expansion.” Both the Guardian and the Times declined to publish this important letter from the Critical Psychiatry Network. Thank you to Mad in the UK (@MITUKteam) for publishing, and to Joanna Moncrieff (@joannamoncrieff), Sami Timimi (@stimimi), Mark Horowitz (@markhoro), Evgeny Legedin (@DrEvgenyLegedin) and other medical professionals for speaking out about overmedicalisation. madintheuk.com/2026/03/no-exp…

Please watch and share this powerful video about Barb’s experience of antidepressant withdrawal. At one point, she describes her fear that the ‘terror’ of akathisia will come back. This resonated so powerfully with me ⬇️ youtube.com/watch?v=XZlvDG…

“Analysing data from eight- or 12-week trials and concluding that antidepressant withdrawal is a minor issue is like studying dementia incidence in people aged under 40 and claiming that dementia is very rare and of no clinical relevance,” says Professor Michael Hengartner (@HengartnerMP). Thank you to the BBC’s Science Focus (@sciencefocus) magazine for covering antidepressant withdrawal. sciencefocus.com/wellbeing/what…

Are you currently tapering off psych drugs, or planning your taper? Don’t miss this webinar from Outro Health (@outrohealth), where Dr Mark Horowitz (@markhoro) answers questions about safe deprescribing. youtube.com/live/vTmWaWMse…

“Yes, there has been a shocking lack of progress in developing transformative psychiatric medicine, but this may be because in mental health, drugs are not always the answer…” Great to see this letter in the Guardian highlighting the overprescription of psychiatric drugs and the growing availability of evidence-based alternatives. theguardian.com/society/2026/f…

Well said @JDaviesPhD!

Professor Joanna Moncrieff (@joannamoncrieff) argues for compassionate welfare reform in Psychology Today: “We need a framework for welfare and support during times when people are struggling or in crisis that, like the early Poor Laws, does not require them to be labelled as having a medical disorder, with the implications of limitation, chronicity and dependency this confers.” psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chemic…

Don’t miss this upcoming event on PSSD, hosted by the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (@Institute_PDW) in partnership with the PSSD Institute (@PSSDInstitute). 👇 eventbrite.co.uk/e/understandin…

"Despite the sub-title of their piece encouraging clinicians to “listen to patients,” the effect is to inhibit questioning of current practice and to slow urgently needed progress." Mark Horowitz (@markhoro) debunks a misleading critique of antidepressant withdrawal published in the Psychiatric Times.

Severity, Sedation and Sofas: "The disease-centred model untethers psychiatric drugs from their predictable effects. With the drug’s chief mechanism of action relegated to the status of ‘side effect’, my doctor and I were left waiting for the emergence of a disease-centred drug effect that didn’t actually exist." ⬇️

Sign this petition calling for improved access to safe deprescribing services in the UK! 👇c.org/KVtRMXhhWs