Questioning psychiatric treatment

Hi, I’m fairly new to this forum

Just a little background about myself. I was diagnosed with acute paranoid schizophrenia in January 2011. The hospital had put me on major psychotropic drugs . Years had gone by without any symptoms so I began to question my diagnosis. In 2016 I had abruptly stopped taking the drugs a couple of times which was not wise. Within a few weeks I went into withdrawal state. I was all over the place and ended up in hospital which is when they changed my diagnosis to schizoaffective bipolar type. So, they added a mood stabilizer to the antipsychotic. I was compliant with that for a period of time. The second time I had abruptly stopped taking psychiatric drugs in early 2017 I did some silly things made poor decisions and lost a circle of friends. I was devastated then went into a deep depression and suicide ideation and consequently ended up in hospital again. The hospital coerced me onto a community treatment order and put me on an injection of anitipsychotic and high dose of mood stabilizer. They told me at the start they cannot put me on antidepressants as it would cause mania or hypomania due to the bipolar diagnosis. However, they decided to put me on on an anti-deppresant anyway. I questioned why they put me on it when they initially told me anti-depressants would affect my mood. But they put me on it anyway. I was on it for a short period then stopped them, I had some withdraws such as dizziness that went away but continued the mood stabilizer and anitpsychotic.

I was still confused as to why I had not had any schizophrenic symptoms since January 2011. I began to research as I was baffled by all this. During early 2017 I come across a psychiatrist who criticizes the prevailing model of mainstream psychiatry. He argues and debates that psychiatry is a pseudo-science that they simply claim mental disorder is a brain disorder with an absence of any convincing evidence or proof. I got a referral by my doctor and made an appointment with him for a second opinion. After an hour of assessing me he was very direct and told me I do not have schizophrenia I do not have bipolar or depression. He told me the consequences of stopping the drugs abruptly but I had already knew that. I decided to come off the drugs very slowly under his supervision. The first being the mood stabilizer. He said it is an anticonvulsant that has no specific effect on mood, he said through emailing not to be bothered by what the hospitals told me as it is “rubbish” which is opinion only not established fact. So, I weaned off slowly over a period of 4 months. That was nearly a year ago and have found him to be correct on that.

I am now weaning off the antipsychotic slowly. I went to a compounding chemist. The hospitals and previous psychiatrists had me way above the recommended dose. Now well below the minimum dose I am doing fine but still have a while to go. When I told my psychiatrist the doses they had me on for years he given an eye roll.

Given that they have been incorrect and inconsistent on a number of treatments. And that the tapering off of the antipsychotic is going well at present. How can I be expected to trust and believe what mainstream doctors have presented to me as certain fact?

I am seeking clarity.. and to see if anyone else has a similar story?