The tragedy of overprescribing Seroquel for all the wrong reasons
During a 4 year period around the time I was homeless and desperately trying to rid myself of heavy street drug addiction, I fell into a somewhat workable relationship with a homeless mission in Baltimore. They allowed me a place to stay, so long as I adhered to the house rules. Which meant I became subject to frequent random drug tests, and was required to see a “Staff Psychologist” on a weekly basis.
This person turned out to actually be a non grad parapsychology student, NOT a licensed Therapist or Psychiatrist! She routinely prescribed ever increasing doses of Seroquel, via a Doctor who I NEVER met! I never liked the drug and kept asking her why I must take it. She replied I was diagnosed as “bipolar with schizophrenic tendencies” even though I had not yet met an official doctor! My personal symptoms were that I was severely depressed over several failed attempts at getting clean (i.e.: Depression) NOT her whatev medical dictionary randomness.
Seroquel caused me to go through a daily three part psychotic event: 1st highly agitated wanting to disagree with everyone and picking fights with people at random, then wildly euphoric like a morphine high, then a huge depressive cliff drop leaving my self worth and social interactive abilities in tatters. It cost me several jobs, my family’s future, and eventually got me tossed out of the mission for fighting with staff over the tiniest of things. But the craziest thing is the mission NEVER allowed me “off campus privileges” to go see a real Psychiatrist the entire time I was there. When I got tossed in 2009 it was then I finally sought out genuine professional psychiatric help by immediately checking myself into a prominent local hospital ER on a non voluntary 28 day psychiatric evaluation.
I’m forever grateful that this professional team charted the correct path for both my recovery and mental health future ~ including a PROPER DIAGNOSIS and medicine intervention and treatment procols! I believe that otherwise I wouldn’t even be here to express these thanks, and tell my personal story of psychiatric medication gross misuse in the medical community. Do I think Astra Zeneca was paying kickbacks to promote these illegal cross prescriptions...? Unequivocally YES!!! 🤔