The article on the lecture of Peter Lehmann on the reduced life expectancy of psychiatric patients with serious psychiatric diagnoses at the WPA Congress 2017 in Berlin was published in July, 2019 in a book on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations at Routledge. The article deals with exemplary measures to reduce mortality risks from psychiatric drugs. Among other contributors to the book are Dainius Puras, Special Rapporteur on the right to health to the UN Himan Rights Council, and Salam Gómez, co-chair of WNUSP. The article can be seen here (pdf not proofread).
This is the article: “Responding to the catastrophic reduction of life expectancy among psychiatric patients”, keynote lecture to the WPA XVII. World Congress of Psychiatry (“Psychiatry of the 21st Century: Context, Controversies and Commitment”), Berlin, October 10, 2017, published in shortened form with the title “Paradigm shift: Treatment alternatives to psychiatric drugs, with particular reference to low- and middle-income countries”, in: Laura Davidson (Ed.): “The Routledge Handbook of International Development, Mental Health and Wellbeing”, London / New York: Routledge 2019, pp. 251-269 – View further information about the book.
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Abstract: Psychiatric drugs like antidepressants, neuroleptics, mood stabilisers, psychostimulants, and tranquilizers are prescribed by psychiatrists and general practitioners to almost everyone in severe emotional distress. The administration of such drugs is associated with significantly reduced life expectancy. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires states to improve citizens’ well-being. However, perpetuating discrimination against psychiatric patients and persons in severe emotional distress through the administration of psychotropic drugs without informed consent or even by using force will inhibit attempts to meet this goal. The persons described need well-being and healthy lives, too.
Demonstrated with examples of best practices in India (Seher, Pune), Ghana (Hearing Voices), Italy (La Cura) and Germany, this chapter will suggest key strategies to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being also for patients with psychiatric diagnoses: physical health monitoring during pharmacological treatment; education about the risks of psychiatric drugs, early warning signs of developing iatrogenic diseases and withdrawal problems; collaborating with dedicated family and community members and professionals to develop self-help and humanistically oriented support systems; equal rights before the law. These strategies should be the first choice for countries in their approaches to SDG3, including lower and middle income countries (LMICs).
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