Shows
The Gaslit TruthAntidepressants Increase Violent Behaviors with Forensic Psychologist Dr Toby WatsonSend us a textMost headlines shrug and say, “we may never know why.” We refuse that answer. With clinical psychologist Dr. Toby Watson, we examine the uncomfortable pattern linking widely prescribed psychiatric medications to spikes in suicidality, aggression, and even homicidal ideation—especially when starting, stopping, or changing doses. The data trail is stark: a small cluster of antidepressants, anxiolytics, sedatives, and stimulants accounts for the vast majority of severe violent reports, while black box warnings arrived years late and adverse events were often buried or recoded in trials.We talk plainly about informed consen...
2025-11-111h 01The Gaslit TruthHard Truths, Real Recovery Surviving Spinal Cord Injury with Daniel WestSend us a textComfort can feel caring—and still cost you your future. We sit down with Daniel West, a rule-breaking physical therapist who argues that “slow and safe” rehab keeps people stuck, while blunt truth and early, focused movement produce real functional gains. Daniel brings hard-won perspective from his own car accident and years of hospital work, including a devastating story about a 25-year-old who died after being encouraged to stay in bed. His point lands with force: informed consent means telling patients the actual risks of immobility and the physics of recovery, not wrapping them i...
2025-11-0447 minThe Gaslit TruthAntidepressants Stole My Wife & Marriage with LA's Comedy Cop, Cliff YatesSend us a textThe spark didn’t just fade—it was blunted. We bring on Cliff Yates, a 35-year veteran of the LA County Sheriff’s Department and stand-up comic, to unpack how SSRIs can quietly reorganize a relationship’s core: intimacy, memory, judgment, and even the stories we tell about each other. Cliff walks us through the gut-punch details—a cruise retold as isolation, affection replaced by aggression, and a warm home recast as a staging ground for divorce—while we map those moments against medication switches, taper attempts, and the confusing dance between “relapse” and withdrawal.
2025-10-2847 minThe Gaslit TruthBeyond Pills: The Metabolic Truth of Mental Health with Ruth Dottin, PsychiatristSend us a textWhat if the root of mental illness isn't just in your brain, but in how your entire body processes energy? Dr. Ruth Dottin, a board-certified psychiatrist, takes us on a journey that challenges everything we've been told about psychiatric care.After years of practicing traditional psychiatry, Dr. Dottin confronted an uncomfortable truth: many of her patients weren't getting better despite medication, and some seemed to be getting worse. This realization led her to explore metabolic psychiatry, a revolutionary approach examining how our body's metabolism directly impacts our mental health....
2025-10-2147 minThe Gaslit TruthBipolar Disorder: Shattering Myths with Michelle ReittingerSend us a text"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...
2025-10-141h 02The Gaslit TruthThe Pill That Steals Lives Katinka Newman's Terrifying Journey to find the Truth about AntidepressantsSend us a textWhat happens when the medication meant to help you becomes the very thing that steals your life? Katinka Blackford Newman's journey from successful documentary filmmaker to psychiatric patient began with something deceptively simple: stress-induced insomnia after learning she would lose her family home during a divorce.When one doctor's visit turned into a prescription for an antidepressant, Newman experienced a nightmare reaction that medical professionals refused to recognize. After just one dose, she developed excruciating akathisia and fell into psychosis, hallucinating that she had harmed her children. Rather than identifying this...
2025-10-0759 minThe Gaslit TruthFrom OCD to Polypharmacy Hell: Safa Asgari's Fight for Mental Health TruthSend us a textPsychiatry's dark patterns know no borders. In this eye-opening conversation, Safa Asgari reveals his three-year journey through psychiatric treatment in Iran that mirrors the experiences of countless patients worldwide.What begins as a straightforward OCD diagnosis quickly spirals into a nightmare of polypharmacy and cascading misdiagnoses. After experiencing severe side effects from Prozac, Safa finds himself labeled with bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and ADHD - each new diagnosis bringing additional medications rather than recognition of adverse drug reactions. At one point, he's simultaneously taking ten different psychiatric drugs."Deep...
2025-09-3048 minThe Gaslit TruthBeyond Control: Psychiatry's War on Minorities with Rev. Fred Shaw Jr.Send us a textWhat happens when psychiatric systems designed to "help" actually hurt the most vulnerable among us? Minister Fred Shaw Jr., a powerhouse advocate with decades of experience fighting for children's rights, pulls back the curtain on psychiatry's troubling relationship with minority communities.Shaw's journey began when his own son was diagnosed with dyslexia and recommended for psychiatric intervention. Rather than accepting the prescribed path of medication, Shaw chose alternative educational approaches that ultimately helped his son overcome his reading challenges. This personal experience sparked a lifelong mission to protect children from unnecessary...
2025-09-2356 minThe Gaslit TruthMental Health in Family Court: A Safeguard or a Weapon?Send us a textMental health stigma becomes a weaponized battleground in divorce and custody proceedings—a reality that impacts countless families navigating the family court system. In this eye-opening conversation with family law attorney McKenna Zimmerman, we peel back the layers of how mental health diagnoses, treatment decisions, and even therapy records can dramatically alter the trajectory of a family court case.Zimmerman reveals the hidden power dynamics at play, particularly through the role of the guardian ad litem—court-appointed attorneys who represent children's interests with remarkable investigative authority. These legal professionals can access medi...
2025-09-1648 minThe Gaslit TruthCharlie Kirk: A Lesson in Ethics, Neutrality, and Freedom of SpeechSend us a textFreedom of speech lies at the heart of democracy, but what happens when speaking your truth is met with violence and death? The tragic loss of Charlie Kirk has revealed a disturbing trend among mental health professionals who have abandoned their ethical obligation to neutrality, celebrating the death of a human being simply because they disagreed with his political views.Drawing from our extensive experience as therapists in the prison system, where we worked with individuals who committed heinous crimes while maintaining professional neutrality, we examine the stark contrast between proper...
2025-09-1224 minThe Gaslit TruthMy Doctor Was My Dealer: A Healthcare Worker's Descent Into Benzo DependencySend us a text"They told me Ativan would be a part of my life for the rest of my life. Well, they were right—but not in the way they thought it would."Meet Luanne Wall—registered nurse with 41 years of critical care experience, wife, mother, grandmother, and survivor of benzodiazepine dependency. When pandemic stress, family illness, and mounting anxiety led her to seek help from her doctor in 2021, she received a prescription for Ativan to be taken three times daily. What followed was a descent into dependency that would affect not only her life...
2025-09-0959 minThe Gaslit TruthStimulants, Schools, and the Scam You Never Saw Coming with Sheila Matthews Co-Founder AbleChild.orgSend us a textHave you ever wondered why schools seem so quick to suggest ADHD medication for children who don't sit still? The truth behind this practice is more disturbing than most parents realize.Sheila Matthews never expected a single school meeting about her seven-year-old son would launch her into a two-decade fight against the psychiatric labeling and drugging of children. After witnessing another mother testify before Congress about the devastating effects of school-mandated medication, Matthews made a bold decision to refuse an ADHD diagnosis for her own child. This choice led her to...
2025-09-0249 minThe Gaslit TruthCrossing Zero: The Art & Science of Deprescribing with Anders SorensenSend us a textWhen you've been told your brain chemistry is permanently broken, the idea of coming off psychiatric medication can feel terrifying—or even impossible. But what if everything you've been told about these drugs is based on an outdated model?Psychologist Anders Sorensen joins us to shatter the myths surrounding psychiatric medication and share evidence-based approaches to safely tapering off these drugs. With his PhD in psychiatry and years of clinical experience, Anders brings a unique perspective that bridges psychological understanding with pharmacological expertise.At the heart of our conversation is...
2025-08-261h 04The Gaslit TruthRethinking My Own True Acceptance: Willy Millard’s Journey to AuthenticitySend us a textThe moment Willy Millard walked in on his parents meeting with school officials asking "What did we do wrong?" after he came out at age 12, he knew the journey ahead wouldn't match the promised narrative. That painful memory still resonates years later as he navigates the unexpected complexities of identity both within and beyond the LGBTQ+ community.In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Willy shares how he discovered that coming out didn't lead to the unconditional acceptance he'd been promised. Instead, he found himself trading one set of boxes for another – now ex...
2025-08-1956 minThe Gaslit TruthAntidepressants Steal Your Sexuality and Humanity | Cael's Story of PSSD & Psych Med HarmSend us a textWhat happens when the medication prescribed to help you ends up stealing fundamental aspects of your humanity? We sit down with Cael, a courageous 22-year-old who sought help for college anxiety at 19 and ended up trapped in a web of psychiatric medications that permanently altered his ability to feel emotions and experience physical pleasure. His story exposes the devastating reality of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, a condition that affects one in every 216 antidepressant users yet remains buried in medication inserts and dismissed by doctors.Cael walks us through his journey from normal...
2025-08-1245 minThe Gaslit TruthKim Witczak Exposes Dangerous Drug Practices: SSRI, Su!c!de, Violence, and Big Pharma’s Deadly SecretsSend us a textHow can a seemingly harmless prescription for a sleep aid turn fatal? When Kim Witczak's husband Woody died by suicide after just five weeks on Zoloft—a medication prescribed not for depression, but for trouble sleeping—she was thrust into an unexpected role as a pharmaceutical safety advocate. Her journey from successful advertising executive to FDA committee member reveals the shocking truth about how drug companies manipulate research, hide side effects, and prioritize profits over safety.Kim's discovery of internal Pfizer documents exposed that pharmaceutical companies have long known about dangerous side...
2025-08-051h 02The Gaslit TruthBreaking Free from Chronic Pain with Dr Clayton Dir Physical TherapistSend us a textHave you been told your pain will never get better? That surgery is your only option? That you just need to learn to live with it?Dr. Clayton Durr, performance physical therapist who has worked with champion athletes across powerlifting, strongman, and CrossFit, joins the Gaslit Truth Podcast to challenge everything you've been told about chronic pain. Sharing eye-opening insights from his practice, Dr. Durr reveals how our own brains can create "anticipatory pain" even after tissues have healed—and how the medical system often fails to address this crucial disconnect.
2025-07-2949 minThe Gaslit TruthSanity Before Vanity: Nutrition as Mental Health Medicine with Dr. David WissSend us a textHave you been conditioned to believe that nutrition's only purpose is weight management? This groundbreaking conversation with mental health nutritionist Dr. David Wiss shatters that myth, revealing how the food industry has deliberately gaslit us into focusing on calories rather than food quality.Drawing from his journey as a registered dietitian turned whistleblower, Dr. Wiss explains how he discovered troubling conflicts of interest in nutrition education. Food companies sponsor webinars about the "safety" of high fructose corn syrup while promoting the oversimplified calories-in-calories-out model that keeps us trapped in diet mentality...
2025-07-2250 minThe Gaslit TruthCollege Readiness: The Hidden Cost of Being Overmedicated with Joanna Lilley M.A., NCCSend us a textMental health readiness is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of college preparation. While academic credentials and test scores dominate the conversation, students are rarely assessed for their emotional resilience and social readiness – the very skills that often determine their success.Our conversation with Joanna Lilley, a therapeutic consultant who works exclusively with college-aged young adults, reveals a troubling pattern. Many students who excel academically find themselves overwhelmed by college life, sometimes withdrawing after just days or weeks. The culprit? A lack of preparation for the independence, social navigation, and emotional regulation co...
2025-07-1541 minThe Gaslit TruthYour ChatGPT Therapist Is Gaslighting You About Mental HealthSend us a textThe AI therapy revolution promises accessible mental healthcare at your fingertips, but is this technological quick fix actually gaslighting us all? In this revealing exploration, we test ChatGPT's capabilities as a Freudian therapist and uncover both the appeal and the deeply concerning limitations of algorithm-based mental health support.When we prompted ChatGPT to analyze feelings of loneliness and depression, it responded with surprisingly eloquent and validating language—far more sophisticated than many human therapists might use. This linguistic prowess creates what we call "the illusion of support," a façade of und...
2025-07-0847 minThe Gaslit TruthPsych Nurse Blows the Whistle on Psychiatry's Inconvenient TruthSend us a textWhat happens when a decorated psychiatric nurse discovers the medications he's been administering for years might be causing more harm than good? David Wayne's world turned upside down in 2017—ironically the same year he won his hospital's Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award—when he read Robert Whitaker's "Anatomy of an Epidemic" and could no longer ignore the troubling evidence about psychiatric medications.David takes us behind the scenes of hospital psychiatry, revealing how he attempted to create honest educational materials about Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) only to have them rejected because, as h...
2025-07-0159 minThe Gaslit TruthECT the Shocking Truth: How Psychiatry Turns Brain Damage into Treatment with Deborah Schwartzkopff, ECT JusticeSend us a textHave you ever wondered what really happens during electroconvulsive therapy? Not what's shown in glossy brochures or described in sanitized consent forms, but the raw, unfiltered truth from someone who's experienced it firsthand?In this eye-opening conversation, we're joined by Deborah Schwartzkopff, a retired level one trauma nurse and the founder of ECT Justice, who pulls back the curtain on the psychiatric treatment that continues to be promoted as safe and effective despite mounting evidence to the contrary.Deborah takes us through her journey from adverse reactions to psychiatric...
2025-06-2454 minThe Gaslit TruthThe Mental healthcare system almost killed me, but I'm still here to tell the story. Sarah Trueb's Fight Against Medical AbuseSend us a textWhat happens when the very system designed to heal you becomes the source of your deepest trauma? Sarah Trueb's life changed forever when, at just 39 years old, she suffered a stroke after years of medication mismanagement and medical dismissal. Once a successful massage therapist helping others heal, Sarah found herself fighting for her own survival against a healthcare system determined to label her physical symptoms as "all in her head."Sarah's journey began with seeking help for PTSD following a family trauma. Instead of appropriate trauma care, she was immediately diagnosed...
2025-06-1753 minThe Gaslit TruthSuicide Swatted: The Dark Side of Psychiatric Human Trafficking with Gina FournierSend us a textWhat happens when institutions weaponize psychiatric care to silence whistleblowers? In this eye-opening conversation, former community college professor Gina Fournier shares her traumatic experience with what she terms "psychiatric human trafficking" – a harrowing journey that began when she questioned academic standards at her workplace.Gina's story unfolds like a dystopian nightmare – she was "suicide swatted" by her employer after speaking out, resulting in forced detention at a psychiatric facility where she received virtually no evaluation or meaningful treatment. The clinical certificates authorizing her confinement were riddled with irregularities, including one signed by a...
2025-06-101h 01The Gaslit TruthYour Complete Guide to Medication Tapering: The Final Stage Pt 3.Send us a textYou've been gaslit into believing medication tapering means cutting pills in half and taking them every other day until you're done. The reality? Your brain requires a much more sophisticated approach.In this final installment of our medication tapering series, we reveal the neurological science behind why standard tapering methods fail so many patients. Discover what's actually happening as your brain's receptors adjust when medication levels change, and why those challenging symptoms aren't a "return of your condition" but genuine withdrawal effects your prescriber may never have warned you about.
2025-06-0337 min