Dependence and withdrawal: how to better support patients

A review investigating dependence and withdrawal issues associated with five commonly prescribed medicines in England has been published by Public Health England (PHE), reviewing the latest evidence and highlighting patients' experience. As World Mental Health Day approaches on 10 October, findings indicate that antidepressants in particular, are being prescribed in much greater numbers and for longer durations, whereas prescriptions of benzodiazepines and opioids have fallen in recent years (PHE, 2019).

The PHE (2019) review was a response to a call from the Minister for public health and primary care in 2017 for PHE to identify the scale, distribution and causes of prescription drug dependence, and what actions may be taken to address it. The mixed-methods public health review, which was produced in response includes analysis from PHE of all NHS community prescriptions in England from 2015–2018, supplemented by longer-term prescription data. It also includes an independently commissioned rapid evidence assessment of articles published in the 10 years between 2008 and 2018 on prescription medicine-associated harms, withdrawals, risk factors and service models, and documents summarising patients' experiences of taking these medicines and of treatment services (PHE, 2019).