Benzodiazepine Awareness with Geraldine Burns Garrett Burns

This is an episode I’m doing by myself addressing medical professionals to be more informed and cautious when prescribing. I list reasons people were put on benzos from a survey years back. I list books and websites for them to educate themselves and I ask them to take responsibility for their lack of knowledge and harm they have caused.

Melissa Bond is a narrative journalist and poet. In the years of her dependence on benzodiazepines, Melissa blogged and became a regular contributor for Mad in America.   ABC World News Tonight interviewed her for a piece in January 2014. Melissa is a respected writer on the perils of over-prescribing benzodiazepines and has been featured on PBS Story in the Public Square, Radio West, the podcasts Risk!, IGNTD, and Psychology Unplugged. The Salt Lake Tribune and the New York Post have both done features on Bond's book Blood Orange Night, her memoir about becoming dependent upon and the withdrawal process coming off of benzodiazepines. Blood Orange Night was published by Simon & Schuster in June 2022. Learn more at MelissaABond.com

Jennifer DeGuillio is a wife, mother of four and a health coach, who specializes in ketogenic living, nutrition, health and wellness. She has coached hundreds of women, who have successfully sustained a healthy lifestyle. Jennifer loves sharing knowledge and helping others. She is a passionate person who will go the extra mile and over-deliver.When an Iatrogenic illness to benzodiazepines took her by surprise, she used this same healthy lifestyle and positive attitude to approach her taper.  She is proof, not everyone has to suffer when tapering a benzodiazepine.https://linktr.ee/JenniferDeguilio 

Beth is a wife, mother and a Registered Nurse who is going to school to be a nurse practitioner and will be studying Functional Medicine once she gets her NP.  She also has her degree in Psychology.  She will tell you her amazing story from being one of the most debilitated survivors of psychiatric drugs in the benzo communities that many thought she would never heal.  But she did heal! Her story will encourage anyone who is sick and feels they can’t get better. Never give up the hope of recovering.  Don’t forget to stay tuned after the podcast for our post show conversation.

Jennifer Swantkowski has her masters in social work from the University of Houston, a post-graduate fellowship in End of Life Care, and a PhD in Clinical Social Work from Smith College in Northampton, MA.  She has worked as a family therapist at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA and was an adjunct professor at Boston College.  She then returned to Houston, Texas  where she served as an individual and family therapist at. The Menninger Clinic, was an instructor for individuals conducting their post-graduate Fellowships at Menninger and was also an adjunct professor at the University of Houston. For the last ten years, Jennifer has been in private practice working with adults providing individual and couples counseling.  In her practice, she focused mainly on professionals dealing with issues such as anxiety, addiction and relationship struggles;  as well as young adults who were failing to launch in their lives.  Unfortunately, due to a neuro-toxic reaction to an antibiotic and subsequent struggle to come off  the benzodiazepine prescribed for that injury, Jennifer stepped away from her clinical practice in 2020.  During this time away, she has focused on healing as well as heavily researching medication injury and benzodiazepine withdrawal.  She has written a book called The Waiting Room: My Journey of Recovery from Medication Injury and Benzodiazepine Withdrawal that will be out in early July of this summer.  She is currently working on a second book and creating YouTube videos on her channel ( jenniferswanphd) where she  discusses various issues related to benzodiazepine withdrawal as well as a separate series called Therapy from the Sidelines where she discusses a wide array of psychological topics.   She is passionate about being a part of advocacy and awareness efforts and serves as a member of the Medical Advisory Board for the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition. 

In our 2021 Recap Show we catch up with the same four we followed last year.  Hear how Jim Thompson, Mellie, Lisa and Ken are doing one year later.  I’ll also update you on a few others just so you can see the progression of healing and how life goes on after benzos.  I’ll also update on myself and what transpired at our November 8th hearing at the Massachusetts State House regarding our benzo bill.