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.
This week on Mad in America Radio we turn our attention to psychiatric drug withdrawal and in particular the work of the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal.
Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs is an issue which is rapidly gaining attention in many parts of the world. For example earlier this month Public Health England published a report calling for services for people struggling to come off antidepressants and benzodiazepines.
Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs is an issue which is rapidly gaining attention in many parts of the world, yet professional medical circles can sometimes be remote from the discussion. The International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (IIPDW) was created in 2017 to respond to the need to widen the debate and to develop ways to assist people withdrawing safely from psychiatric drugs.