Brooke Siem was 15 years old when her dad died. In the wake of this tragedy, her newly-widowed mother was worried about Brooke’s stoicism. So, she took her daughter to the doctor. That doctor referred her to another doctor, who diagnosed her with an anxiety and depressive disorder and put her on a cocktail of antidepressants.
That’s how Brooke lost 15 years of her life.
She stayed on the meds until she was 30 because that’s what the doctor said she needed to do.
“If the doctor tells you you need insulin because you have diabetes, you don’t question it. The doctor told me I was depressed; so, he told me to take an antidepressant. I didn’t question that. Why would I, right?” she tells Allie Beth Stuckey.
But at 30 years old, Brooke found herself more depressed than she’d ever been, struggling with suicidal ideation and lack of emotion — despite the drugs. She realized this meant they were not working.
So, she decided to quit cold turkey at the instruction of her doctor, which she does not recommend. It’s important to properly wean off these drugs at the guidance of an experienced medical professional.
Brooke’s doctor told her she might feel like she had the flu for a few days, but it was no big deal. Instead, Brooke was launched headfirst into a “full-on psychological assault.”
Brooke detailed the severity of her withdrawal on last week’s episode of Relatable, “How Antidepressants Stole Her Childhood.”
Along with violent intrusive thoughts and mood swings, Brooke experienced a variety of physical symptoms:
“All my senses changed; so, I literally started seeing color more vibrantly, and things went from a little softer on the edges to super sharp. I developed really severe noise sensitivity. My skin got something called nodular vasculitis, which is basically an autoimmune response in the blood vessels, and it is because of extreme physical stress on the body.”
However, amidst all this darkness, she also described how she began to experience little moments of joy — a feeling completely foreign to her for the past 15 years.
“I was also having these moments of, like I said, color; it was like I could finally see color for the first time, and I could laugh at something and feel true joy.”
Brooke is now on a mission to share what happened to her, shed light on the reality of antidepressant withdrawal, and advocate for safe de-prescribing from psychiatric drugs. She detailed her story in her memoir, “May Cause Side Effects.”
To hear Brooke’s story, watch the episode below.
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