Scottish and Welsh Parliaments Debate Psychiatric Drug Dependence and Withdrawal Over the last decade, the UK has seen dramatic increases in the number of people prescribed psychiatric drugs. In the British National Formulary, the prescribers bible, Chapter 4 represents Central Nervous System drugs including antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, antiepileptics and … [Read more...] about Welsh and Scottish Petitions on Antidepressant Dependence
Benzodiazepines
Akathisia, Depression & Suicide: The List
This post closes our series on akathisia. Along with posts on davidhealy.org, the other posts were: Akathisia Anthem 500+ Drugs that Cause Depression and Suicide – AKA Akathisia Akathisia Challenge Even Politicians get killed by Akathisia In 500 drugs that cause depression and suicide, we mentioned building a new list of drugs that can cause depression and … [Read more...] about Akathisia, Depression & Suicide: The List
500+ Drugs that Cause Depression and Suicide – AKA Akathisia
Billiam James' Akathisia Anthem released last week and available HERE is timely. Since this headline in Newsweek in May 2013, things have got worse. In America since 2015, life expectancy has been falling and in other developed countries it has stopped rising. Recent American studies have fingered rising suicide rates as one factor in this fall. In March 2013 in a post … [Read more...] about 500+ Drugs that Cause Depression and Suicide – AKA Akathisia
The WARM Network: Withdrawal and Recovery Meetings
New Initiative: The Withdrawal and Recovery Meeting (WARM) Network of Groups By Jennifer Bryant and Laurie Oakley This is a new initiative to give anyone who would like to start an in-person withdrawal group in their community a way to get started. We have created a free "toolkit" that contains a Guide for Facilitators, Suggested Group Format, Suggested Readings, List of … [Read more...] about The WARM Network: Withdrawal and Recovery Meetings
What a Surprise: RxISK taking entrepreneurs
It is worth wading through some slow moving stuff at the start of this post to get to the juicy bits. The Things Drugs Do Drugs do things. Company marketing divides these things into the one good thing the company wants you to focus on - good for a company bottom-line and the ninety-nine other "side effects" that we are doing our best to minimize. This issue came up in … [Read more...] about What a Surprise: RxISK taking entrepreneurs
Greg’s Dilemma: Feeling Blue
Magic bullet In Greg's Dilemma 1 and Dilemma 2, Greg outlined more than one dilemma linked to getting hooked to antidepressants and benzodiazepines. The responses to these posts were all over the shop - from pull yourself together, to entrust your life to God, to support for descriptions of positions others find themselves in. The responses also split in terms of what the … [Read more...] about Greg’s Dilemma: Feeling Blue
Greg’s Dilemma: Riding a Backwards Bike
Greg’s dilemma is one we all share – even John Junig. The easy bit of the dilemma has to do with dependence and withdrawal. Dr Junig’s line that he’s trained in neuroscience and behavior and can confidently say that Greg’s – or anyone else’s – difficulties on treatment with benzodiazepines, antidepressants or mood stabilizers, are just in their mind, just a matter of … [Read more...] about Greg’s Dilemma: Riding a Backwards Bike
Greg’s Dilemma: Riding a Bike Backwards
Editorial Note: Last week in Greg's Dilemma, Greg outlined the difficulties he had with dependence on and withdrawal from serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines. The first comment was from a therapist who seemed to say "pull yourself together". This eerily echoed the next part of Greg's dilemma - that could have been posted last week but was held over till this week. … [Read more...] about Greg’s Dilemma: Riding a Bike Backwards
Benzodiazepine and Antidepressant Dependence
Sally MacGregor has written about the horrors of dependence on olanzapine - see Olanzapine Withdrawal and Back In Olanzapine Waters. Here she picks up a conundrum - Primary Care Doctors react to the idea of Benzodiazepines as though they have been the greatest threat to the stability of society since World War II, while at the same time it seems still dishing out these drugs in … [Read more...] about Benzodiazepine and Antidepressant Dependence
Pilots and Antidepressants
Editorial Note: This post is by Julie Wood, the central figure behind SSRI Stories in its current incarnation. SSRI Stories has collected and posted 47 stories about pilots flying and crashing while on antidepressants. The majority are airplanes but several of the crashes involve helicopters. With the current focus on the possible contribution of psychoactive drugs to the … [Read more...] about Pilots and Antidepressants