Are You Hooked on Anti-Depressants?

Patrick Holford: Simple Wisdom for a Healthy Life

Do you even need them? Is a lack of anti-depressants really the cause of our suffering and are they causing their own suffering in withdrawal? One in two who try to come off them have significant withdrawal symptoms, half of which are classified as severe.

I interview John Read who is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of East London. He has published several research papers on anti-depressant medication. John is Chair of the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal.

We will also meet Luke Montagu, who became dependent on antidepressants and sleeping pills, had a horrific withdrawal and successfully sued his doctor. He then set up the Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry to campaign for change and provide support to others.

I’ll also be speaking with psychiatrist Dr Hyla Cass MD, previously Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and author of several books: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) , on how she helps people get off anti-depressants using an optimum nutrition approach. Her book Supplement Your Prescription was the first to show how prescribed psychiatric drugs deplete nutrients and how to correct this.

For more information about the connection between nutrition and depression visit the Depression and Mood topic section on my website.