A prescription for sleep should not end in disability. But that’s what benzodiazepines have done to many patients.

🧵 John and Dee Foster were prescribed benzos by trusted doctors. No warning about dependence. No warning about withdrawal.

A Harvard trained psychiatrist watched the mental health system fail his own kids. It changed everything.

Thread 🧵 Dr. Matt Bernstein trained in traditional psychiatry and worked at elite institutions. But year after year, he saw the same pattern. People could be stabilized short term, but rarely got their lives back.

I’ve spent years treating people harmed by psychiatric drugs.
Here are some of the worst side effects I’ve seen—ones that can erase your memories, your personality, or your ability to feel. ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy)
Patients are told memory loss is temporary.
It isn’t always.
Some lose entire chapters of their lives—weddings, the birth of their children, even years of education. Those memories never come back.

After 10 years as a psychiatrist, I accept the field was built on myths that kept me from truly helping patients.
If I could go back and tell my younger self 10 things on day one of training, here’s what I’d say: Most mental health problems don’t come from a “chemical imbalance.” They usually come from relationships, loneliness, work stress, or chronic illness. Medications became an easy way to avoid asking harder questions.

Doctors don’t set out to harm people. But the way psychiatric medications are prescribed creates a 7-step trap that can turn normal life struggles into lifelong disability.

🧵 Here’s how it happens: Step 1: You go to your doctor with a real problem: grief, stress, trauma, isolation. Instead of non-drug solutions, you get a prescription. And it works…at first.

What if I told you that ashwagandha- a 'natural' supplement for stress and sleep- can act just like a psychiatric drug?
GABA, serotonin, cortisol, testosterone… it alters them all.
And in some cases, it wrecks people.

🧵 on the dark side of ashwagandha: Ashwagandha is everywhere: nootropics, men's health stacks, adaptogen blends. It’s marketed as calming, balancing, and harmless.
But modern use isn’t Ayurvedic. It’s high-dose, daily, long-term, and totally unregulated.
And it's causing problems.

Involuntary commitment is a dark side of mental health care that too few are talking about.

I spoke with investigative journalist Rob Wipond about his book Your Consent Is Not Required.

Here’s what we uncovered… Involuntary psychiatric holds are skyrocketing — not just for the severely mentally ill, but for kids in schools, foster care, and nursing homes.

Why?

Because it’s easier to drug people than provide real support.

Mental illness used to be something private—something you discussed quietly with family or a doctor.
Now? It's public. Performed. Marketed.

TikTok is full of teens showing off their prescriptions like trophies.

Some say this is progress; I think it’s dangerous. 🧵 We’ve entered a culture where victimhood is rewarded.
The more oppressed, traumatized, or “broken” you appear, the more validation and attention you get.
Mental illness has been swept into that logic—transformed into an identity, not a condition.

Psychiatry needs to confront some brutal truths.

They could save people from years of unnecessary suffering. Here are a few of the most important ones: Most people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders don’t have a brain disease. They’re struggling with life stress, poor health, or substance use. Yet they’re led to believe they have a chemical imbalance that requires medication.

I just interviewed @LauraDelano, a former “professional psychiatric patient” whose new book, Unshrunk, is sending shockwaves through the mental health world.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated by Harvard’s top psychiatrists, she spent over a decade on meds that made her sicker. Her life spiralled from daily blackout drinking to a near-fatal suicide attempt. But after waking up from a coma, she began to question everything she’d been told by doctors.

Relapse or withdrawal? Psychiatry hasn’t been honest with you.

We’ve built long-term antidepressant prescribing on studies that fall apart under scrutiny.

Here's how it happened, and why it matters. Most doctors believe antidepressants prevent relapse. That belief comes from “relapse prevention” trials.
But these studies are deeply flawed.

A pharmacist tried to taper off antidepressants after being put on Prozac in her 20s.

She followed her doctor’s instructions exactly.

25 years later, she’s still trying to get off.

This is her story—and it’s more common than you think.

A thread 👇 It started with birth control.

Within months, she developed debilitating anxiety.

Her OB’s solution?

Not to stop the hormonal drug—but to add Prozac: a psychiatric med for a hormonal side effect.

🧵 Why Big Pharma ads are more dangerous than you think — and why almost no one in power will criticize them.

A thread from a psychiatrist who worked inside Pharma and the FDA. Pharma spends over $5 billion/year on direct-to-consumer ads. In 2024, nearly 1 in 3 ads on major news broadcasts came from drug companies.

That kind of money doesn’t just buy airtime—it buys silence.

Hollywood actor @MarkDuplass posted a video defending SSRIs — and warning people about the “dangerous rhetoric” around their risks.

He shared his personal story. That’s valid.

But what he says next is deeply misleading.

A thread 👇 Duplass had a nervous breakdown 20 years ago. He tried therapy, exercise, diet, sleep, meditation — and eventually, SSRIs.

He says they helped him, and he’s still on them. I respect that.

But he also had a rare level of support — the kind most people never get.

The American Psychiatric Association just released a statement in response to RFK Jr.’s call to investigate the overprescription of psychiatric meds.

As a former FDA psychiatrist, I read it closely. What I found was alarming.

A Thread 👇 They claim antidepressants are “safe and effective” based on “decades of rigorous research.”
But here’s the truth:
- Most trials last < 12 weeks
- Long-term outcomes are barely studied
Little research on side effects

The real-world picture? Mass overprescription, minimal oversight.

Cannabis today is not the same as it was 20 years ago.

THC levels have skyrocketed, and with it, more people are experiencing cannabis-induced psychosis, sometimes leading to long-term psychiatric diagnoses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

A thread 👇 Many assume that a bad trip on cannabis lasts only a few hours.
But I’ve seen cases where symptoms persist for months or even years. Some never fully recover, and nearly half of those with cannabis-induced psychosis eventually receive a schizophrenia diagnosis.

Did you know that a pharmaceutical giant hid severe risks, made billions, then quietly settled lawsuits—without real accountability?
This is the story of Eli Lilly & Zyprexa. Zyprexa (olanzapine) was approved in 1996 for schizophrenia. It became a blockbuster drug which generated huge profits, but behind the success was a dark reality. The drug caused severe side effects:
-Large weight gain (22-100+ lbs)
-Diabetes & metabolic issues

Are you under the influence of medication spellbinding?
Psychiatric drugs can impair insight, making people unaware of how they’re being affected. Let’s break this down. 🧵 What is medication spellbinding?
It’s when someone on psychiatric meds doesn’t realize how those drugs are altering their emotions, motivation, and behavior.

Big news! We’re making Taper Clinic’s tapering methods available for free. If you are interested in how to safely taper off medications, we’re sharing our full process. We’re also launching a free mentorship program for medical professionals who want to help others taper safely. Over the years, we’ve helped people safely taper off psychiatric medications—especially those with protracted withdrawal, sensitive nervous systems, or complex medication histories.

Now, we’re sharing our step-by-step process with you.

Are ADHD rates really increasing in the U.S., or are we just diagnosing it more? The data shows a sharp rise, but the reasons behind it are complex. Let’s break it down. From the 1990s to today, ADHD diagnoses in children have steadily increased. In 2022, the National Survey of Children’s Health reported that 11.4% of U.S. children had been diagnosed with ADHD—up from around 6% in the late '90s. Adult diagnoses have also surged.

Why You Shouldn’t Tell Your Doctor You’re Depressed: A Psychiatrist’s Perspective 🧵

If you're here for a scathing critique of mental health care in the US, buckle up. This thread might surprise you. Let's dive in. 👇 1/ You’ve probably heard "If you’re suffering, get help!" And usually, that means turning to your doctor. But here’s why you should think twice before doing that…

What’s even more surprising? I’m a psychiatrist—a mental health specialist—telling you this.