EnglishMad in America SCIENCE, PSYCHIATRY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
From Hyde Park, London, to a Global Movement: Marking Stolen Lives on Prescribed Harm Day
By
April 27, 2026
Editor’s Note: This article is appearing simultaneously on our affiliate site, Mad in the UK.
Three years ago, on 29 July, a small group of us gathered together in Hyde Park, London. It was something we set up through Antidepressant Risks, the not-for-profit I founded to improve informed consent around antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs, raise awareness of their potential harms and adverse effects, and give voice to those whose experiences are too often overlooked or dismissed.
There was no stage, no formal programme, no infrastructure. Just people who had been affected, directly or indirectly, by prescribed medication and who felt that something important was missing from public conversation.
What was missing was space.
Space to acknowledge harm that is often misunderstood, minimised, or overlooked altogether. Space to speak openly about experiences that do not fit neatly into prevailing narratives. Space to discuss the often overlooked agony of psychiatric drug withdrawal, and to share stories of PSSD and other legacy effects that can persist long after the drugs have been stopped. Space to remember those who are no longer here.
That first picnic was simple, informal, and quietly powerful. People came with their own stories, their own losses, their own questions. Some spoke. Some listened. Some brought photos of those who had lost lives lost to prescribed drug harm and they lit candles. Some simply sat in the presence of others who understood in a way that is hard to explain unless you have lived it.
What began as a small gathering has, over the past three years, grown steadily. Not through large campaigns or institutional backing, but because the need for it has become increasingly clear.
Each year, more people have found their way to the Stolen Lives picnic. Some are individuals who have experienced adverse drug reactions or difficult withdrawal. Others are family members who have lost loved ones and are trying to make sense of what happened. There are clinicians, journalists, campaigners and those simply seeking to understand.
What connects them is not a single viewpoint or ideology. It is a shared recognition that the story of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs is more complex than it is often presented, and that within that complexity, there are lives that have been profoundly affected.
Through Antidepressant Risks, we have tried to hold that space, not as a campaigning organisation in the traditional sense, but as a platform for informed consent, lived experience, and open conversation.
This year marks a significant evolution.
For the first time, we are hosting a dedicated Stolen Lives London Talks event in collaboration with A Disorder 4 Everyone ahead of the picnic. There will be a number of guest speakers, both experts and those with lived experience and it will take place in a private venue, creating a more structured space for reflection, learning, and dialogue before we move to Hampstead Heath for the informal picnic gathering.
Alongside this development in London, something else has begun to take shape.
What started in Hyde Park has resonated far beyond one city. Over the past year in particular, we have heard from people in different parts of the world who have been following Stolen Lives and who are asking how they might take part.
In response, we are launching the first Stolen Lives Global Picnic through Antidepressant Risks.
On 29 July, which we mark as Prescribed Harm Day, we are inviting individuals and communities around the world to host their own Stolen Lives gatherings. These can be as simple or as structured as people wish. A few people meeting in a local park. A small group gathering in a garden. A beach, a woodland, a public green space.
Already, picnics are being organised in Michigan, Corsica, Lyon, Vancouver, Australia, and the Netherlands, with more across the United States to be announced. What is emerging is not a single event, but a distributed, global act of recognition.
There is no requirement to replicate the London event. In fact, the intention is the opposite. The global picnic is designed to be decentralised, flexible, and locally led, with Antidepressant Risks providing a framework and support for those who wish to host.
What matters is the act of marking the day.
What matters is creating a space, however small, where people can come together to acknowledge harm that is often invisible. To remember those who have died. To support those who are still struggling. To share knowledge and experience in a way that feels grounded and human.
In a world where much of our discourse takes place online, the act of gathering physically, even in very small numbers, carries weight. It brings a different kind of presence. It allows for conversations that are harder to have in digital spaces. It creates a sense of shared reality that cannot be replicated through screens.
At the same time, the global nature of this initiative reflects a wider truth.
The issues that sit at the heart of Antidepressant Risks are not confined to one country or one healthcare system. The use of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs is widespread across the world, and so too are the challenges around informed consent, adverse effects, and withdrawal.
By inviting people to host their own picnics, we are not attempting to build a centralised movement with a single voice. We are creating a framework within which many voices can be heard, in many different places, each shaped by local context and individual experience.
As we approach this year’s Prescribed Harm Day, there is a sense that something important is unfolding.
The London event has grown into a meaningful annual gathering. The addition of the talks programme allows for deeper engagement with the issues at hand. And the launch of the global picnic opens the door for participation on a scale that was not imaginable three years ago.
And yet, at its heart, the essence remains unchanged.
A group of people coming together. Stories being shared. Lives being remembered.
In a culture that often moves quickly past discomfort, there is value in pausing. In marking a day. In saying, collectively, that these experiences matter and that they deserve to be seen, heard, and understood.
Whether in London or elsewhere in the world, our invitation is simple.
Join us. Mark the day. Create a space.
Because behind every statistic is a life, and behind every life is a story that deserves to be acknowledged.
For more information about the Stolen Lives London Talks and Picnic, and to find out how to host your own Stolen Lives gathering anywhere in the world, visit AntidepressantRisks.org.
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Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussion—broadly speaking—of psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers’ own.
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https://www.antidepressantrisks.org
Katinka Blackford Newman is a London-based life coach, journalist and author who works with high-achieving professionals to help them go from stuck to unstoppable. She is the author of “The Pill That Steals Lives” and the founder of AntidepressantRisks.org, a not-for-profit organisation raising awareness of the risks and harms associated with antidepressants. Drawing on her background in documentary filmmaking and health journalism, her work sits at the intersection of mental health, behaviour change and lived experience. www.kbnlifecoaching.co.uk
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