Hi Mark,

Thank you for your well-informed comment, which I am better able to respond to now that more time and experience have passed.

I do have a good psychiatrist who is well aware of my levels of medication. I stepped down off meds entirely in October, except for occasional anti-anxiety medication as needed. I have had no reoccurrence of depression or mania, despite a stressful holiday season and several occasions of travel, which used to trigger one or the other.

I understand it is important not to encourage others to drop their meds in cases of Bipolar Disorder. I do think it’s exacerbated by PTSD or even conflated with Complex PTSD — not every diagnosis is handed down by a skilled psychiatrist, and not all psychiatrists are created equal. Also, there are clinical trials underway with psychedelics that look very promising. Maybe there’s hope for people who cannot tolerate the side effects of long-term pharmaceuticals.

All that said, may we forge ahead with brain research so that the suffering may be steadily reduced and the forms of intervention become less disruptive.