Service-User Knowledge Helps Researchers Develop Psychiatric Drug Tapering Approaches
New strategies for tapering psychiatric drugs achieved by acknowledging withdrawal symptoms and valuing service-usersā first-hand knowledge.
Researchers Document Protracted Withdrawal from Antidepressants
Protracted Withdrawal Syndrome characterized by long-term adverse experiences after coming off of antidepressants.
Antidepressant Use Climbs as Patients Find it Difficult to Discontinue
Findings point to the role of withdrawal symptoms and prescriber practices in long-term antidepressant use.
Ambushed by Antidepressant Withdrawal: The Escape Story
Iām alive. More than 30,000 veterans in the past decade alone are not. I was not warned of the risks of this drug. I was not told that once on it, I might never be able to get off it, or the nightmare that would ensue when I tried. I know millions of others were not told either.
Activity-Based Therapies Reduce Antipsychotic Use
Researchers from the University of North Carolina found that activity-based therapy and care reduced the use of antipsychotics in a study of 107 people...
Withdrawal from Antipsychotics
A review of the scientific literature related to the withdrawal of antipsychotics: animal studies, withdrawal symptoms, tapering success rates, and consumer accounts of discontinuation.
Literally Indescribable: Are Antidepressants Addictive?
āMy life was very, very good.ā Thatās how Michael sums up how things were for himāprior to his suffering from devastating withdrawal effects after discontinuing GlaxoSmithKlineās blockbuster drug Paxil.
More Psychological Supports Needed to Manage Antidepressant Discontinuation
Study reviews psychological interventions for antidepressant discontinuation.
Listening to the Patient Voice: The Antidepressant Withdrawal Experience
Patient advocates join with researchers and service users to present first-hand experiences of antidepressant withdrawal.
Stopping SSRI Antidepressants Can Cause Long, Intense Withdrawal Problems
In the first systematic review of withdrawal problems that patients experience when trying to get off SSRI antidepressant medications, researchers found that withdrawing from SSRIs was comparable to trying to quit addictive benzodiazepines.
Psychotherapy Can Prevent Relapse When Discontinuing Antidepressants
āShort and simple psychological programs can prevent people from relapsing when they stop their antidepressants.ā
The Ethics of Antipsychotic Dose Reduction and Patient Rights
New research highlights the ethical responsibilities of clinicians in supporting patients who choose to reduce or discontinue antipsychotic medication.
Tapering Strips Help People Stop Using Antidepressants, Study Finds
A new study by Peter Groot and Jim van Os investigated whether tapering strips can help people stop using antidepressants.
āRelapseā in Antidepressant Trials Likely Caused by Sudden Withdrawal
A new study investigates how antidepressant withdrawal effects often get confounded with depression relapse in clinical trials.
STOP or GO? Tapering Pregnant Women off of Antidepressants
A team in the Netherlands is currently investigating the effects of tapering off of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy....
Study Examines the Difficulty of Withdrawing from Antidepressant Drugs
Correcting unnecessary long-term antidepressant use is difficult and met with apprehension by providers and service-users.
New Research on Patient-Centered Deprescribing for Antipsychotics
Researchers review the risks and benefits of deprescribing from antipsychotic drugs and advocate for a patient-centered approach to tapering.
Antipsychotic Drugs and Relapse
Researchers from Germany, Greece and the U.S. reviewed the literature on relapse at 7 to 12 months following initiation of antipsychotic treatment. They conclude...
Thoughtful Insight, Not Lack of It, Drives Some Patients to Quit Psychiatric Medications
Rather than a "lack of insight," it is actually a thoughtful weighing of complex risks and benefits that ultimately drives some people diagnosed with bipolar disorder to eschew psychiatric medications, according to a qualitative study in the Journal of Affective Disorders. And these people often develop sophisticated strategies in their efforts to manage without medications.
Study of Online Antidepressant Forums Reveals Long Lasting Withdrawal Effects
Effects of discontinuing SSRIs and SNRIs reported on an online forum indicate significant and long-lasting withdrawal symptoms.
Tapering Strips Help People Discontinue Antidepressants
A new study by Peter Groot and Jim van Os has found that tapering strips help people successfully discontinue antidepressant medications.
Facebook Groups Provide Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal Help When Doctors Donāt
A new study looks at how online communities provide information and support for patients experiencing psychiatric drug withdrawal.
When Switching Antipsychotics, No Difference Between Immediate and Gradual Discontinuation
Review study compares outcomes of gradual vs. immediate antipsychotic discontinuation when switching from one drug to another.
Researchers: Antidepressant Withdrawal, Not āDiscontinuation Syndromeā
Researchers suggest that the pharmaceutical industry had a vested interest in using the term ādiscontinuationā in order to hide the severity of physical dependence and withdrawal reactions many people experience from antidepressants.
Common Statistical Method Conflates Withdrawal with Relapse
Researchers argue that common study methods for psychiatric drugs may inadvertently minimize withdrawal effects and inflate drug efficacy.
