From Ms C. Stillman-Lowe
SIR,—"Onlooker" should revert to "Mute Bystander" if he cannot produce more informed comment than that published on depression (PJ, January 8, p42). The claim that we are facing "an alarming dependence on antidepressants whose extension we must oppose at all costs" is simply bizarre.
For sufferers of chronic depression (like myself), antidepressants, prescribed and monitored by a consultant psychiatrist, are an essential tool in helping patients lead a productive life in the community. The need to take a drug to alleviate a specific condition is no more alarming in depression than it is in other chronic disorders such as hypertension or hypothyroidism. No one suggests pejoratively that a patient is "dependent" upon thyroxine!
For reliable concise information on depression, it is fortunate that pharmacy customers can turn to a recent leaflet produced by the Pharmacy Healthcare Scheme, rather than to "Onlooker".
Catherine Stillman-Lowe
Reading, Berkshire