A timeline of missed opportunities

This film presents missed opportunities, in particular the potential role of prescribed medications as risk factors for suicide . This film presents a timeline from 2002 to 2019 in relation to England’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy.

A Timeline of Missed Opportunities:

Since making this film, and it is now several years old, the National Suicide Prevention Strategy has offered no response.

Music credits: [all made free to share under common license by Dexter Britain]
(1) ‘Perfect I am Not’
(2) ‘From Truth’
(3) ‘Chasing Time’

Film credits:
(1) ‘A message from Professor Louis Appleby’ for Zero Suicide Alliance (April 2017)
(2) ‘Remember Amy’ a Presentation by Beverley Thorpe for (AD4E) A disorder for everyone (July 2019)

Thanks to Millie Kieve for kindly agreeing to let me use the recording of her January 2004 phone call to Manchester Coroners Office.

Thanks to Marion Brown and Beverley Thorpe for their help with this film.

*For comments/replies made to this film please go to the foot of this page.

This film is for all those affected by suicide.

A definition of Akathisia: “presents people with a tortuous fight to stay alive. It is so uncomfortable, distressing & under-recognised by the medical profession that people often turn to ‘suicide as their only option. They literally think they are losing their minds.”

AKATHISIA:

Are you or someone you know suddenly unable to stop moving or agitated?

If so, and you recently started, stopped or changed the dosage of a medication, you may be suffering from akathisia. This disorder is also characterized by inner restlessness, anxiety, agitation, impulsivity, aggressiveness, insomnia, irritability, and hostility. Akathisia can lead to violence/suicide.

Akathisiais a disorder, induced as a side effect of medications (including SSRIs and antipsychotics), which can cause a person to experience such intense inner restlessness that the sufferer is driven to violence and/or suicide. It has been said, ‘Death can be a welcome result.’ For reasons related to the strong political and lobbying power of pharmaceutical companies, akathisia is rarely explained as a possible side effect of medications, and medical professionals and the general public know very little of the existence of this disorder.” (MISSD)


House of Commons, Suicide Prevention Report, 2016-2017

Anti DepAware archive

Mille and the Tsar, AntiDepAware, 9 Nov 2019

A Word to the Coroner, AntiDepAware, November 15 2019

Problematic Advice From Suicide Prevention Experts, Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, Volume 20, Number 2, 2018. By Heidi Hjelmeland, Katrina Jaworski, Birthe L. Knizek, and Ian Marsh

Centre for Suicide Prevention, Manchester

Working with the government, by Professor Louis Appleby, British Journal of Psychiatry, Volume 193, Issue 3September 2008 , p. 191

RSM Health Matters, Podcast, Episode 1: Antidepressants, Antibiotics and The Gender Pay Gap, April 2018, Professor Sir Simon Wessely and Professor Clare Gerada

Do Antidepressants Save Lives? A Comment On The 2016 Interim Report On Suicide Prevention By The House Of Commons Health Select Committee, by Professor Carmine Pariante, Huffpost, 6 Feb 2017

‘Mental health drug epidemic for children in Scotland’, Herald, by Helen McArdle, 27 October 2019

Suicide risk and the SSRIs, by Wessely S, Kerwin R, JAMA. 2004 Jul 21;292(3):379-81.
[Note: Professor Sir Simon Wessely has made available his extensive publications, though unfortunately he has not included this publication]

Treatment Emergent Violence To Self And Others; A Literature Review of Neuropsychiatric Adverse Reactions For Antidepressant And Neuroleptic Psychiatric Drugs And General Medications. By Clarke C, Evans J, Brogan K. Adv Mind Body Med. 2019 Winter;33(1):4-21.

Letter to the Editor: Newer-Generation Antidepressants and Suicide Risk in Randomized Controlled Trials: A Re-Analysis of the FDA Database. Hengartner M.P., Plöderl M. Psychother Psychosom 2019;88:247–248

Research News: SSRIs double the risk of suicide and violence in healthy adults. BMJ 2016; Ingrid Torjesen, BMJ 2016;355:i5504