“I Just Did as I Was Told”

Like thousands across Europe, Dorte Søgaard became dependent on a doctor-prescribed drug by Lia Grainger

- Lia Grainger

DORTE BJØRGULF SØGAARD had felt exhausted for years. The Danish mother of two was accustomed to being busy and stressed, but in 1999 her anxiety reached a tipping point.

She went to her family doctor. He told her she had a chemical imbalance, and prescribed paroxetine, an antidepressant.

“This is the best, scientifically proven treatment,” he said, explaining it could take a month to start working. Then he wrote a prescription for oxazepam, a medication from the benzodiazepine class of drugs, “to help your anxiety in the meantime.”

At home that night, Dorte held the pills in her hand.

She’d always declined medication for her moods, but this time her doctor had insisted. “It’s only temporary,” she told herself.

The benzodiazepine did help Dorte relax, but within weeks she needed more pills to achieve the same effect.

In the years that followed, Dorte’s doctor prescribed so many different combinations of antidepressants, benzodiazepines and sleeping pills that today she has difficulty recalling what she took. Her mind became a dull fog and her body ached. In 2007, Dorte took time off work and spent her days in bed. Two years later, she lost her job. After that, she barely left the house.

In November, 2009 Dorte’s husband and siblings, realising she was completely dependent on medication, decided to send her to a treatment centre for alcoholics, which was the only option they could find at the time. The staff demanded she stop taking all medication at once. Every morning, shaking from withdrawal, Dorte stood and addressed a room full of patients.