The mental illness industry is obsessed with telling people not to become dependent on anything: don’t rely on substances, don’t lean on coping tools too much, don’t build habits that might create “addiction.” But then, the very same industry hands out brain chemical pills that people are supposed to take every single day, regardless of how they feel, regardless of whether their nervous system actually needs it. Dependence is suddenly mandatory when it’s a substance that Big Pharma sells.
I’ve lived this firsthand. I tried antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. I was on the first one for five weeks, and it sparked suicidal ideations that intensified over time. But the hospital’s “embedded” psychologist refused to listen. The cold hand of the corporate healthcare system shunted me off to a psychiatric hospital for a week, where abuse, neglect, and polypharmacy nuked my nervous system back to preschool. As soon as I was free from that warehouse of human misery, I threw the pills in the trash. Even with the short duration, I experienced months of withdrawal, which were awful! The industry calls this “Discontinuation Syndrome” as if the issue is within the person and kind of a mystery, but it is withdrawal.
Still, desperate for relief from severe Complex PTSD, I tried a different medication. The negative effects of Cymbalta were so severe that I quit after three days. I will never go on a psychiatric medication again, because I now understand that these substances are not biologically necessary for anyone’s nervous system. They’re not inherently regulating, and they don’t respond to the actual needs of the body or mind.
Meanwhile, the same people and organizations that want to pathologize medical marijuana or other self-directed coping tools act like this is a moral failing. “Don’t depend on substances,” they say. Unless those substances are pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors. Then, suddenly, daily dependence is normal, necessary, and responsible. That’s not science. That’s control. That’s hypocrisy.
From an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, what matters is the capacity to regulate, integrate experience safely, and build resilience. A substance or tool can be supportive, but medications that impose a fixed state, ignore context, and provoke negative “side” effects do not support regulation; they dull responses. They mandate a dependency that maintains the system that profits from compliance. That’s not health, care, or science, but gaslighting and mass exploitation.
Medical marijuana is different in my case, because I can use it as-needed. I don’t have to take it if my system doesn’t need it. I can scale it up or down. I can stop if I need to, without being punished by withdrawal. That’s regulation in practice, not coercion. It’s a tool I use because my nervous system requires support after what I’ve been through, not because a company decided I needed a daily chemical dose to keep living.
The irony is brutal. The system tells you to avoid dependence on coping strategies, but it makes you dependent on drugs that don’t actually help your nervous system meet its real needs. And when you find a tool that *does* help you survive and integrate trauma, suddenly that is labeled as risky or wrong. That’s not treatment. That’s a trap.
I don’t need psychiatric pills. I don’t need a system that pathologizes survival or shames me for being unable to function well when my core biological needs are undermined. I need tools that actually support me, that respond to my body’s needs, and that allow me to process, integrate, and live. That’s the lesson. And that’s why I’ve stopped relying on the so-called solutions the mental illness industry pushes. They are neither necessary nor aligned with biology, nor with the actual work of staying alive, processing trauma, and building a life worth living.
Thankyou so much Shay for sharing the abuse you survived under a system that well I have only met people in my local community who have been retraumatized too instead of helped by this so called “Mental Heatlh Industry” It appears to be a widespread issue which is why sharing your experiences are so important. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to share your story with a group out of Massachusettes called Mad in America.
hear, hear!
What are the core biological needs that are unmet in us who have severe CPTSD?
From an Interpersonal Neurobiology perspective, the core biological needs that are chronically unmet in people with severe CPTSD involve safety, connection, and regulation. These needs are not abstract, but embodied.
First, there’s the need for co-regulation. Human nervous systems are designed to settle in the presence of steady, attuned others. Without this, our systems remain in a constant state of alert, scanning for threat, unable to rest. Chronic CPTSD usually develops in contexts where this stabilizing presence was inconsistent, unavailable, or harmful.
Second, there’s the need for predictable, non-threatening environments. When threat is constant—whether from caregivers, institutions, or social hierarchies—the body’s stress response stays elevated. This overload prevents natural homeostasis, and every sensation, sound, or touch can trigger survival reactions.
Third, there’s the need to have one’s bodily and emotional experiences witnessed and mirrored. Being seen and understood in our states—without judgment or contempt—provides the feedback the nervous system relies on to learn it is safe. In severe CPTSD, this validation has been repeatedly denied, leaving the nervous system dysregulated and hypervigilant.
Finally, there’s the need for autonomy and agency over one’s own body and life. When that is systematically violated, the nervous system experiences chronic threat signals, reinforcing patterns of hyperarousal, shutdown, or dissociation.
In a nutshell, what is unmet is steady human presence, safety, attuned validation, and the ability to influence one’s environment. When these core needs are denied over time, the nervous system is left in a prolonged state of survival rather than life.