EDITOR’S CORNER
Too many folks know far too well the difficulties and nuances required in going off psych drugs. If you’re interested in safe tapering for yourself or a loved one, a head’s up: The International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (IIPDW) will be hosting its third virtual conference this weekend, focused on “sharing the latest research, practice and lived experience from around the world.”
To be held on Friday, Oct. 20, and Saturday, Oct. 21, conference sessions will run on Friday from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. British Summer Time (BST) and on Saturday from 3 p.m.-5:15 p.m. BST. (To convert to a different time zone, click here.)
Among the topics to be covered are “The future for safe deprescribing services in England”; “Managing withdrawal projects in the UK from the 1980s onwards”; “The role of pharmacists in antidepressant reductions”; “Hank Nunn Institute, Bengaluru—Challenges in making mental health affordable”; and “Stopping long-term antidepressants: Mission (im)possible?!” Speakers include psychologist Anne Guy, pharmacist Sarah Jones; Hank Nunn Institute founder Shama Parkhe; psychotherapist Anando Chatterji; and artist, psychiatric survivor, and Mad in America arts editor Karin Jervert.
The full program is here; the full list of speaker bios here.
Tickets for the full conference run from £11 for those who are low-waged, unwaged, and students to £110 for highly paid professionals. Beyond that, discounts of 25% are being offered for those in the global south and 10% for groups of three to 10 people. In addition, “We hope to offer free tickets to those with lived experience of psychiatric drugs who are currently unable to afford one.” To request a free ticket or discount, email [email protected].
For those who want to attend but can’t due to the timing, the conference will be recorded, and ticket holders can have access to videos after the event. A complete playlist of IIPDW’s and MIA’s joint town halls on psychiatric drug withdrawal can be found on YouTube. Also available are videos of IIPDW’s May 2022 and February 2023 conferences. For more, see their YouTube channel.
As the event page for this latest conference states: “Whether you or a loved one is taking psychiatric drugs or you work with people in psychiatric drug withdrawal, this conference offers practical learning and bigger-picture reflections in a fast-developing field.”
—Amy Biancolli, Family Editor
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