As a teenager, ICI founder Laura Delano was told she needed psychiatric medication to live a normal life. Despite taking up to six different drugs at once, her dysfunction and distress only deepened. After 10 years of struggle, she asked: What if I am not sick in spite of these drugs, but because of them?
As she searched for answers, Laura learned the hard way about the risks of tapering off psychiatric drugs too quickly. She discovered a lack of scientific evidence behind their usage, and the arbitrary process by which her diagnoses were constructed. Laura also found the most valuable and insightful information came not from mental health professionals, but from the stories of others with similar experiences.
This harrowing, exhilarating story inspired the birth of the Inner Compass Initiative. We are a nonprofit run by and for people who, like Laura, once turned to the mental health industry for answers but ultimately didn’t find them. At the heart of what we do is your right to the information, resources and support you need to make fully informed choices, guide your own growth, and tell your own story.
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ICI exists to provide what I wish I’d had: information, resources, and people who can help us orient after we feel like we have fallen off the map.”Read more about ICI
– Laura Delano, Founder and Executive Director
Inner Compass Exchange (ICE) is a private and community-led platform for the kind of togetherness that only comes from those who've been there. By joining ICE, you'll find:
We talk with Kelly Davis about her experiences of brain injury, psychiatric medication withdrawal, and healing through shared stories and art.
