Medication and the Offical Opinion of Psychiatry

[Blueghost]

Hello Doctor. Last year I started having severe anxiety after quitting alcohol.
Saw a Psychiatrist who put me on Lexapro, now this really stuffed me up. For the first 4 or 5 days I felt great, but by the 2nd week I was slipping and by week 6 I felt worst then I ever felt in my life. I had constant anxiety, depression My arms and legs felt strange and out of coordination and it felt like my entire frontal lobe was disabled. I was unable to think to myself, like my head was empty, and totally lost all emotions except fear and dread. During this time everything was scary, even turning on a light or a noise was enough to set me off. My resting heart-rate was about 120bpm, I lost 26 pounds and became completely agoraphobic.
I stopped it and 90% of my symptoms dissipated. I then I saw my Psychiatrist again, who was angry because I came off the lexapro, and after talking with her about panic and agoraphobia, she told me that once I had it that it was impossible to get rid of it. She said that I could "improve" but would never recover.  I saw a therapist (in the same office) who also told me that I could never recover from agoraphobia and should consider the possibility that I can never live independently, or go back to my job ect.
Well, I did recover, and now I have taken a new job, moved to Asia and work a job where I have to give public speeches in front of 100+ people and it does not bother me. However, I still feel anger towards my "former" doctor and therapist as I feel they were a major hurdle in my recovery.
I have to ask is this the official position of the Mental Health field that when someone has Agoraphobia that they can NEVER fully recover--only "improve?" whatever improve means......
Have you ever seen a patient recover from panic disorder or agoraphobia?
Also, have you ever had a patient have such a bad experience with an SSRI as I posted above?
Last question, is it possible lexapro damaged my brain?

[Jaquta]

I'm sure many doctors enter the field of psychiatry, not only because they're a little bit nuts themselves, but because they have ego issues and like to control others.

That is the stance of many psychiatrists and that is that mental illness can be managed but not cured.

As someone diagnosed with a mental illness I find this stance incredibly aggravating.  I personally have found interacting with psychiatrists (not Dr Gould) the most destructive and detrimental aspect to my recovery.  Inexperienced therapists come a close second.

That anger does lessen with time.  I think it helps when we make progress but I also think that it can be extremely complicated.
I feel my blood boiling just reading your post and reflecting on global and personal injustices at the hands of so-called mental health professionals.

I'm sorry you were treated so poorly by people who should have known better.
It must be incredibly satisfying proving them wrong every single day.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

People do recover fully from agoraphobia and panic disorders, as you have proven. No, it it not the official position that you never recover..quite the opposite. Regarding lexapro, it has not damaged your brain, but you can have the exact same symptoms you described, which are a combination of the underlying anxiety and the known effects of the medication.