My Journey Through the Dopamine Agonist Crisis

For the final six years of my late father Alan John Williams's life (1945–2023), I served as his primary carer, by his side through every hospital and rehab admission except his final day on 24 July 2023. His dopamine agonist-induced compulsions—from risky investments and repetitive spending to binge eating—shattered our family, fueling his divorce from my mother and contributing to my own family breakup.​

I always doubted his 2017 frontal-lobe vascular dementia diagnosis; it made no sense. Months earlier, his GP noted no issues, and just one month post-diagnosis, a specialist mental health nurse confirmed his mental capacity. We battled daily to overturn it amid relentless infections, hospitalisations, and compulsions, but time ran out with the health ombudsman.

In 2018, our second daughter arrived amid self-employment strains, halting further action. Regret lingers for not being there at his passing. Normality seemed possible until Noel’s BBC News article on 26 July 2025 reignited everything, triggering my first mental breakdown on 29 July—the day I embraced sobriety. I confronted alcoholism head-on with two weeks in Spain and Porto, Portugal, proving my resolve on my 14 August birthday.

Frequent GP visits, the pressure of self‑employment and caring, and unresolved grief eventually led to my own mental health crisis. Coming to terms with this has strengthened my determination to ensure that what happened to my father is properly recognised as a medication‑related tragedy, not written off as inevitable decline. That determination now drives Dopamine Justice Alliance: advocating for victims, challenging unsafe dementia diagnoses and prescribing, and pushing for joined‑up support for families.