Work can contribute to mental wellbeing, but god mental health is also important for work-life participation. Mental illness is the most common cause of receiving disability pension (DP) among young individuals in Norway. Researchers have studied whether becoming a disability pensioner can be beneficial for one’s mental health by studying changes in antidepressant drug consumption. We have followed this up further by examining changes in antianxiety and z-hypnotic drug consumption following DP onset.

Benzodiazepines are given to patients suffering from anxiety, muscle pain and insomnia, and z-hypnotics are given to patients suffering from insomnia. These drugs are some of the most widely prescribed drugs worldwide.

We considered benzodiazepine and z-hypnotic redemptions from Norwegian pharmacies and information on time point for receiving disability pension. We identified 8617 working age individuals (25-50 years) who became disability pensioners during 2005-2013.

We compared benzodiazepines and z-hypnotics consumption one year prior to and following DP onset. We found that most individuals (80%) did not change their benzodiazepine and Z-hypnotic consumption. Among those with an initial low consumption (less than or equal to one defined daily dose (DDD)) 18.9% increased their consumption to above one DDD following DP onset. Elder individuals (45-50 years) had a lower risk for dose escalation compared to a younger age group (25-34 years). Those who initially only used z-hypnotics had a higher risk for dose escalation compared to those with initial joint benzodiazepine and z-hypnotic use.

Al in all, we cannot see that DP is associated with changes in antianxiety and z-hypnotic drug consumption, but younger users and those who only used z-hypnotics prior to DP onset had a greater risk for dose escalation compared to older users and those with joint use. Especially, becoming disability pensioners did not seem to have a positive impact on young individuals’ mental health.

Reference

Tvete IF, Bjørner T, Skomedal T. Mental Health and Disability Pension Onset: Changes in Consumption of Antianxiety and Hypnotic Drugs, 2018, Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology, https://doi.org/10.1177/2333392818792683