Many people in The Netherlands take medication for psychiatric complaints, such as antidepressants (1.1 million people), benzodiazepines (1.4 million people) and antipsychotics (350,000 people). It is important that they can find adequate information about these medications. Professionals and experts are therefore jointly launching KenMed. It contains all objective and reliable information about medication in psychiatry in one easy-to-find place. KenMed consists of five websites: www.antidepressiva.nl, www.stimulantia.nl, www.stemmingsstabilisatoren.nl, www.benzodiazepines.nl and www.antipsychotica.nl.
Psychiatrist Laura De Wit: "The websites are intended to help people by giving them reliable information about psychopharmaceuticals, in understandable language. The websites are not for or against psychopharmaceuticals, we want to give everyone the chance to calmly go through all the information at home and make a well-informed decision." One of the KenMed experts says: "KenMed makes it possible for doctor and patient to discuss medications together and then make a decision. I am very happy that KenMed provides understandable, nuanced information that is accesible and easy to read."
The websites have been created in collaboration with client organization MIND and the Dutch Psychiatric Association (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Psychiatrie), because they highly value a knowledge platform like this. They also share this information on their own websites. The texts were written by a large group of professionals and experts, checked by a scientific advisory board, independent of the pharmaceutical industry. Evidence-based guidelines and mental health standards were used, as well as information from independent institutes such as the Lareb and the CBG.
APH Researcher Christiaan Vinkers (Professor in Psychiatry) is one of the founders of KenMed. Visit the website (in Dutch) here: Kenmed.nl