MIA Articles about Psychiatric Drugs and Withdrawal

Doctor welcoming a patient

How Providers Can Support Psychiatric Drug Discontinuation

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Supportive patient-practitioner relationships are crucial to the successful discontinuation of psychiatric medication.
Picture of distressed man facing pills

What Helps Long-Term Users of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs Discontinue?

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Current long-term users of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs identify barriers and facilitators for discontinuation.

Withdrawal Symptoms Cloud Findings of Antidepressant “Relapse” Trial

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Leading researchers point out that a new antidepressant study in NEJM failed to account for withdrawal symptoms, casting doubt on the results.

Researchers Provide Guidance for Reducing and Stopping Psychiatric Drugs

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New guidance on how to taper and discontinue from psychiatric drugs from leading researchers Mark Horowitz and David Taylor.

New Rating Tool for Tapering Antidepressants and Antipsychotics

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Researchers developed a rating scale to better assess service users’ experiences tapering antidepressant and/or antipsychotic medication.

Tapered Antipsychotic Withdrawal Mitigates Risk of Psychotic Symptoms

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Research suggests that slowly tapering off an antipsychotic reduces the risk of withdrawal psychosis compared to abrupt discontinuation.

“Relapse” in Antidepressant Trials Likely Caused by Sudden Withdrawal

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A new study investigates how antidepressant withdrawal effects often get confounded with depression relapse in clinical trials.

Sudden Antipsychotic Withdrawal—Not Low Dose—Leads to Relapse

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A new article in Lancet Psychiatry debunks past studies claiming that those on low doses of antipsychotics are more likely to relapse.

Four Essential Studies on Antidepressant Withdrawal Every Prescriber Must Read

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A researcher and service user Stevie Lewis recounts her own experience with antidepressant withdrawal and what she wishes her doctors knew.

Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 6)

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Peter Gøtzsche gives advice on what withdrawal symptoms may look like and explains the dangers of—and alternatives to—forced treatment.

Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 5)

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Withdraw from psychiatric drugs at your own speed—according to what you feel. Don’t reduce again before you feel stabilised on the previous dose.

Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 4)

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Psychiatrists have made hundreds of millions of people dependent on psychiatric drugs and yet have done virtually nothing to find out how to help the patients come off them again.

Psychotherapy Can Prevent Relapse When Discontinuing Antidepressants

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“Short and simple psychological programs can prevent people from relapsing when they stop their antidepressants.”

Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 1)

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Very few doctors know anything about withdrawal and make horrible mistakes. If they taper at all, they do it far too quickly because the few guidelines that exist recommend far too quick tapering.

Current Anti-Stigma Campaigns Hinder Withdrawal from Psychotropic Medication

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Anti-stigma campaigns reinforce a belief that people with mental health issues must have treatment and thus, push discussion of withdrawal and negative aspects of psychiatric drugs into anonymous spaces.

Cochrane Review Calls for More Research on Antidepressant Withdrawal

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Researchers find a lack of current literature on safe, effective ways to manage antidepressant withdrawal and make suggestions for future research.

How Therapists Can Help With Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: An Interview With Anne Guy

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MIA's Richard Sears interviews psychotherapist Anne Guy about working with clients withdrawing from psychiatric drugs.

Lack of Guidance Available for Discontinuing Psychiatric Drugs

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A new article discusses the lack of research dedicated to discontinuing psychiatric drugs and reviews existing strategies.

Internet Forum for Tapering Psychiatric Drugs Provides Novel Insights

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After 15 years, the founder of SurvivingAntidepressants.org, Adele Framer, shares what she has learned about the science of withdrawing from psychiatric drugs.

Antidepressant Withdrawal Misdiagnosed as Functional Disorder

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Adverse physiological symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal are regularly mistaken to be other problems to the detriment of the patient.

Keys to Successful Discontinuation of Antipsychotic Medication

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Qualitative study finds that both internal resources and systemic factors play a role in antipsychotic discontinuation outcomes.

Online Experts on Withdrawal

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Online communities are stepping in to help people facing withdrawal effects amass information and receive support for their withdrawal experiences.

Researchers Document Protracted Withdrawal from Antidepressants

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Protracted Withdrawal Syndrome characterized by long-term adverse experiences after coming off of antidepressants.

Finding One’s Way Through Withdrawal

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Prescribers are taught to prescribe psychiatric medication, but they are often not well-educated about the effects on patients of discontinuing these medications.

Listening to the Patient Voice: The Antidepressant Withdrawal Experience

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Patient advocates join with researchers and service users to present first-hand experiences of antidepressant withdrawal.