Katinka Blackford Newman

Katinka Blackford Newman is a British journalist, documentary filmmaker and the author of The Pill That Steals Lives: One Woman's Terrifying Journey to Discover the Truth about Antidepressants. She is primarily known for her work investigating the adverse effects of psychiatric medication and for challenging the diagnosis of normal human emotions as illnesses that need to be medicated.

Career Documentaries Blackford Newman began her career directing episodes of Banged Up Abroad, Body Shock (Half Ton Man), Murder in the Family, and Channel 4's Surrendered Wives, based on the book Surrendered Wife by Laura Doyle.

Writing and journalism In 2012, Blackford Newman was prescribed the antidepressants mirtazapine and escitalopram for insomnia and stress. Shortly after starting the medication, she experienced psychosis and hallucinations.

She was hospitalised and placed on multiple psychiatric medications. When she reported feeling an acute inability to stop moving, and the medical staff failed to recognise that the medication had triggered a side effect known as akathisia. She moved to St Charles' Hospital in the NHS when her private health insurance ran out. St Charles' sectioned her and discontinued her medication. Her withdrawals lasted for three weeks, but she reported making a full recovery.

Blackford Newman continues to campaign for increased awareness of potential side effects associated with psychiatric medication and advocates for closer scrutiny of prescription practices. She describes severe adverse effects that she states resolved after discontinuation. The narrative follows her decision, as a documentary filmmaker, to investigate antidepressants and their risks. It raises questions about explanations of chemical imbalances, pharmaceutical practices, and the widening of indications for prescription. The book combines personal testimony with investigative material and includes her children in the account.

Filmography + Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2022 Rich & Shameless: "Girls Gone Wild Exposed" Director Documentary episode (TNT) 2014 Left for Dead by the Yorkshire Ripper Director TV film (Channel 5) 2008 Locked Up Abroad: "South Korea" Director TV episode (National Geographic) 2008 Locked Up Abroad: "Malaysia" Director TV episode (National Geographic) 2007 Locked Up Abroad: "Peru (Krista and Jennifer's Story)" Director TV episode (National Geographic) 2006 Bodyshock: "Half Ton Man" Producer Credited as Katinka Blackford Newman 1994 Forty Minutes: "Caraline's Story" Producer Credited as Katinka Blackford (BBC)