Clive is a British doctor. He is not a psychiatrist, but he trained and worked in psychiatry in the National Health Service (NHS) in London and Oxford, and specialises in coping with emotion (depression, anxiety, fear, anger, addiction, etc.) without psychiatric drugs. He also specialises in helping people taper and stop taking psychiatric drugs.
Clive teaches and trains people — in English — in Adaptation Practice to cope with emotion. He lives in Nederland but is not registered as a doctor here.
Hello,
I am wondering if I cope wrongly with my feelings or that it is the aripiprazol and lithium which impede me to feel things properly.
I continuously have this tight feeling in my throat. That is the closest I come to feeling things. Mostly, if possible, I feel things in my head, throat area.
Do you think I can improve my emotional wellbeing?
Kind regards.
Dear T.,
The drugs, aripiprazole and lithium, are almost certainly the cause of your not being able to feel emotion, moods and feelings normally. Drugs like these two, stop the normal functions of the body and mind; they work like an anaesthetic that numbs pain but they numb your emotion. They do not cure anything.
This will continue as long as you take the drugs. What doses are you taking and how long have you been taking them?
Studies have found that people who take psychiatric drugs for a long time do worse than those who carefully and slowly reduce them and eventually stop taking them – this has to be done with expert supervision. If you wish to read about it you can look at this website page.
If you continue to take the drugs, or if you reduce and stop taking them, you can be shown how to cope with emotion, moods and feelings and with disturbing thoughts. You can read about this here.
Please let me know if you have any more questions and if you would like any advice.
With kind wishes,
Clive
