Brief background and history In October 2016 a Scientific Symposium was arranged in Gothenburg by The Extended Therapy Room Foundation. In the invitation one could read: PHARMACEUTICALS – risks and alternatives The number of psychiatric diagnoses and prescriptions of pharmaceuticals to children, youths and adults have sharply increased in Sweden as well as the rest …
This is the first conference of the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, and will bring together international experts in the field, and leaders from many different countries. The three themes underpinning the conference are safe withdrawal from psychiatric medication, alternatives to psychiatric medication, and the need to question the dominance of medication in mental health care.
Coming off psychotropic drugs can cause physical as well as mental withdrawal resulting in failed discontinuation attempts and unnecessary long-term drug use. The first reports about withdrawal appeared in the 1950s, but although patients have been complaining about psychotropic withdrawal problems for decades the first – tardive – acknowledgement by psychatry only came in 1997 with the introduction of the ‘antidepressant discontinuation syndrome’. It was not until 2019 that the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists, for the first time, acknowledged that withdrawal can be severe and persistent. By Jim van Os and Peter C Groot.
Mental Health Europe (MHE) launches a new resource for people experiencing mental health difficulties.
This week on MIA Radio we turn our attention to support for those who are struggling to withdraw from psychiatric drugs. Recently in the UK, this issue has become headline news with more and more attention being given to the work of groups such as the Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry and peer-led initiatives such as the Bristol Tranquilliser Project.
A brief update on some recent developments regarding psychologist prescribing rights and licensing psychotropic drugs.
In this short video, IIPDW Board Member John Read outlines some of the work being undertaken to update UK NICE guidelines on antidepressant withdrawal. The video was produced by the University of East London.
IIPDW Board member John Read contributes to a piece in the Scottish Herald written by Health Correspondent Helen McArdle.
From The British Medical Journal. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has amended its guidelines on depression to recognise the severity and length of antidepressant withdrawal symptoms.
Auður Axelsdóttir and Magnus P. Hald discuss his work and the development of a drug free psychiatric ward in Norway.