Feature

Kusuri-no-Check

"Check-up Your pills to Save Your Life"

No.13

Feature:
Anxiety/Panic Disorder and Drugs: Don't be so Afraid of “Anxiety”.

This feature focuses specifically on ‘anxiety’. The Message from Abroad is Mr. Charles Medawar, who has been working on the issue of drug disaster from citizens’ perspective for many years. He also played a central part in revealing the drug disaster caused by new type of ‘antidepressants’, so‐ called SSRIS (Paxil in Japan), which have been used in Japan since a few years ago.

SSRIs are originally developed as antidepressants. However, it is now considered to be effective for ‘panic disorder’ induced by ‘anxiety’, too, and its use has been rapidly broaden to include the treatment for such disorder. On the other hand, patients and their families have been reporting the cases of dependency and suicidality shortly after taking the drug. Nevertheless, due to the lack of understanding about the adverse effects by doctors, the risk remains widely unrecognized by public.

The core issue of the feature is the problems of SSRIs for ‘anxiety and/or panic disorders’, which were stressed by Mr.Medawar investigating the relationship between suicidality and so on, and the ‘gap’ between the patients’ views on side effects and those of doctors’.

Also, Dr. Umeda explains ‘panic disorder’, that really needs medical treatment and not.