The above newspaper headline is from a report in the Kerryman newspaper, 27th November 2003. The report describes a “new training programme aimed at helping health service professionals to improve their skills in identifying people at risk of suicide”.
Research has repeatedly identified that akathisia is a potential risk factor for suicide.
The risks related to akathisia, including suicide, have long been known and were covered in this BMJ article published 2 decades ago:
Unfortunately, this ‘Lesson of the week‘, somehow, seems to have been overlooked in many of the Suicide Prevention Initiatives across the world:
The following short 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:
To play this film please click here.
To access full details in relation to this film, including references and credits, please click here.