Your Life Line

PEOPLE who have been prescribed some of the most common anti-depressants have been urged not to stop taking them without seeking medical advice.

The advice comes after a study published earlier this week claimed that SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors), including fluoxetine (Prozac) and paroxeteine (Seroxat) do not have any significant effect in most cases.

A spokesman for Bournemouth and Poole Primary Care Trust said: "These treatments are a lifeline for some people."

"They are prescribed on the basis of need as a treatment for moderate to severe depression. We know new guidance is due to be issued by NICE later this year and we will take that as our steer."

Mental health charity Rethink said doctors, patients and campaigners had been urging the government for years to spend more money on talking therapies.

"Evidence shows that therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy are at least as effective as pills and can benefit people with severe mental illness as well as those with mild depression," said a spokesman.

"It is vital that people who have been prescribed anti-depressants do not stop taking them without talking to a doctor. Suddenly stopping medication can be very dangerous."

Roger Browning, chief executive of mental health services provider Dorset Health Care Trust, said: "Where possible we actively encourage people to manage depression without the use of anti-depressants, although it is fair to say that they remain helpful to some patients."

"Talking therapies can have long waiting times of up to 18 months in some parts of the country."

"In Bournemouth, waiting times average just nine weeks, among the shortest in the country and we are working to further reduce these to three weeks by the end of the year."

Mr Browning added that the trust was making changes to the way services are provided in Poole and surrounding areas from April so that people could receive treatment as quickly as in Bournemouth.