Patients are STILL not being warned of withdrawal pain from depression pills, say experts
Patients are still not being warned how difficult it can be to come off antidepressants, say psychiatrists campaigning for a reduction in the needless use of the drugs.
Yet the withdrawal symptoms are frequently mistaken for a relapse in the condition for which the drugs were prescribed and, as a result, patients end up being put back on them. the psychiatrists are now calling for prescribing guidelines to be updated urgently.
Under present UK-wide niCe guidance, unchanged since 2004, withdrawal symptoms are described as ‘usually mild and self-limiting over about one week’. But research and patients suggest otherwise, with severe symptoms including nausea, insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks that can last weeks – or longer.
Last October, Mail research confirmed the frequency, severity and duration of reactions to antidepressant withdrawal was ‘more widespread, severe and longlasting’ than doctors had been led to believe, with nearly half of patients suffering severe symptoms (that’s 1.8 million in Britain).
now, in a letter published today in the BMJ, 14 of the world’s leading experts on antidepressant withdrawal are calling on niCe and the Royal College of Psychiatrists to review their guidelines urgently ‘to bring them in line with the scientific evidence base’.
they say it is ‘concerning’ that, despite overwhelming evidence that millions of patients battle to come off antidepressants for months or even years, two recent surveys show only a tiny proportion
recall being told anything about withdrawal effects, dependence or potential difficulties coming off the drugs.
‘the guidelines are misleading doctors about the extent to which withdrawal is an issue and this is causing devastating problems for many people,’ says Dr James Davies, a reader in medical anthropology and mental health at the University of Roehampton, and one of the letter signatories.
a review by Dr Davies, published last year in the journal addictive Behaviors, looked at 14 studies and found half of patients experience withdrawal when trying to stop or reduce their antidepressants; nearly half described their withdrawal as severe.
Dr Davies says the faulty guidance explains why, although the number of people being prescribed the drugs for the first time is slowly falling, millions are being kept on them for years.
He adds: ‘so what happens to a person who turns up at their GP surgery four weeks after stopping a drug, still experiencing withdrawal effects?
‘We fear those symptoms will be misdiagnosed as a return of their condition, and that doctors simply put them back on the antidepressants, leading to long-term use.’
the letter’s signatories cite evidence of the physical and emotional consequences of long-term antidepressant use, which range from weight gain to increased risk of dementia and even death.
NiCe is reviewing its guidelines on the diagnosis and management of depression. it is also developing guidelines on the ‘safe prescribing and withdrawal management of prescribed drugs’.
almost one in five scots were prescribed antidepressants last year, a total of 902,168 people.
in a petition to the scottish parliament, campaigners have urged the scottish Government to take action to ‘recognise and support’ people who have become dependent on and are withdrawing from prescription drugs.
Psychotherapist Marion Brown, who brought the petition on behalf of patient group Recovery and Renewal, said: ‘there seems to be enormous resistance to any criticism of antidepressants – although it is becoming ever more urgent this is fully investigated, as the evidence is becoming a tsunami of terrible suffering being experienced by patients, disbelieved by the medical profession.’
a scottish Government spokesman said: ‘the chief medical officer for scotland is convening a working group of experts to examine prescribing trends, including antidepressants.’