DR ELLIE: Antidepressants ARE worth the risk - and I should know, I've been on them for 15 years - Daily Mail

I didn't really plan to announce on live television that I take antidepressants – it just happened, sort of.

We were discussing the fact that, during the pandemic, prescriptions for the pills have increased, and also a new study that suggests 56 per cent of patients relapse a year after stopping taking them – which raises the question, should some people take them long-term, a bit like diabetes medication.

Antidepressants are, I’d say, among the top ten drugs I most commonly prescribe.

I’ve noticed this increasing year on year, which I think is partly due to greater awareness of mental health, meaning more people come forward for help, and partly due to the fact that more people are actually suffering from mental illness – although that’s another story.

I wanted to show that ordinary people, who are parents and who have normal jobs, can suffer mental health difficulties.

Doctors, just like anyone else, can get unwell, and when we do we need treatment.

I was accused of ‘encouraging people to take antidepressants’ – when I was just explaining some of what patients needed to know in order to make their own decisions.

I won’t go into it any further, as a lot of it doesn’t deserve the oxygen.

But I will say this: more than 20 million prescriptions for antidepressants were written in the UK last year, so it’s not surprising this is an area of interest and debate.

On Friday, NICE put out draft guidance to further help doctors who prescribe these and other drugs that cause these problems.

Often they’re called ‘sticking plasters’, because pills don’t tackle the root cause of mental illness.

But sometimes you need a sticking plaster, and I’d say my own experience is a case in point.

I take antidepressants for anxiety, which they’re shown to treat effectively.

Like a lot of people, I have been through traumatic life events, but I don’t think my anxiety is linked to anything.

That is exactly how I feel when I’m anxious – almost completely paralysed and unable to motivate myself.

I also hate being alone.

Dr Ellie, Holly and Phil were discussing the fact that, during the pandemic, prescriptions for the pills have increased, and a new study that suggests 56 per cent of patients relapse a year after stopping taking them – which raises the question, should some people take them long-term.

I don’t feel anxious about what should make people anxious.

I remember being on holiday, aged 20, with my boyfriend, now husband, and him saying: ‘Do you realise that you tell me you feel sick every night?’ I suppose I’d just thought it was normal.

So much so that, while on it, I’ve tried to trigger my own feelings of anxiety by thinking about stuff that normally worries me – like something dreadful happening to the kids when they are on their way home from school.

So, yes, antidepressants do help me live my best life and enjoy normal things, untroubled by ridiculous thoughts.

I take antidepressants for anxiety, which they’re shown to treat effectively.

And this is the experience for the overwhelming majority of people on antidepressants.

Some patients will feel like I do, and some will get no benefit, just side effects.

Every year nearly 17 million people in England get a prescription for a potentially addictive drug, including antidepressants.

We also offer ‘social prescribing’ – flagging up local services such as gardening clubs or gyms, which can help people feel better.

I wasn’t on them when the pandemic hit last year, but like many people I found my mental health suffered so I went back on them, and once again they’ve done what they’re supposed to.

They also think they’re fighting to help people, and I’d disagree with that too.

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