This morning I received a distressed email from Tania Morgan, a 59-year-old former headteacher who I interviewed for the Daily Mail last year following her son’s tragic adverse reaction to an antidepressant.
Tania and her husband Ian had told the story of their son Sam, 25, who took his own life a week after starting taking the medication; They believe his suicide was a direct result of the drug.
She wrote: ‘HELP. I don’t know who to turn to, but I can’t turn a blind eye to what is happening and I owe it to my son to not let this matter go. I am writing to you this morning in despair, frustration and anger.’
Tania’s anger had been unleashed yesterday with the news of the investigation into the death of Thomas Kingston, Lady Gabriella Windsor’s husband.
The coroner had said: “Evidence from his wife, family and business partner supports his lack of suicidal intent.” He was suffering adverse effects from the medication he had recently been prescribed.’
Thomas Kingston had been given several anti-anxiety and antidepressants, a type known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), to help him sleep and deal with stress at work.
But in February this year, the 45-year-old financier was found dead in his parents’ Cotswolds home with a head wound caused by his father’s shotgun.
Since her son’s death five years ago, Tania has campaigned tirelessly for regulators to warn people that antidepressants can cause even those with no history of mental illness to take their own lives.
Lady Gabriella Windsor with her husband Thomas Kingston, who committed suicide in February after suffering adverse effects from medication he had recently been prescribed.
The couple outside St George’s Chapel, Windsor, on their wedding day in 2019
He has written numerous letters, including to the medical regulator, the MHRA (the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency); the health secretaries of England and Wales; Nadine Dorries, then Minister for Patient Safety, Prevention and Mental Health; then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Tania told me: ‘I am devastated to hear of Thomas Kingston’s death because it could have been prevented. The story so closely replicates our family’s story that I feel angry and disappointed for so many people.
“The MHRA has promised to investigate this matter, but almost five years after the needless death of our son, another life is cut short that should never have happened.”
Like Sam, Thomas Kingston was not depressed: he had gone to his GP in January because he was having trouble sleeping and had been given the antidepressant sertraline, a type of SSRI.
But it made him feel “sleepy and depressed in the mornings” while he felt “dizzy and overheated” during the day, the research found.
Thus, in February it was replaced by another SSRI, citalopram, in the weeks before his death.
He had no history of mental illness, leaving his friends and wife in no doubt that his death was caused by the medication.
Lady Gabriella Kingston told the inquest: “If this can happen to Tom, it can happen to anyone.”
Tania, whose son Sam, 25, committed suicide in January 2020, has campaigned tirelessly for regulators to warn people that antidepressants can cause even those with no history of mental illness to take their own lives.
Tania and her husband Ian believe Sam’s death (pictured) was caused by an adverse reaction to an antidepressant.
In fact, I hear stories like these regularly through antidepressantrisks.org, a nonprofit website I created after having my own experience of an adverse reaction to antidepressants that in 2012 left me first psychotic and then suicidal. I was admitted to the hospital so I couldn’t carry out my suicidal thoughts.
First, let me emphasize that many people do benefit from these medications. But its adverse effects can be disastrous for others.
One reason is that those, like me, who were lucky to survive often report an agonizing condition called akathisia, which is a sign of drug toxicity.
This is characterized by an inability to sit still and an inner terror, and makes people want to end their lives just to end the agony.
Yesterday I was talking to a woman who had an adverse reaction to an antidepressant she was prescribed for neuropathic pain.
He had akathisia so severe that he jumped off a building to end it; He was lucky to survive.
Since being slowly taken off the drug, he has made a full recovery.
She had never been suicidal or depressed before taking the medication and has never been since.
Journalist Katinka Blackford Newman had her own experience of an adverse reaction to antidepressants that left her first psychotic and then suicidal; Fortunately she was admitted to the hospital and could not carry out her suicidal thoughts.
Another possible reason why people take their own lives after taking antidepressants is a drug-induced toxic effect called serotonin syndrome, which is characterized by “temperature dysregulation” (where the body goes from feeling very hot to feeling cold). and tremble) and a clouding of consciousness. (where you experience delirium and confusion). The expert report from Thomas Kingston’s inquest said that serotonin syndrome was the most likely factor that led him to take his life.
No one knows for sure why some people become suicidal on antidepressants while others seem to benefit.
While pharmaceutical companies estimate the risk of suicide from most SSRIs at one in 100, some experts believe the numbers may be higher.
David Healy, a professor of psychiatry who was an expert medical witness at the Thomas Kingston inquest, believes that between one in ten and one in 20 people taking antidepressants could be at risk.
In 1999 he conducted a trial with healthy volunteers in which two out of 20 who received sertraline became suicidal after a week of taking it, and one of the volunteers was still suicidal two months after stopping the drug.
There are almost nine million people in the UK taking antidepressants, but experts and campaigners – including myself – think much could be done to improve awareness of the risks.
The most dangerous time for an adverse reaction to antidepressants is when taking them, changing the dose or stopping them, says Professor Healy.
Patients are rarely warned about this and I often hear that when people have an adverse reaction, their doctors double the dose or tell them that the pills take a while to work.
“Sam had everything going for him,” says Tania, 59, a former director. ‘He had a steady girlfriend for six years, no financial worries and a group of fantastic friends’
In some cases, doctors mistake the adverse reaction for a worsening of the original symptoms of anxiety or depression.
Although Thomas Kingston reported an adverse reaction to sertraline, his GP switched him to citalopram.
In his report, Professor Healy said: ‘Thomas Kingston should not have switched from sertraline to citalopram. An individual who had such a poor response to one SSRI would likely have an equally poor response to another SSRI.
Regulators could do a lot better to warn patients about potential risks.
While there are warnings in the patient information leaflet for antidepressants that if you have suicidal feelings, the medications may make it worse, there is no warning that the medications may cause Suicidal feelings in completely healthy people.
Concluding his report to the coroner, Professor Healy wrote: ‘In terms of preventing future deaths, my view is that the MHRA and NICE have not sufficiently communicated the risk of suicide with these drugs.
“Your communication in this area is ambiguous and has misled many good doctors, causing unnecessary deaths.”
It’s not just antidepressants that cause people to take their own lives.
There are over 100 different medications that have been linked to this side effect, including antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, anti-malarial tablets, acne medications and even some antibiotics.
Earlier this year I launched a petition ‘The Question That Will Save Lives’ to get suicide prevention services to ask callers if they are taking medication that could lead to suicide.
It now has over 32,000 signatures and my hope is that if suicide services can make callers aware of the risks of some medications then this really could save lives.
Until there is greater awareness, heartbroken family members like Tania Morgan will continue their fight to get regulators to properly warn the public.
He ended his email by saying: “I cannot bear another unnecessary death of an innocent, unsuspecting and unsuspecting person seeking some relief only to endure such acute feelings of helplessness and panic brought on by medication that the only way out is by ending their lives. ‘
- change.org/TheQuestionThatWillSaveLives
- For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. Go to samaritans.org for more details.
- Katinka Blackford Newman runs antidepressantrisks.org, a campaign website raising awareness about the potential risks of antidepressants.