Iatrogenic Practices in Psychiatry: Kindling

Some psychiatric practices can have very painful and destabilizing consequences, sometimes of enormous suffering, for the person undergoing pharmacological treatment, such as “kindling” or neuronal sensitization.

Kindling is a neurological condition that occurs as a result of repeated episodes of withdrawal and reinstatement of various psychotropic drugs, alcohol, and recreational drugs.

Following each episode, withdrawal symptoms worsen and may also manifest in convulsions, psychosis and/or death. Essentially, the development of this hypersensitivity can cause abnormal reactions when the same drug or a different drug is reintroduced.

Premise

In our information we always emphasize that psychotropic drugs do not have a specific action on mental problems or psychopathology, but only on their symptoms. Mental problems have relational, cultural and social origins and should be addressed from this point of view, primarily with psychotherapeutic and social interventions, limiting the use of psychotropic drugs to very short periods, when strictly necessary.

Psychopharmacology teaches us that psychotropic drugs act on the symptoms of mental suffering as psychoactive substances by altering cognitive and emotional functions, sedating and creating emotional dullness or an artificial increase in mood.

To clarify this concept better, “psychosis”, “depression”, “anxiety”, “bipolar disorder”, “ADHD” and more are not disorders of organic or genetic origin, caused by “imbalances” in brain chemicals, and psychotropic drugs do not have the function of restoring any balance.

Indeed, they themselves create a chemical imbalance, which will be responsible for the phenomena of tolerance and addiction. As a consequence, after a certain period of time they will no longer give the desired effect and it will not be possible to discontinue them too quickly, because otherwise you would experience withdrawal symptoms, which are sometimes very dangerous.

As already mentioned, psychotropic drugs can be useful in the short term to manage acute states of mental suffering, but then they should be safely suspended, under expert medical supervision, with good psychotherapy to address the causes of the suffering itself.

Long-term treatments, in fact, are counterproductive as they could cause the symptoms to become chronic and also have significant side effects, thus compromising the quality of life as well as shortening its course.

Despite this, the adoption of the organic model by the vast majority of mental health centers both in Italy and in other economically developed countries has caused a massive use of psychotropic drugs to the detriment of psychotherapeutic and social interventions, which would instead serve to address psychological suffering adequately.

Potentially dangerous practices in psychiatry: Kindling

Many psychiatrists, not yet expert and prepared to deal with the process of withdrawing psychotropic drugs safely, in an attempt to suppress the symptoms of mental suffering or the withdrawal effects caused by poorly managed suspensions, add and remove within a short space of time, different psychotropic drugs, not respecting the protocols for their safe suspension.

This practice, widely used, can have very dangerous consequences and cause enormous psychophysical suffering, as a consequence of sensitization of the receptors of the nervous system—or “kindling”.

Because of kindling, some people who have had little difficulty stopping a drug the first time, when reintroduced or switched to another drug, may have much worse withdrawal symptoms when they try to come off it again.

In fact, the nervous system, due to multiple withdrawal events and the adverse effects of drugs, becomes destabilized and sensitized.

Furthermore, when you take and stop multiple psychotropic drugs, you may find yourself facing an even more complex situation which consists of the withdrawal reaction to the drug superimposed on the sensitization or kindling reaction.

Furthermore, during the kindling phase, hypersensitivity can also develop towards psychoactive or activating substances, such as caffeine, vitamins, supplements, particular foods, alcohol, etc., which can cause unwanted and sometimes dangerous reactions.

A description of this phenomenon can be found in the book Stopping Psychotropic Drugs: How and Why, from which the following section is taken:

Avoid skipping doses during suspension: kindling phenomenon or sensitization

Sometimes, to reduce psychotropic drugs, inexperienced prescribers recommend skipping doses of the drug, for example every other day or every two or three days. This method is highly discouraged as it causes fluctuations in the concentration of the drug in the blood and therefore in the nervous system, even in the case of drugs with a long half-life such as fluoxetine (Prozac). When treatments take on an irregular pattern like the one described above, the person is predisposed to sensitization or kindling reactions and to so-called “treatment resistance”. Sensitization or kindling can be defined as the amplification of the response to repeated and intermittent exposures to a stimulus (Bell et al. 1999).

Sensitization is therefore a consequence of repeated episodes of abstinence and reintroduction of the psychotropic substance and when it is triggered it leads to an exacerbation of the adverse reactions that occur with changes in dosage or the introduction of other substances.

This condition can last over time and can sometimes be permanent. Due to the sensitization phenomenon, each withdrawal reaction leads to more severe withdrawal symptoms than previous episodes.

Sensitization occurs especially in people who have already tried to stop taking drugs several times and to whom the doctor has prescribed aggressive pharmacological treatment, confusing withdrawal symptoms for a relapse of mental distress, for the appearance of a new disorder or for a “failure to respond” to pharmacological treatment.

To avoid this phenomenon, when psychotropic drugs have been stopped suddenly or too quickly, the drug should be reintroduced in small doses. If withdrawal symptoms improve but not significantly, the dose can be increased a little. In the event that the reintroduction of the drug generates a worsening of the symptoms, the reaction could be contained using a small dose…”

The book then lists methods to avoid or limit the damage caused by kindling.

Generally, sensitization or kindling causes overstimulation reactions, such as a sensation of internal electrical discharge, anxiety, depression, nervousness, insomnia, panic and in extreme cases akathisia, which includes the need to move continuously to relieve intense internal agitation and which is sometimes so unbearable that you want to die.

The underlying mechanisms of kindling are not yet clarified, but in the case of benzodiazepines, the substances most studied together with alcohol for this effect, some studies hypothesize a role of the excitatory glutamate system, implicated in the regulation of anxiety and seizure threshold together with GABA, the benzodiazepine target receptor. Kindling that occurs following subsequent attempts to withdraw benzodiazepines may therefore lead to an increase in the severity of anxiety and a lowering of the seizure threshold.

Bibliographical references

M. Maviglia, Laura Guerra, M. Gandolfi. Suspending psychotropic drugs: how and why – Building a personalized and effective path. The Sign Factory (2024)

Suspending psychotropic drugs: how and why – Building a personalized and effective path – Mad in Italy (mad-in-italy.com)

P. Breggin. The suspension of psychotropic drugs, a manual for prescribers, therapists, patients and their families. Fioriti Editore (2018)

The suspension of psychotropic drugs, a manual for prescribers, therapists, patients and their families – Mad in Italy (mad-in-italy.com)

A. Framer. What I have learned from helping thousands of people taper off antidepressants and other psychotropic medications. The Adv Psychopharmacol. 2021 Mar 

doi: 10.1177/2045125321991274.

Michael P. Hengartner ,  Lukas Schulthess ,  […] , and  Adele Framer. Protracted withdrawal syndrome after stopping antidepressants: a descriptive quantitative analysis of consumer narratives from a large internet forum. Sage Journal (2020)

Surviving Antidepressants (2022). Hypersensitivity and Kindling

Hypersensitivity and Kindling – Symptoms and Self-Care – Surviving Antidepressants