Lady Gabriella Kingston said her husband Thomas Kingston died after making a ‘sudden impulse’ decision to take his own life after suffering an adverse effect to antidepressant drugs. At a recent coroner’s inquest, she said people need to be warned about the effects of medications used to treat mental health conditions.
The extant problem is any warnings that have been issued are not being heeded by enough prescribers. This is reflected in the year on year figures for antidepressant prescriptions which continue to rise.
There have been 151 drug regulatory agency warnings from 11 countries on antidepressants, including the UK. Of those, there have been 37 warnings on antidepressants causing suicide risk or suicidal behaviour and 27 studies on antidepressants causing suicide risk or attempts. The information is out there but the prescriptions keep going up.
The testimonies of indescribable suffering when taking the drugs and when attempting to withdraw from them cannot be ignored. While the focus is usually on those who were taking the drug, it should be highlighted that people can have horrendous problems withdrawing from the drugs as well. This isn’t so well publicised because for years, pharmaceutical companies and psychiatrists have been covering up the addictive effects of the drugs.
A common symptom of withdrawal is the return of the symptoms the drug was supposed to treat. Psychiatrists commonly say this is the ‘return of the mental illness.’ It’s not. This is withdrawal, an indication of addiction or dependency. After months or even years of taking the drugs, a body has adjusted to it. When the drug is taken away, it creates trauma within the body; the body is trying to adjust back to functioning without it.
Rather than recognising withdrawal reactions for what they are, psychiatrists will frequently insist on putting the patient back on the drug.
Here’s the stripped down narrative that the public should know; psychiatric drugs influence the normal functions of the body: they speed them up, slow them down, dam them up or overwhelm them and this is why a person experiences side effects. The drugs mask the real cause of problems, often denying a person the opportunity to search for workable, effective solutions.
It’s been said before, but it’s worth saying many times over. A person must be allowed to make a fully informed choice and they must insist on prescribers providing that information. There are no excuses. An informed choice could be a life-saving choice.
How many suicides does it take until regulators take drastic action?
