First Diagnosis: Bipolar and Escalation

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Is the mental health system really helping people feel better?

Laura Delano is an author, speaker, and founder of Inner Compass Initiative, a nonprofit devoted to helping people make informed decisions about psychiatric drugs and how to taper off them safely. She has spent over a decade working with individuals and families around the world seeking guidance and support for psychiatric drug withdrawal.

A label can start to shape your life before you even realize it. I heard Laura’s story of being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in adolescence and how that diagnosis led to ongoing experiences with psychiatric diagnosis and the use of psychiatric drugs.

What unfolds is not only a personal account, but a look at how patient identity can expand while a life contracts, even in the presence of consistent compliance and care. Years of trying to do treatment “right” led to being told she had treatment-resistant mental illness, a conclusion that carried devastating implications about what was possible.

She began to question the treatment she had trusted and realized she had handed over her authority to make sense of her own experiences. What she arrives at now is a different orientation, centered on reconnecting to an inner compass, where information is shared freely, and people are supported in making their own decisions about their lives.

You’ll learn:

[00:00] Introduction

[03:36] Why Laura wrote Shrunk, and the conversation she wanted to spark

[09:01] The mirror moment at 13 that pulled her into the mental health system

[13:58] Why the borderline diagnosis was the one she couldn't stomach

[19:48] How becoming the perfect patient made everything worse

[29:32] The moment she realized the system she trusted was a system of control, and why Whitaker's data sealed it

[35:20] What withdrawal actually cost her, and who she became on the other side

[47:31] How her family held on while she shed the identity of designated patient

[52:45] What she did when a suicidal woman called her instead of going to the hospital, and where community support has limits

[01:05:44] What the Inner Compass Initiative is, and what it's trying to do differently

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Resources mentioned:

Part 1 of ICI's Companion Guide to Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal | Website

Part 2 of ICI’s Companion Guide to Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal | Website

Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker | Book

Iatrogenesis | Wikipedia

German New Medicine | Website

Find more from Laura:

Laura Delano | X

Laura Delano | Instagram

Laura Delano | Facebook

Laura Delano | Website

Inner Compass Initiative | Website

UNSHRUNK: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance | Book

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