I have a guest article out in Psychiatry Evidence Base (PEB), in its “Across specialties” column (Regards croisés in the French edition). Dr Alexandru Stroescu, the journal’s editor and a psychiatrist, invited me to write about a question that comes up in my consultations nearly every week: when a patient takes benzodiazepines or antipsychotics, who is actually keeping an eye on their physical health?

Read the article in English on Psychiatry Evidence Base

French version: read it in French.

Why I wrote it

In Dubai, many patients arrive with treatment started in another country, by a doctor they will never see again. They bring a half-used box and a prescription in another language and ask for a repeat. Each new prescriber assumes someone else has checked weight, glucose, blood pressure and drug interactions. Often nobody has.

The article sets out how the work can be shared. The psychiatrist owns the diagnosis, the choice and adjustment of the drug, and the risk assessment when things get worse. The family physician holds the physical safety net: metabolic checks, interactions with alcohol or over-the-counter medicines, and a plain question at every repeat about whether the original reason for the treatment still stands. One role doesn’t replace the other.

Akathisia that looks like anxiety

The point I most wanted to get across is a clinical trap. Akathisia, the inner restlessness some people feel on antipsychotics, can look a lot like anxiety. I have seen patients come in asking for one more anxiolytic when the real problem was a motor side effect of their medication. A careful examination and a call to the psychiatrist usually sort it out, and the request for an extra tablet often just goes away.

The piece also covers benzodiazepine tapering (never stop abruptly after long use), the monitoring schedule for antipsychotics, and the warning signs that need emergency care rather than a booked appointment.

If this sounds familiar

If you are taking one of these medicines and your follow-up got lost in a move, bring your prescriptions and boxes to a consultation at Happiness Clinic. We can review your physical health checks and work with your psychiatrist. Please don’t change or stop a treatment on your own. For an appointment, call +971 56 300 0858. In an emergency, call 998.