'Addiction to Prescribed Medicines' - Council of Europe’s draft report

[Nomansland]

From the IIPDW ("International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal") Newsletter:

 

IIPDW responds to the Council of Europe’s draft report on ‘Addiction to Prescribed Medicines’         IIPDW has submitted a response to the Council of Europe about their provisional report on ‘Addiction to Prescribed Medicines’, which was released in December 2021. The final report is due to be published in March 2022.  You can read the draft report here: Addiction to Prescribed Medicines (note: old version, see below for the updated version!) The Council of Europe is Europe’s leading human rights organisation. Founded in 1949, it includes 47 member states, with a population of approximately 820 million, and operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million. In the Council of Europe, government ministers from each country meet to discuss, amend and adopt laws, and coordinate policies. The ministers have the authority to commit their governments to the actions agreed on in the meetings. We are very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to comment on the recommendations the Council is preparing to make on this important subject. Our response highlights that although the report has briefly included antidepressants in its scope, there needs to be more focus on antidepressants, especially considering the recent rise in prescriptions and their withdrawal syndrome. We also emphasise the need to distinguish between addiction and dependence when talking about this issue, as ‘addiction’ is not appropriate for talking about antidepressants. And, we ask that the report calls for guidance to withdraw carefully and safely from prescribed medicines. Our response was submitted at the same time as the UK's Danny Kruger MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence submitted a response which you can read on their website.      Read our Response         Update: In accordance with the responses received, a new draft report was published on 15th February which takes into account these requests. Notably, the author Joseph O'Reilly is currently seeking signatures in agreement with the following amendment to the draft: In paragraph 2.2. of the draft recommendation, replace “of addiction to prescribed medicines” with: “of addiction to/dependence on prescribed medicines, including support to withdraw carefully and safely,”     note: Updated version -> Read the Updated Draft Report

[Nomansland]

For convenience:

 

Direct link to the report site, where you will always find the latest version -> https://pace.coe.int/en/files/29618

 

Direct link to the updated pdf as of February 15th -> https://pace.coe.int/pdf/13a2f39cdf4321d765d29cd762e5bc836afcf3c09da0217eae6353a8a8eb831b/doc. 15454.pdf

 

And here is the important part for antidepressants from the updated draft:

 

"19. Moreover, while antidepressants play an important role in treating depression and anxiety, it is essential to address how people will ultimately stop treatment. People may suffer withdrawal reactions after stopping antidepressants, as well. Discontinuation problems vary according to dose, treatment duration, and the individual antidepressant.

 

They may be mild or non-existing, but also disturbing and unpleasant or even severe, including dizziness, nausea, anxiety, panic, mood changes, sweating, agitation, insomnia, nightmares, and electric shock sensations as common symptoms. The dose of antidepressant needs to be lowered very gradually, usually over several months or longer, with the final stages of withdrawal requiring particularly small reductions.38

 

38. Mark Abie Horowitz, PhD, Prof David Taylor, PhD, “Tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate withdrawal symptoms”, Published: March 05, 2019 DOI."