We thank Hayes and Jauhar for blogging about our recently published systematic review about withdrawal from antidepressants thereby keeping the spotlight on a vitally important issue impacting millions of people around the world. After decades of silence and minimisation any discussion that maintains public attention is invaluable. We now invite them to do what is […]
CEP survey report shows that antidepressant withdrawal can devastate lives
The following is taken from the conclusion of a CEP survey report published today on behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence entitled: ‘Antidepressant Withdrawal: A Survey of Patients’ Experience’: “The responses to this survey make clear the ruinous impact of antidepressant withdrawal on some individuals, as well as the failure of those […]
Research by CEP members reveals many doctors may be failing to warn patients about the risks of antidepressants
The All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence today publishes two new pieces of research, authored by members of CEP, which indicate that many doctors and psychiatrists may be failing to warn patients about the potential risks of antidepressants, and subsequently fail to recognise withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, sources of NHS support for patients, such […]
Millions at risk from antidepressant withdrawal, new review by CEP members concludes
The Journal of Addictive Behaviors has today published a new systematic review which shows that antidepressant withdrawal is much more widespread, severe and long-lasting than indicated by current guidelines, with millions of antidepressant users in the U.K. potentially affected. ‘A Systematic Review into the Incidence, Severity and Duration of Antidepressant Withdrawal Effects: Are Guidelines Evidence-Based?’ was undertaken by CEP members […]
CEP declares its support for Professor Peter Gøtzsche
The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry today issues a declaration of support for our colleague, Professor Peter C. Gøtzsche – co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration, Director of the Nordic Cochrane Centre, Professor of Clinical Research at the University of Copenhagen, and member of CEP. Prof Peter C. Gøtzsche is known throughout the medical world as a tireless […]
Whose interests does the Royal College of Psychiatrists really serve?
When you consult the Royal College of Psychaitrists’s website it proclaims that one if its primary aims is to ‘improve the mental health of individuals, their families and communities’[i]– thus, to act in the public interest. Recent events at the Royal College put that proclamation in serious doubt. The first concerns the College’s public position […]
Patients, academics and psychiatrists formally complain that the president of Royal College of Psychiatrists has misled the public over antidepressant safety
A formal complaint of misleading the public on a matter of public safety has today been lodged with the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) against its President, Professor Wendy Burn, and the Chair of its Psychopharmacology Committee, Professor David Baldwin. Burn and Baldwin stated, in a letter to The Times on 24 February, that: ‘[for] […]
The Royal College of Psychiatrists challenged over burying of inconvenient antidepressant data
The following letter was sent, by email, at 2.26pm today: To: Professor Wendy Burn, President – Royal College of Psychiatrists; Professor David Baldwin, Chair, Psychopharmacology Committee – Royal College of Psychiatrists. February 28, 2018 Dear Professors Burn and Baldwin On 24.2.2018 The Times published a letter signed by you, in your capacities as President, and […]
Peter Gøtzsche: Cipriani review does not add anything
This huge systematic review (Cipriani et al 2018) does not add anything to the knowledge we already had about depression pills. Briefly, the effects as estimated on the Hamilton scale are very similar to those reported in a another huge meta-analysis in early 2017 (Jakobsen JC, Katakam KK, Schou A, et al. Selective serotonin reuptake […]
Do antidepressants work? The new research proves nothing new
The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry 22 February 2018 For immediate release: Cipriani’s et al’s new research on whether antidepressants work has generated much excitement in the news media as well as the psychiatric community. The study has been represented by the Royal College of Psychiatrists as “finally putting to bed the controversy on anti-depressants“. This statement […]