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Abstract

The author considers how the medical standard of care in depression treatment has shaped the course of her life. She recounts how she developed depression in childhood and, as a member of the demographic targeted by pharmaceutical marketing for antidepressants in the 1990s, how she came to be treated with the new selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs, her experiences with her prescribers, and her recovery from disabling protracted antidepressant withdrawal syndrome. As a citizen scientist, she incorporates learnings from the history and practice of psychopharmacology and her own research into a personal narrative of what has become normal care for depression.

Keywords

depression psychiatry antidepressant selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor SSRI iatrogenic withdrawal withdrawal syndrome discontinuation syndrome post-acute withdrawal prolonged withdrawal protracted withdrawal PAWS PWS

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First-Person Psychopharmacology: This is Normal Care

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