2023-09-18 15:11:25
Antidepressants, anxiolytics, sleeping pills and psychostimulants have become the daily life of patients who do not always really need them. A campaign is launched.
In 2022, one in four Belgians have consumed psychotropic drugs. Consumption, in ten years, has increased by 70%. Mental health has deteriorated over the years, particularly with the covid crisis, but this phenomenon alone does not explain this explosion. Numerous campaigns have already been carried out to raise awareness among the population about the uses of these drugs and their harmful effects. They did not have the expected impact, regrets the Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke.
With the FPS Public Health, this week it is relaunching a new awareness campaign aimed at health professionals, whether general practitioners, pharmacists, but also psychologistss. The integration of the latter in the fight against the misuse of medications is also a first.
“The campaign is not led ‘against’ psychotropic drugs, but for their proper use,” says Thierry Christiaens, president of the Belgian Psychotropics Expert Platform, a stakeholder in the project. For certain patients (suffering from psychiatric disorders in particular), medication remains essential. But in many other cases, alternatives, such as psychological monitoring, are possible, and often sufficient.”
Serious side effects
Of the 370 million unit doses of antidepressants delivered in Belgium in 2022, 73.5% were prescribed by general practitioners. Gold, their side effects are not without consequences on health: loss of libido, headaches, insomnia, irritability. Effects which, if the drugs are prescribed incorrectly, can therefore worsen the patient’s condition rather than improve it..
The risks linked to the misuse of psychotropic drugs relate to their lack of effectiveness, but also to the dependence they can cause, to problems of confusion, or even falls, further points out Frank Vandenbroucke. Reason why we must move towards “more adapted use, through a more reasoned, in-depth and concerted approach“.
The campaign therefore aims to make doctors more aware of the need to favor the non-drug approach, dialogue with the patient, and alternative avenues, whether adapting the patient’s lifestyle or psycho-therapeutic follow-up. “Among young people, explains Sabine Tordeur, Director General of the Health Care DG, We use psychotropic drugs too often in the context of attention disorders or for the side effects they cause on brain stimulation during periods of blockade and examination. We have to stop this.”
If there is use of the medication, it is necessary pay particular attention to the duration of treatment and progressive withdrawalf, a question that should be addressed from the start, finally believe the experts from the FPS public health.
Consultations rather than medications
To stop the vicious spiral of psychotropic drug use, the FPS Public Health focuses on alternatives such as psychotherapy. But do we have enough psychologists to cope?
Frank Vandenbroucke is firm: “There is no shortage of clinical psychologists, nor waiting lists for first-line psychologists. The problem comes mainly from accessibility (especially financial) for the patient. We are working on it.”
The mental health sector has indeed benefited from an investment of 330 million, of which half was used to finance an agreement between psychologists and Inami for primary care. “3,000 psychologists are already approved,” says Frank Vandenbroucke, “which facilitates access for the patient.”
Quentin Vassart, president of the Professional Union of Psychologists, confirms, but adds some nuances. “I don’t agree that there are no waiting lists. 3,000 psychologists benefit from easier access to reimbursement, but this remains only the visible part of the iceberg of 18,000 psychologists what the country has. Of these 18,000 practitioners, many are active part-time, or work in institutions and are therefore not available.
The specialist also points out that primary care is used to establish a diagnosis. “Then, the patients are referred to other psychologists, and this is where they are faced with waiting lists. In addition, the problems treated by psychotropic drugs are not mild cases, but require follow-up of long term.”
And Web portal was designed for use by general practitioners, pharmacists and psychologists to combat the drug spiral by connecting these professionals. But other actions are also being considered within the FPS Public Health, such as increased transparency in terms of prescribing and dispensing by pharmacists. In the future, it will also be a matter of acting on supply, reduce the volumes available, reduce packaging, like what is being done with antibiotics (delivery of the exact number of pills needed rather than a whole box), explains Frank Vandenbroucke. But this takes time, a consultation with the pharmaceutical sector is planned,” concludes the minister.
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