Psychiatrized: Waking Up After a Decade of Bad Medicine

by Renée Schuls-Jacobson

When a trusted physician tells Renée Schuls-Jacobson that he has the solution for her chronic insomnia -- a “tried and true medication without any side effects,” she believes him. For seven years, she takes her clonazepam exactly as prescribed until, one day, she learns that her doctor is long-term benzodiazepine use causes all kinds of problems including profound changes in brain function.

With the help of an addiction specialist, Renée embarks on a slow, medically supervised taper, only to find herself cognitively scrambled and stuck in the nightmare of benzodiazepine withdrawal.

While healing from an iatrogenic brain injury that is not widely recognized by doctors, Renée leaves everything familiar behind and goes on a journey, meeting scientists and sages, healers and hucksters, who all teach her the same hard to stop seeking the help of experts and to trust her intuition.

In Waking Up After a Decade of Bad Medicine, Renée Schuls-Jacobson contemplates the cost of compliance and exposes the truth about the dangers of psychiatric drugs as well as a discontinuation syndrome, which affects thousands of men and women worldwide.

202 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 9, 2021

Reviews

[Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Renee tells her captivating story in an honest and unbiased manner that gives everyone the opportunity to both understand and react in their own way. Her outlook on life and how we respond to other people is eye-opening and I bet will resonate at least a little with everyone.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have NO idea if I'm supposed to start an author page or what but I LITERALLY just stumbled on this GOOD READS page that was deactivated in 2013 when I suffered a heinous iatrogenic injury due to too rapidly tapering off a benzodiazepine that I had taken exactly as prescribed for seven years!

I hope this book helps people, and you can find me via my website at www.rasjacobson.store

[Lauren Jimerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

We don’t talk about this enough!

I found this book after coming across the author’s Instagram profile after being gifted some of her art. It’s wild having worked as a co-occurring disorders therapist in addictions and the only thing that I have really heard about benzo withdrawal is that it can be lethal. I appreciate the vulnerability and mission to raise awareness of the dangers of coming off of psychotropics. I have been out of the feild for about a year now as I have had my own trauma to recover from, which includes trauma from working in the system. I have recently experienced ssri withdrawal myself. I had never experienced that before and I don’t think it’s talked about enough. Thank you for sharing your powerful story with us! 🙏🏽

[Jeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well written book. Everyone taking psychiatric medication, including their family members and friends, would benefit from reading it. I also hope that medical professionals will read this because numbing emotions with medicine is not the answer. People need to feel to heal!

[Valerie Dimino · Rating 4 out of 5]

This powerful, candid account of one woman’s trauma and fight for recovery will help so many people. It’s informative in terms of both the author’s personal experience and the science she’s learned about since. Very eye-opening! Renée’s choice to narrate in the present tense, even for events that happened years ago, is compelling and kept me grounded in the immediacy of what was unfolding. I’m grateful to Renée for her vulnerability and raw honesty in sharing this journey — a difficult one but ultimately uplifting and hopeful.

[Amanda Rossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I started this book, I could not put it down. I finished it in one day! I was totally captivated by Renee's life story, but also the information she shared about several different pharmaceuticals. This book was the perfect mesh of autobiography, scientific research, and self-help / wisdom for the reader. As someone pursuing school to become a physician assistant, I will be taking the experience of Renee and others into mind as I study, learn and begin seeing patients myself. This is something that every provider or patient (aka EVERYONE) should read!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an engaging, intense, and relatable book. How tragic while triumphant. I would have liked to read this 25 years ago before I had my son. I would recommend this to new or hopeful mothers, sufferers of mental health afflictions, actually anyone looking for greater understanding and empathy for mental health, women, and humanity as a whole.

[Raina Casarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense read

Written passionately, this memoir takes us on a terrifying journey through the medical establishment and prescription drugs. I’m so thankful I could never afford medical insurance and never cared for the Western approach to healing. This book is truly a guiding light for whomever has suffered from benzodiazepines. Truly a cautionary tale.

[Lillian Corcoran · Rating 5 out of 5]

An open honest and educational read

I bought this book and read it immediately in less than a day. I had so many emotions while reading. Thrilled that in the end Renee had the fortitude and means to recover as well as she has. What a journey and so many riveting moments.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing true story of determination and the stairs journey to become her true authentic self after a debilitating brain injury.

[Tara Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspirational story of one woman's frightening journey through prescribed drug dependence.