On this episode, we hear from Vincent Schmitt and Yoko Motohama, parents of Romain, a 16-year-old boy who tragically ended his life in 2021 after being prescribed a high dose of Paxil — known in France as Paroxetine — and suffering the effects of akathisia for several agonizing months.

Yoko Motohama was born in Japan and earned a Ph.D. in computer science. She did postdoctoral research in the United Kingdom and spent a decade in Japan as an entrepreneur importing French wines.

Her husband, Vincent Schmitt, a native of France, also earned a Ph.D. and became a lecturer in mathematics and computer science at the University of Leicester. Now based in France, close to Lyon, Vincent focuses on applied mathematics in the research department of a multinational company.

Romain Schmitt was born October 12th, 2004, in Leicester, United Kingdom, the son of Vincent and Yoko. When the boy was four years old his parents decided to relocate the family — which also included Romain's younger sister — to France, and not long after that to the Japanese countryside. Romain had already learned English and French and now became a fluent speaker of Japanese. After nine years the family returned to France, in 2018, where 13-year-old Romain started the third year of middle school. He had a good mind for math and physics and was interested as well in geography, philosophy, politics, and even nuclear science and energy, which his grandfather taught him about. Romain was also a good swimmer, played rugby and tennis, and aspired to become a professional soccer player, like his idol Cristiano Ronaldo. His love of the game even inspired Romain to master a fourth language, German, so that he could better follow his favorite team, Bayern Munich.

READ THE FULL EPISODE 18 TRANSCRIPT

On this episode we hear from two remarkable individuals who are at the forefront of a collaborative effort to raise awareness about the critical issues of mental health and polypharmacy challenges faced by our military personnel and veterans. Joining us are Wendy Dolin, the founder of MISSD, and Mike Tellerino, the director of K9s for Veterans. Together, they are working to combat the devastating effects of medication-induced harm, polypharmacy, and akathisia-induced suicidality within our military community.

On this episode, we hear from Denise Collins, whose husband, John, died in 2018, nine days after going on the antidepressant Citalopram, better known in the United States as Celexa. Earlier this year, her book, What Happened To John?: A memoir of enduring love, mental health, and suicide, was released and is available now in paperback and for Kindle. Denise spent three years researching, writing, and doing her best to recover following the tragic death of John and her experience of becoming a widow. The book opens on what Denise calls Day Zero, Monday, the 29th of October, 2018, a day that began "quite unremarkably," she says, but later that day, two uniformed police officers appeared at her front door. "In that moment," she writes, "I was blissfully unaware that life as I knew it had ended and that a living nightmare was about to begin."

Her website, denise-collins.com, is aimed at what she terms "corporate clients." She coaches female executives on developing their authentic leadership style and building a sustainable work/life balance. Her specialties are: Guiding People In Discovering and Celebrating Their Unique Personal Power (UPP©) Supporting Those Navigating Life After Loss and Teaching Resilience And How To Embrace Change.