Mental and physical health should be treated equally
pharmafile | November 26, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Campbell, Lundbeck, depression, kofi annan, wiinberg
The need for a new approach to depression that gives it equal importance to physical health was the focus of the Economist’s global depression summit yesterday.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan began the conference by announcing that the treatment of depression must become a ‘global priority’, before adding the current climate contains a worrying lack of political resolve.
This is despite many of the speakers demonstrating that it should get equal attention to physical health, and that the barriers between the two are not as clear as some may believe.
Speaking at the event former Labour spin-doctor Alastair Campbell who has suffered from depression, equated being asked: “What do you have to be depressed about?” to being asked: “What do you have to be cancerous about?”
Nick Haekkerup, Denmark’s minister for health, added: “We need to create a healthcare system that does not discriminate, a system that takes and treats a broken mind and a broken leg on an equal basis.”
According to figures publicised at the summit, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and affects 350 million people globally – and more than 30 million people in Europe.
The stigma of antidepressants
Simon Wessely, professor of psychological medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, spoke out against the perception of a natural antagonism between psychological treatments and drugs in his talk.
“At the treatment level we have a false dichotomy between psychological treatments and pharmaceutical treatments,” he said. “The evidence is overwhelming that the two together work better than either on their own, particularly when it comes to relapse prevention.
“They are often seen as morally different, or there’s something morally wrong about being on antidepressants […] It’s demeaning and stigmatising to those who take antidepressants.”
Similarly, Anders Gersel Pedersen, executive vice-president of R&D at Lundbeck, told Pharmafocus: “[There is] a notion in the population that [antidepressants are] a harmful thing to do, something you just need to get out of as quickly as possible.
“It’s obvious that there are side effects with every medication you take, including antidepressants. We should be careful with that, we should be observant of that and the patients should be made aware of that, but they should not be scared by it, because in the assessments that companies and health authorities do, if the risk-benefits balance isn’t right then it wouldn’t be there.
“If I have a heart problem and I take heart medication I will have side effects, but I will still take my heart medication, because I know that it’s good for my heart.”
Among the other notable speakers at the conference were Norman Lamb, minister of state for care and support, who highlighted his drive for more mental health funding in the UK government, and HM Treasury worker David Kinder, who shared his own story of suffering with depression at work to much praise from the audience.
Also due to speak at the Lundbeck-sponsored event was its chief executive Ulf Wiinberg, but the firm’s leader did not attend following his resignation the day before.
To read a more detailed review of the summit including interviews with the key speakers, look out for the next issue of Pharmafocus and subscribe here.
George Underwood
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