Heather Ashton

Dr. Chrystal Heather Ashton (born 1929) is a retired Professor of clinical psycho-pharmacology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. She has published approximately 250 papers in professional journals, books and chapters in books on psychotropic drugs of which over 50 concern benzodiazepines. She has given evidence to various Government committees on tobacco smoking, cannabis and benzodiazepines and has given invited lectures on benzodiazepines in the UK, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland and other countries.^[1] Most notably, she is the author of The Ashton Manual, which contains information about the effects that benzodiazepines have on the brain and body and how these actions are exerted. Detailed suggestions on how to withdraw after long-term use and individual tapering schedules for different benzodiazepines are provided. Withdrawal symptoms, acute and protracted, are described along with an explanation of why they may occur and how to cope with them. The overall message is that most long-term benzodiazepine users who wish to can withdraw successfully and become happier and healthier as a result.^[2]

Early life and education

Professor Ashton is a graduate of the University of Oxford and obtained a First Class Honours Degree (BA) in Physiology in 1951. She qualified in Medicine (BM, BCh, MA) in 1954 and gained a postgraduate Doctor of Medicine (DM) in 1956. She qualified as MRCP (Member of the Royal College of Physicians, London) in 1958 and was elected FRCP (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London) in 1975. She also became National Health Service Consultant in Clinical Psychopharmacology in 1975 and National Health Service Consultant in Psychiatry in 1994.^[3]

Career and clinical work

She has worked at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne as researcher (Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader and Professor) and clinician since 1965, first in the Department of Pharmacology and latterly in the Department of Psychiatry. Her research has centred, and continues, on the effects of psychotropic drugs (nicotine, cannabis, benzodiazepines, antidepressants and others) on the brain and behaviour in humans. Her main clinical work was in running a benzodiazepine withdrawal clinic for 12 years from 1982-1994.^[4]

During her tenure as a clinician in a detox facility specialising in benzodiazepine withdrawal, Dr. Ashton recorded her patient experiences when examining both the subjective testimonies of patients and associated signs and symptoms, therein. The fruits of her labour were finalised in a monographic approach entitled, Benzodiazepines: How they work and how to withdrawal, colloquially known as The Ashton Manual.

The Ashton Manual

The Ashton Manual was originally compiled and published in 2001 "...by request in 1999 for readers in the USA concerned about the problems associated with long-term benzodiazepine use. Inquiries from Canada, Australia and the UK have suggested that the advice in the manual might be of help to a wider audience."^[5] The original publication has been updated and revised several times with different notes from the author in light of new research and data regarding a more effective protocol.

References

1. "benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002". www.benzo.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
2. "benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002". www.benzo.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
3. "benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002". www.benzo.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
4. "benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002". www.benzo.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
5. "benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002". www.benzo.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-28.