Dr. Anne Guy: Prescribed Drug Dependence & Guidance for Therapists

Dr Anne Guy, UKCP (Reg), MBACP (Accred) is a psychotherapist in private practice, having previously worked as a lecturer at the University of Roehampton. She is a member of the Council for Evidence-Based Psychiatry, the secretariat co-ordinator for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence and an associate member of the Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal.
She is the lead editor for the “Guidance for Psychological Therapists: Enabling Conversations with Clients Taking or Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs” created in collaboration with leading UK therapy organisations and academics.
She has co-authored articles on patients’ and therapists’ experiences of psychiatric drugs and reports for the APPG describing current and potential service models for supporting prescribed drug dependence in the UK. She chairs the Withdrawal Services Working Group convened to define patients’ needs and sits on the NHS Advisory Group for the NHSE&I programme considering the implementation of PHE’s recommendations for action on prescribed drug dependence.
Prior to training as a therapist, she worked as a senior manager in financial services with a focus on process design and improvement.
This Medicating Normal conversation was hosted by Angela Peacock, MSW former Army Sergeant and subject of the film, Medicating Normal.

[@ruthie2222]

The Samaritans saved my life ❣️

[@jbs9012]

I looked for the links but unable to find. Thanks for all you do. Such a long dark and terrifying road.

[@MedicatingNormal]

Hi, what links? Perhaps I can help you find them.

[@jbs9012]

@@MedicatingNormal ummm it was mentioned near the end of the interview. But no problem. I am scared allot these days so sometimes researching helps to dissipate the wave. I wish I could go away somewhere until I am better. Being around others doing life makes my lack of life so much more pronounced.

[@elldev33]

This is gold. Thank you for this one 🙌🏻 Zoloft 5mg, Valium 2.45mg currently. On 3rd year of benzo taper.

[@lorrainerawson2724]

I'm in the UK, how do we get to speak with this therapist? Thank you

[@rheannak3934]

We have all kinds of evidence from us users on these support groups that these meds worked at some point at least partly and then sometimes they harmed some of us but that’s only in the tens of thousands....surely there must be evidence from the over 50 million users in the US alone that these meds do often work long term for a lot of people ?

[@MedicatingNormal]

At what point does it stop working though?

[@rheannak3934]

@@MedicatingNormal I don’t know, that’s a good question and shouldn’t there be some studies on that. I know I’ve been harmed but I just like to look at all sides , for those of us who did have some “real” issues like “true” OCD not “movie” OCD before starting on meds, as opposed to “normal” life stresses. I’m always unsure if those of us who did have those pre-existing issues should be following the path of those that didn’t have them. I’m just saying that there are 50 million users of psych drugs, surely there are long term studies somewhere showing things like effects of reinstatement etc. It sure would be nice to have that kind of data to look at. EDIT: I guess my question is …how many years to suffer before deciding reinstating provides less suffering ? Is there any data on that? I know people go live their lives when they aren’t sick any longer etc, but there has to be a better more scientific method than that to determine how many actually get better and leave the boards or actually reinstate . EDIT: I’m not against you, I’m just afraid I’m doing the wrong thing by going off because I’ve been suffering so long and even though I suffered on them especially towards the end, I was never as disabled or suffered so much before I started tapering. Aka This is the worst I’ve been.

[@MedicatingNormal]

@@rheannak3934 There is no money in studying psych drugs or coming off of them. Who would pay for that research? Each one of us has to research ALL SIDES and decide for OURSELVES what to do.

[@rheannak3934]

@@MedicatingNormal yes, I suppose you are right about it not being researched by professionals, if there is no money in it. For me, it’s so difficult to research when it’s all guesswork and i’m so ill. I know I’m preaching to the choir. It would be nice if people who used the support groups would fill out a questionnaire or follow up survey or something to fill in some of the gaps (on a larger scale basis than just a handful) stating if they re-instated or eventually got better etc as an aid to our own harmed community.

[@montesa9136]

@@rheannak3934 @Rheanna - EXACTLY! There is NEVER any talk about how to manage your original underlying condition once you decide to wean off your meds. Nor is there any talk about how many of these people who decide to come off their drugs actually recover. There is also no talk about how many people were saved by reinstating. People who are suffering want to feel they are being heard, & data needs to be collected ...... I've noticed a few of my comments have been removed