E364. How I Quit Psych Drugs After 15 Years - Laura Delano

Laura Delano joins Bridget for a riveting conversation about her book, Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance, which chronicles her haphazard diagnosis with bipolar disorder at the age of 14 and the 13 year saga of unending treatments, various diagnoses and a cornucopia of medications that she went through. When she’d reached her lowest point only one option remained, leaving behind the drugs and diagnoses, unlearning everything the experts had told her about herself and forging into the terrifying unknown of an unmedicated life. She and Bridget have a frank and fascinating conversation about their remarkably similar lives, they discuss being party girls, sobriety, rehab, why withdrawal from prescribed medication can be worse than kicking heroin, people who wear their diagnoses as badges of honor, the truth about the mental health system, why feeling your pain is important, the spiritual crisis of meaning in our culture, and why Laura wouldn’t change any of it.  Get Unshrunk here - https://bit.ly/WiW-Unshrunk  ---------------------------------------------------------------------  Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy - Podcast  Bridget Phetasy admires grit and authenticity. On Walk-Ins Welcome, she talks about the beautiful failures and frightening successes of her own life and the lives of her guests. She doesn’t conduct interviews—she has conversations. Conversations with real people about the real struggle and will remind you that we can laugh in pain and cry in joy but there’s no greater mistake than hiding from it all. By embracing it all, and celebrating it with the stories she’ll bring listeners, she believes that our lowest moments can be the building blocks for our eventual fulfillment.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------  PHETASY IS a movement disguised as a company. We just want to make you laugh while the world burns. https://www.phetasy.com/  Buy PHETASY MERCH here: https://www.bridgetphetasy.com/ For more content, including the unedited version of Dumpster Fire, BTS content, writing, photos, livestreams and a kick-ass community, subscribe at https://phetasy.com/  Twitter - https://twitter.com/BridgetPhetasy  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bridgetphetasy/ Podcast -  Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/walk-ins-welcome/id1437447846  https://open.spotify.com/show/7jbRU0qOjbxZJf9d49AHEh  https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/I3gqggwe23u6mnsdgqynu447wva Support the show