Reclamation Radio with Kelly Brogan MD 159: The Hidden Dangers of Psychiatry & Medications (And What to Do Instead) | Laura Delano
May 12, 2026
Laura Delano, author and founder of the Inner Compass Initiative who helps people navigate psychiatric drug decisions, recounts stepping away from long-term psychiatric care. She talks about early diagnoses that shaped her life, the harms of becoming the perfect patient, and the awakening that led her to tapering and recovery. She describes withdrawal challenges, family dynamics, and building supportive alternatives to standard care.
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Reclaiming Your Story From Psychiatric Authority
- Laura Delano reclaimed her story from psychiatry to make sense of her crisi and show alternatives to labeling and lifelong drugging.
- Reading Robert Whitaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic catalyzed her insight that treatment, not only illness, might explain worsening outcomes.
How One Session Triggered A Decades Long Pathway
- At 14 Laura was diagnosed bipolar after one psychiatrist interpreted her behaviors as mania and depression, starting a cascade of labels and medications.
- In college she embraced the diagnosis, escalating from one medication to three or four within a year and collecting more labels like binge eating and substance use disorder.
Being The Perfect Patient Can Deepen Harm
- Compliance as a 'perfect patient' became Laura's identity and shrank her life while increasing meds and dysfunction.
- Being told she had treatment-resistant illness after years of compliance precipitated despair and a suicide attempt.
