Brooke Siem

Multi-hyphenate artist, Food Network “Chopped” Champion, & author of the award winning memoir MAY CAUSE SIDE EFFECTS.

Brooke Siem was among the first generation of teens to be medicated with antidepressants. After spending half her life—and her entire adult life—on antidepressants, she wondered: Who might I be without them?

Nine years after taking her last antidepressant and now fully healed from what was once assumed to be lifelong depression, Brooke’s mission is to share the story of what happened after she booked a one-way ticket to Malaysia and got off all the psychiatric drugs.

Unfurled against a global backdrop and her work as an award-winning chef, Brooke’s story chronicles explosive and terrifying antidepressant withdrawal and the fight to manage the modern mental health system, all while demanding hope and forgiveness in the name of healing.

as featured by

Out now.

May Cause Side Effects

Brooke’s memoir is now available to buy wherever books are sold.

This is a heart-rending and tender memoir that will start conversations we urgently need to have. It’s moving and important.
Johann Hari, author of New York Times bestseller Chasing the Scream and international bestseller  Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression—and the Unexpected Solutions

Get the Book Now

Other Work

More about Brooke

Chef to Pro Athletes & CPG Consultant

In addition to her work in antidepressant withdrawal education, Brooke is an award-winning chef specializing custom meal planning & preparation for professional athletes. She is also the co-author of the cookbook, Prohibition Bakery, a Zagat 30 Under 30 honoree, and her food writing has been featured in EatingWell Magazine, Esquire, Tasting Table, and more.

For more information on her culinary work and availability, please click here.

chefbrookesiem.com

Brooke Siem Fine Art

In 2023, Brooke Siem began oil painting in secret after the publication of her award winning book on psychiatric drug withdrawal, MAY CAUSE SIDE EFFECTS.

Put on a cocktail of antidepressants as a child in the wake of her father’s sudden death, Brooke spent most of her life medicated until, at 30, a psychiatrist pulled her off her drugs and sent her into horrific antidepressant withdrawal that had one beautiful side effect: her visual field quite literally, turned from gray to technicolor.

Moved to capture the experience of transitioning into an unmedicated world, Brooke’s work is an elegy to darkness, light, and the process of awakening. Her work falls into two categories: small, monochromatic pieces on paper that exist as remnants of turmoil and unrest, and larger, bold expressions of color inspired by cubism, futurism, and the nature of consciousness itself.

Brooke is self taught, with no formal training.

brookesiem.art

The Fuckit Bucket™

Ever the entrepreneur and delighted by the phrase “Sometimes you have to chuck it in the fuck it bucket and move on,” Brooke decided she wanted a little bucket charm to carry around that would help remind her to lighten up.

It didn’t exist. So she made one!

Get your own Fuckit Bucket™

Follow Brooke on instagram

@brookesiem