Mental Health & Psychoactive Drugs — The Dark Side of SSRIs with Laura Delano & Is Overprescription Fueling Veteran Suicides with Derek Blumke. Two important interviews discuss psychoactive drugs prescribed for mental health conditions and the implications for individuals and society. These drugs include Benzodiazepines, Opioids, Amphetamines, SSRIs and more (posted 08/16/25)

• Are you or a loved one taking a psychoactive drug for a mental health condition?

• Did a doctor or mental health professional provide full information about the benefits and potential harms of the drugs, especially when attempting to taper off them? (Most prescribers don’t even know the implications of these drugs so are unlikely to offer patients full informed consent about them.)

• Did you know these drugs, especially SSRIs but others too, can lead to suicides and homicides such as mass shootings?

Before starting or stopping any of these drugs, you should know the potential implications of doing so. The following interviews can help you learn more. (Unfortunately, Substack length limitations prevent us from providing full transcript summaries, but we’ve offered abbreviated, edited versions from Grok ai.)

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Independent Medical Alliance: The Dark Side of SSRIs. The shocking truth about SSRIs: minimal efficacy, serious withdrawal, and a debunked serotonin theory. Hosts: Dr. Joseph Varon and Dr. Paul Marik. Guest: Author Laura Delano joins Dr. Varon and Dr. Marik to discuss her book "Unshrunk." (08/08/25, article + video 01:05:34, includes transcript): tinyurl.com/mry5zrb8

Guest Laura Delano shares her experiences with psychiatric medications, particularly SSRIs, and critiques their lack of transparency and efficacy. She recounts her decade-long struggle with multiple diagnoses and medications starting at age 14, highlighting the challenges of dependency and withdrawal.

The discussion critiques the overprescription of SSRIs, the flawed serotonin theory of depression, and the medicalization of normal emotional struggles. Laura advocates for informed choice, alternative approaches like nutraceuticals and mutual aid, and careful tapering to manage withdrawal, emphasizing the need for systemic change in mental health care. Her non-profit organization, Inner Compass Initiative, provides many tools and resources.

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American Thought Leaders: Is Overprescription Fueling Veteran Suicides? Host: Jan Jekielek. Guest: Derek Blumke (08/07/25, podcast/video 45 min). Podcast: tinyurl.com/3axa9vav | Video (may require subscription, transcript included): tinyurl.com/mup5r82t

Derek Blumke served 12 years in the US Air Force and Michigan Air National Guard and is a longtime advocate for veterans. A bad experience with psychiatric drugs changed his life trajectory. He has been sounding the alarm about suicide and the overprescription of psychiatric drugs among veterans.

In this interview, Blumke discusses the link between psychiatric drug overprescription in the VA system and rising veteran suicide rates. He highlights issues including lack of informed consent, high prescription rates (four times civilian levels), black box warnings for suicidality, and the need for safer prescribing practices. His personal experiences and data analysis make him well-qualified to discuss these topics.

Derek Blumke quotes from Show Notes:

Veterans are not being told the risk of their medications.

Doctors themselves are not aware of the risks of those medications.

If we’re going to treat a firearm with respect that we should and we do, which is making sure there’s a safety on, making sure the weapon is not always loaded, don’t point at people, this is a similar thing. If one of these medications can cause you to harm yourself or others, you should be told of that. And right now, we’re not.

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References:

• Wikipedia: Psychoactive drug: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P…

• Inner Compass Initiative (Laura Delano’s non-profit organization): tinyurl.com/458d4ech

• Derek Blumke writings:

• Additional references provided in the IMA article