Today is the 15th anniversary of this old blog of mine.
What began as an individual grievance after I was harmed by GlaxoSmithKline's Seroxat and disregarded by the British drug regulator, MHRA, turned into something far different after discovering thousands of other people across the globe were similarly harmed by SSRIs and related systemic deceit.
Now--over 2.5 million hits, a published book, and two awards later--I sometimes still have to explain to people that what they claim as SSRI facts are actually SSRI myths. That the pharma/psych industry's disinformation campaign is still going strong is a testament to their expertise in spinning fake news. And while it continues to amaze and disappoint me that this systemic fraud is a leading cause of disability and death, I find satisfaction in knowing my blog has helped countless people better recognize prescribed harms and avoid them.
Before embarking on this 15-year journey, I was a ufologist; this helped prepare me for all the attempts to discredit my reporting regarding SSRI harms. "You're a crank, conspiracy theorist, flat-earther" are some labels thrown at people who believe there is intelligent life beyond earth. Drug safety advocates are similarly called conspiracy theorists, pill-shamers, Scientologists, right-winger's, etc. Many of these attempts to slander come from psychiatrists via social media platforms. The drug-safety arena is far more disturbing than is the world of ufology.
When my blog launched on April 6, 2006, Facebook and Twitter didn't exist. One could only promote their research and writing via various online forums, many of which were infiltrated by pharma and pharma-funded "charities." Typically, these plants would attempt to pass themselves off as patients who proclaimed their lives were saved by depression pills, which I call brain pellets. But occasionally, the charades grew more sinister, and some people resorted to internet stalking and identity theft.
The drug safety world is less harsh today, but it's still unstable. There's a new breed of advocates, many of whom have the backing of organisations and "key opinion leaders." While these partnerships may help move the patient-safety ball forward, they can also create similar problems we've seen from the pharmaceutical and mental health industry alignment. Those with different opinions are labelled or blackballed or told they can't have their lived experience shared because they spoke to a publication or radio show that wasn't "mainstream" enough. This labelling and gaslighting revictimizes families who were prescribed harm. Ironically, some patient and drug safety advocate groups unwittingly do pharma's work--censorship--which benefits pharma.
I'm glad my blog never blackballed or silenced people with lived experiences of prescribed harm. While I wish I had had some sort of organizational backing when I started campaigning 15 years ago, in hindsight, not having such made my blog better. Bloggers like me, Truthman, Leonie Fennell, and Anti-Dep Aware had to make do with a keypad and a driving curiosity to independently uncover the facts. That we were unaligned with charities and special interest groups helped us candidly report what we knew and leave the PR whitewashing for others.
These days, ufologists aren't often labelled, not since the US Govt admitted in 2017 that they've had official teams investigating reports for decades. Perhaps one day, governments will do the same with drug-induced "suicides" and homicides committed whilst under pharmafia products' influence. I won't hold my breath as I imagine we'll see the presence of UFOs confirmed before we see this.
Thanks for the last 15 years, folks. Your support and guidance have been much appreciated. At times I've felt like John Coffey walking the green mile at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. I've lived and breathed this toxic business of selling sickness far longer than any would desire.
"I'm tired, boss."
Bob Fiddaman
