The following is a guest post from author and researcher, Beverley Thomson.
Bev has featured on this blog in the past, here and here.
--
I wrote this article for Joey Marino some time ago and Joey and I intended to publish it. It was never the intention it would be following the news of his passing away on January 14th, 2024.
Joey Marino loved life. He always had hope until the doctors so willing to prescribe the drugs had finally given up on their victim. “You have a one percent chance of getting better. There is nothing we can do. It is incurable.” “It” was incurable iatrogenic damage caused by legally prescribed medication. Joey’s hours and hours of voice messages and our conversations convinced me his life must be a lesson to us all; most importantly that one prescription for a psychiatric medication can lead to a life ruined by poly-drugging and entrapment in a mental health system unfit for purpose. In what kind of health system can patients become so vulnerable that every living hour of every day is a constant fight to stay alive? Joey Marino did not want to die and if anyone asks, it was peacefully, in his sleep. What actually killed him should be a lesson to us all.
--
March, 2023
At 63, Joey Marino is trapped in a living hell. His body is controlled by Tardive Dyskinesia and Akathisia. Constant involuntary repetitive body movements like jerking, writhing, grimacing, sticking out his tongue and the smacking of his mouth and lips are the result of eight years of poly-drugging with psychiatric medications. “How I am alive I do not know”, he tells me. It started with a prescription for Prozac during a period of situational anxiety. He became suicidal within days, something he had never previously experienced. “I don’t think my body will hold up much longer, but I don’t want to die. To be or not to be that is the question” he told me in a recent voice message.
This resonated for so many reasons and took me back to my school days when I studied Hamlet. "To be or not to be"; is the first line of a famous soliloquy from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Prince Hamlet thinks about life, death, and suicide. He wonders whether it might be preferable to commit suicide to end one's suffering and to leave behind the pain and agony associated with living. However, he quickly changes his tune when he considers that nobody knows for sure what happens after death, namely whether there is an afterlife and whether this afterlife might be even worse than life. This realization is what ultimately gives Hamlet (and others, he reasons) "pause" when it comes to action. Hamlet fears the uncertainty dying brings and is tormented by the possibility of ending up in Hell—a place even more miserable than life.
Joey Marino describes his life now as “one in hell” and like Hamlet, his troubles are numerous and unending. For years he was judged to be mentally ill because no professional picked up on the fact it was the medications causing adverse reactions and making him increasingly debilitated. Repeatedly abruptly withdrawn from drugs, reinstated, dosages increased, given cocktails of antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics and never any acknowledgement it was iatrogenic harm. He was Gaslit by professionals and family and made to feel guilty for his understandable anger and resolute inability to forgive those who have harmed him.
Joey is an actor and lives in California. He worked for years on the successful TV drama ER. He tells me he was previously obsessed with true emotion. He was a storyteller, communicator, a connector who lived life spontaneously, always taking care of himself mentally and physically.
Many people think these cases are rare…they are not. No one knows how a drug will affect them until they take it. Why do we often not remember life gives us the opportunity to be our true authentic self, unharmed and undamaged by unnecessary drugs. We all have the choice to learn about these drugs and the harm they have the potential to cause. We all have the right to take them if we wish but we should be informed there are no guarantees they will not change the course of our life. The number of suicides caused by akathisia is undoubtedly hidden, often willfully by the powers that be. If suicide prevention organizations truly wish to reduce suicide rates, then prescription drug-induced suicide is an issue they must address. Whether it be because of relentless thoughts of suicide or the intolerable physical adverse effects, in some cases prescription medications are killing us. It is very easy to find many celebrities who have perhaps ended their lives due to akathisia.
“Creatives are sensitive souls” Joey tells me. “This does not need to happen to people, and it is happening every day. Neurologists have nothing to offer when the harm is done.” At this time, I agree, though there appears to be a new generation of professionals who seem to make spurious claims about regeneration of our brains and nervous system. We must wonder if the damage, in some cases is ever repairable. Time will tell.
I like Joey Marino and feel privileged to know him. The nine-hour time difference between us has done nothing to prevent me understanding his true selfless and charming character. I hope we can find someone who can help him…I hope someone is out there. I hope we learn from his courageous suffering.
Few of us will have the opportunity to play Hamlet……every one of us has the chance to become Joey. Don’t let it be you.
--
Joey passed away on January 14th, 2024.
--
No comments: