Former NHS Psychiatrist Dr. Clive Sherlock on Drug Harm, Withdrawal, and “Adaptation Practice”

Host Katinka Blackford Newman interviews Dr. Clive Sherlock, a medically trained doctor and former NHS psychiatrist, about why he began questioning mainstream psychiatry, realising there was no discovered or published biological cause of conditions like depression, and later facing managerial pressure to prescribe drugs, which led him to resign despite losing income, status, and pension.

He describes harms he observed from psychiatric drugs, including sexual dysfunction that persisted after stopping, sedation and loss of vitality, and suicides on the ward. After studying philosophy, he trained in Buddhist-informed approaches focused on emotion, learning to locate feelings physically in the midrift and “bear” them rather than suppress, distract, or overthink. He outlines key pillars of his “adaptation practice,” including daily structure, prompt responding, wholehearted action, and gradually building tolerance for distress, and explains that most clients now seek help tapering and withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. He shares how the practice made him calmer and reduced resentment, and directs listeners to adaptationpractice.org.

00:00 Welcome to Med Free

00:32 Meet Dr Clive Sherlock

01:11 Questioning Psychiatry Origins

03:59 Pressure to Prescribe

05:48 Drug Harms Witnessed

08:44 Turning to Buddhism

10:12 Feeling Emotions in Body

13:03 Bearing vs Avoiding Feelings

16:46 Adaptation Practice Basics

22:23 Who He Helps Now

23:29 Tapering and Withdrawal Support

29:49 Akathisia and Gradual Bearing

31:27 Why It's Called Adaptation

32:14 Personal Transformation

35:31 Emotion as Life Energy

36:40 Where to Learn More

37:01 Closing Thanks and Outro