A HELENSBURGH campaigner is urging people in the area to share their views on government plans to address the problem of prescription drug dependence and withdrawal.

The call comes from psychotherapist Marion Brown, who brought a petition on the issue to the Scottish Parliament four years ago after becoming concerned about the number of traumatic withdrawal experiences among her clients.

That petition was closed by Holyrood’s petitions committee at the end of March – partly because of the start of the election campaign, and partly because of the launch of a Scottish Government consultation on the issue.

But the consultation closes on June 4 – and Dr Brown and her fellow campaigners are hoping that as many people as possible, in Helensburgh and Lomond and beyond, will share their views on the government’s proposals before then.

She said: “This petition received an unprecedented number of submissions from a very wide range of contributors and is of immense importance to the health, and especially the mental health, of the people of Scotland.

“We urge people to take a look at the online public consultation and to contribute their own responses, if they wish to, by the deadline of June 4, 2021.”

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Dr Brown has expressed concern for years at the physical and mental health effects of long-term dependence on prescription drugs – particularly antidepressants and benzodiazepines.

She believes that antidepressant withdrawal contributed to her late husband Charles’s suicide in November 2011.

The 58-year-old GP had Addison’s disease - a rare hormonal disorder which also causes depression - and had been taking the antidepressant Seroxat at a low dose for 25 years, before trying to gradually stop the medication when he retired.

The government’s proposals include an out-of-hours helpline for patients suffering from dependence and withdrawal symptoms, and “further research on the prevention and treatment of dependence on, and withdrawal from, prescribed medicines”.

As well as antidepressants, the proposals cover tranquilisers such as benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, opioid painkillers, and gabapentinoids prescribed for anxiety and nerve pain.

You can read the government’s recommendations at consult.gov.scot (click on the ‘Short Life Working Group on Prescription Medicine’ link), where you can also share your views.

The Scottish Government is also holding two online events as part of its consultation. These are taking place on Tuesday, May 18 and Wednesday, May 19 – find out more at bit.ly/dependencewithdrawal.

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