20 years. It's been since the time that I took that first drug until now I'm six years off. Actually

today is my six years off anniversary. So I mean 20 years just think of how much life I miss because

I was so medicated. I was not in tune with my body or what it needed because I believed this

false narrative about myself that I was disordered. My brain was ill and I needed to take a pill for that

and I need to see lots of professionals for that and it turned out to all be wrong.

From the Weston A Price Foundation welcome to the Wise traditions podcast for Wise traditions

in food, farming and the healing arts. We are your source for scientific knowledge and

traditional wisdom to help you achieve optimal health.

Hey, Hilda here. A waitress who was going to college and trying to manage her insomnia.

A veteran who was deployed in the Iraq war dealing with post-traumatic stress syndrome.

A teenager with an eating disorder. All three of these individuals sought professional help

for their mental health concerns and all three were medicated. They each found it to be counterproductive

and actually detrimental to their mental and physical health. This is episode 359 and our guests

today are producer Wendy Rackdlyff of the documentary Medicating Normal and Angie Peacock.

The veteran I mentioned just a moment ago who is now a mental health reform advocate.

Today they both help us understand what's happening on the ground with mental health treatment

and medications. Why are so many prescribed? Do these meds help in any way whatsoever?

What are the drawbacks that come with mental health medications in particular?

And if patients want to go off of the meds, what is that process like? And if we are not going

to treat mental health conditions with prescribed medications, what can we do instead?

These are some of the topics we touch on. Wendy and Angie shed light on all of the above

and they tell stories, their own and those of others that help us understand the reality

...