Save the prescription pill victims

DR JAMES DAVIES, a reader in medical anthropology and psychology at the University of roehampton, is a member of the all-Party Parliamentary Group (aPPG) for Prescribed Drug Dependence. His research with Professor John read has been pivotal in identifying the extent of prescription pill dependency and to Good Health’s campaign. He says: Good HEalTH has shone a light where it has been sorely needed and has been key to bringing important changes — without it putting the problem of prescription pill dependency in the public eye and keeping it there, this issue could have easily died a death, leaving countless thousands suffering needlessly.

For years, people prescribed antidepressants had been complaining of suffering serious, and often long-lasting, symptoms when they tried to come off them, including akathisia, a movement disorder that makes it hard to stay still, anxiety and sometimes worse. Many were losing their jobs, their families, and sometimes their lives.

Yet the medical and psychiatric community claimed antidepressant withdrawal was not an issue and these patients were often told their symptoms were a sign they were relapsing, and their dose was simply increased.

In 2018 the aPPG for Prescribed drug dependence decided to investigate and found that about half the people who stop taking antidepressants experience withdrawal symptoms, with up to half of them reporting severe symptoms, which often lasted weeks, months or sometimes years.

The aPPG began an intensive campaign for doctors, psychiatrists and the department of Health to recognise the huge numbers of Britons suffering serious withdrawal effects from antidepressants and other prescribed drugs and to get them support.

Good Health took leadership on this vital issue. It was willing to stand up for the disenfranchised and injured voices that the medical establishment had largely ignored or denied.

It gave them a platform, telling their stories; Good Health’s journalists also examined the evidence, did all the due diligence required and published a series of major features on the scandal.

Their first piece of groundbreaking coverage that year went viral and prompted many other major media organisations to pick up the story. This generated a huge amount of public debate, putting the problem in the open.

Good Health also revealed that the existing guidance on antidepressant drug withdrawal was not based on independent scientific research, but came via a symposium in 1996 funded by a drug company.

all this put pressure on psychiatric and medical institutions and authorities to make changes.

It also sparked a backlash from many drug-companyfunded senior psychiatrists, who invested time and energy in seeking to undermine the campaign. The Mail stood firm.

as a consequence, in 2019, both the Royal College of Psychiatrists and NICE looked at the new evidence, listened to patient campaigners and sympathetic medical professionals and bodies, and changed their policies to accept that withdrawal from antidepressants and other prescribed drugs can be severe and protracted. The same year, thanks also to the campaign, Public Health England published a report recognising the scale of the problem, calling for prescribing guidelines to be updated (now in place for painkillers) and a helpline. Without the commitment of Good Health and its extensive coverage, it is unlikely the achievements so far would have happened. Its vital support is deeply appreciated.