Patients lack info on depression drugs

50% of people with depression stop pills early

Patients with depression would like to be given more advice about their medication.

Too little information on side effects and the recovery process was of particular concern to about 50 people questioned by the London School of Pharmacy.

About half of people given anti-depressants stop taking their pills after three months.

According to medical guidelines, a course should be taken for at least four to six months.

Most people surveyed were happy with the service they received from their GP.

But many found it hard to take in information given at the time of diagnosis.

'Labelled'

Sara Garfield of the London team says pharmacists can play a role in reinforcing advice given by doctors.

Depression: Diagnosis can be traumatic

"Some respondents found it traumatic to be prescribed medication for depression as their condition finally becomes 'labelled' and therefore real to them," she said.

"The research shows that patients can not always absorb information about their medication at the time of diagnosis in the GP's surgery.

"Pharmacists have an important opportunity to reinforce information at the outset of a patient's treatment."

Depression is one of the most common conditions in the UK, affecting one in five people at some stage in their life.

The World Health Organisation estimates that by 2020 depression will be the biggest global health concern after chronic heart disease.

'Information is enpowerment'

UK charity Depression Alliance says it is a very treatable illness but is still shrouded in stigma and misinformation.

"This new research confirms what many of us already knew: an informed patient is an empowered one, able to work with the medical professionals on their treatment," a spokesperson told BBC News Online.

"Depression Alliance is deeply concerned that with the current lack of available information for people affected by depression, there are many who are unnecessarily living their lives, and often ending them, in unbearable pain."

The research was reported at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester.