Don’t Jump! –

Jan. 5, 2020 – I followed my psychiatrist’s advice and went off one drug at a time, beginning with Effexor XR. I was on the lowest dose available — just 37.5 mg per day — so I had no choice but to stop taking the Effexor, cold turkey. Within 24 hours of missing my usual dose, flulike symptoms set in and my emotions went into overdrive; so in between the sweats and the shakes, I resisted the urge to saw off my skin with a box cutter just to get away from myself.

After six days without the drug in my system, my mind began to flood with bloody, homicidal visions. I was too scared to tell my psychiatrist what was flashing through my mind because I feared that she would deem me a danger to myself or others and put me on an involuntary, psychiatric hold.

@WashingtonPost