The family of a Co Tyrone man who sadly took his own life as a result of side effects from prescription medication have issued a warning about the overprescribing of certain drugs.
Stephen O'Neill passed away on July 29, 2016, after taking a bad reaction to antidepressants he had been prescribed which caused him to develop suicidal thoughts, agitation and extreme restlessness.
His family have launched Prescribed Harm Awareness Day on July 29, Stephen’s anniversary, where they are hoping to create more awareness around safe prescribing. To mark the occasion, awareness walks have taken place in his hometown of Coalisland as well as England, Wales, USA, Australia and South Africa.
Read more: Co Tyrone family's plea after tragic death of musician who had bad reaction to antidepressant
At Stephen's inquest a coroner ruled that he “died by his own act whilst the balance of his mind was disturbed.”
Following his death his family have launched a campaign called Stephen's Voice, which aims to warn others of the dangers around the overprescribing of certain prescription drugs and their side effects, so that others can be aware of the impact that they can potentially have on someone.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Stephen's niece Colleen Bell, said that the campaign has been developed not to discourage people from using medicine prescribed by their doctor, but in order to encourage people to make sure that they are fully aware of what they are putting into their body.
She said: "In 2016 Stephen began having mild anxiety and trouble sleeping and went to the doctor who prescribed him the antidepressant Sertraline and within around 48 hours he started to have a bad reaction to it and developing suicidal thoughts.
"As it was the weekend, a crisis team was phoned and he visited a psychiatric unit where it was noted he had an adverse reaction. When he went back to the doctor his prescription was altered. He kept raising his concerns to us about the effect the drugs were having on him, but we felt that it was important to trust what the doctor was saying.
"However, his mental health deteriorated over the next six weeks to the point where he took his own life.
"As a family we wished we had listened to him and investigated the antidepressants he was on further, as suicidal thoughts are one of the side effects listed with the medication, and further medicating him only exacerbated the problems further
"We wish that we were able to do more to help him and he would still be with us today.
"Following his death we launched Stephen's Voice in order to warn others about the dangers of overprescribing prescription drugs and we have heard countless stories about the impact this has had on families across Northern Ireland.
"The campaign is not about discouraging people from using the medicine that has been prescribed by their doctor, we just want people to be aware of the possible side effects and how they can affect people who are using them."
Colleen said that it is not just antidepressants that can cause harm by overprescribing, but other medicines such as benzodiazepines, anti-anxiety medications, antibiotics and some forms of acne medication. Some of these drugs can also prove to be highly addictive and require a lot of care when coming off them.
She continued: "There are a number of medications that can have the potential to cause a bad reaction with someone and greatly affect their mental health, while others can be highly addictive and lead to problems further down the line such as benzodiazepines and painkillers.
"While we understand that these can sometimes be a huge benefit to people when prescribed by a doctor, we are encouraging people to research any possible side effects and understand the medicines that they are taking.
"When stopping certain medicines people need to slowly taper themselves off of them, otherwise they can develop withdrawal issues which can be very dangerous.
"Suicide rates have skyrocketed alongside an increased use in mental health drugs, while the opposite should be the case, and we believe that more research needs to take place to understand the correlation between this."
If you would like to find out more about Stephen's Voice and their campaign, please visit its Facebook page.
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