"Does that mean I'm broken?" This question haunted Michelle Reittinger after her bipolar disorder diagnosis in 1998. Like countless others, she believed the psychiatric narrative that her condition was incurable, neurodegenerative, and would require lifelong medication management. What followed was a harrowing decade-plus journey through the mental health system that nearly cost her everything.
Michelle's raw, unflinching account takes us through the escalating cycles of medication failures, four psychiatric hospitalizations, 12 rounds of electroconvulsive therapy, and multiple suicide attempts. The poignant moment that finally anchored her to life came while watching her four-year-old daughter play. "If you ever succeed in ending your life, you will ruin her life," Michelle realized. "She will think it was her fault." This clarity became her tether to existence when nothing else could.
What makes this conversation truly extraordinary is how it challenges the fundamental assumptions about bipolar disorder. Michelle walks us through her gradual, carefully-managed journey off seven psychiatric medications and into complete
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💊 Ready to Deprescribe Your Psych Meds?
Psych meds have harmed us—and we’re not just survivors, we’re deeply educated in psychopharmacology, psychology, and nutrition. As hosts of The Gaslit Truth Podcast, we guide people safely off psychiatric medications with strategies grounded in science and brain health
🔥 You’ve been harmed. You’ve been dismissed. It’s time to take your brain back—with guidance from people who’ve been there and know their stuff.
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