Stigma of problem conceals the crisis
Terrible thoughts from a pill that was a nightmare
RAAF employee Sarah Stewart, 26, was living a nightmare after suffering “devastating” suicidal thoughts just days after starting an antidepressant.
When she was prescribed the pills by a GP five years ago because of mild depression, she was warned about nausea, but not the risk of feeling suicidal.
“I immediately got really bad nausea for a week straight, as well as really bad nightmares and suicidal thoughts. I’d never felt that suicidal before the medication. It was very scary.”
The Wollstonecraft resident was brushed off by her doctor when she raised the issue and was instead told to stay on the pills and see a psychiatrist.
“I was told to just stick with it,” she said. Eventually, she tapered off the drug under the guidance of the psychiatrist, who warned against using the generic brand of antidepressants because of the risk of side effects such as nausea and headaches.
After six months of dealing with withdrawals, the support of her partner, a job as a corrections officer and a gym routine kept her motivated.
Her suicidal thoughts eventually stopped a few months later and since the medication, she says she feels she was “forever changed”.
“I wasn’t the same, it was really hard to get off the drug and I thought my brain was ruined forever,” she said. “And this medication was meant to help me.
“Once I had the suicidal thoughts, it was hard to not go back to them. It’s very scary.”
Now, Sarah says there should be black box warnings on antidepressants about the risk of suicidal thoughts to ensure that people know what to look out for and when to reach out to their doctor.
“People should know about the risks. There should be more warnings. Doctors should say something but the box should too,” she said.
“It’s really important, especially for young people.”
Sarah Stewart, 26, suffered suicidal thoughts after taking antidepressants. Picture: Justin Lloyd
but that 10.6 per cent of the children from the 2000 families her practice sees each year are taking antidepressants.
“I have actually heard parents say that it’s much cheaper to just get the medication rather than to go and have the therapy,” she said.
A study by academics Martin Whitely and Melissa Raven and child psychiatrist Jon Jureidini last year found a 66 per cent increase in the use of the medications in young people in the past decade.
They found this was associated
with a 49 per cent increase in youth suicides.
The authors could not prove antidepressants caused the suicides but noted “there is clear evidence that more young Australians are taking antidepressants and more young Australians are killing themselves and self-harming, often by intentionally overdosing on the very substances that are supposed to help them”.
Recent research by Sydney University’s Rose Cairns found the drugs meant to beat depression were being used in self-harm and suicide attempts.
A Productivity Commission inquiry into mental health last year found there was evidence the medications were being prescribed to people without a mental illness, contrary to people’s preference and before alternatives had been tried. Medical guidelines state psychological therapy should be tried before drugs are prescribed.
THE full extent of the harrowing effects of antidepressant medications on young Australians cannot properly be conveyed because of the ongoing trauma and stigma associated with the problem.
In the course of researching this article, I spoke to numerous families who, in part, blame these medications for the loss of their child to suicide but they did not want their stories publicised.
What I learned was that, in many cases, young children are being placed on these medications as a first-line treatment before any psychological therapy is attempted.
Parents are not warned of the suicide risks and, sadly, some have actually been bullied by psychiatrists who threaten to make their child a ward of the state if parents object to using the drugs.
I have spoken to many patients who relayed the extreme difficulty they faced weaning themselves off these medications — a process that takes years. They said it left them exposed to suicidal thoughts.
“I met with one doctor who said that paroxetine is harder to get off than meth and just wished me good luck,” one young woman placed on the drugs at age 15 told me.
Recent academic studies have uncovered that past medical research into the usefulness of antidepressants is based on faulty data. In some key studies, people who took their own lives while using the drugs were wrongly assigned to the placebo group but the studies were never corrected.
Many of the suicides connected to the drugs will not be reported as adverse events.
Australian medicines watch group NPS Medicinewise reported last week that fewer than 5 per cent of adverse events linked to medications are ever reported. The system is voluntary and doctors, fearing lawsuits, have no incentive to record the problems.
One simple move that could be made to ensure patients and parents are aware of the risks of these drugs would be to introduce prominent suicide warnings on the packets.