WITHDRAWAL RESOURCES

Welcome to MIA’s Drug Withdrawal Resource page. You can find here a directory of providers who help people taper from psychiatric medications, and information about withdrawal guides, educational courses, research studies, and personal withdrawal studies. Please write Susannah Senerchia ([email protected]) with any suggestions for other resources and information that could be added to this section of our website.

Disclaimer: Mad in America is not providing medical advice with this resource section, or making any recommendations regarding withdrawal from psychiatric medications. The purpose of this page is to provide resources and information for those who may be considering this possibility.

Provider Directory

Visit the Mad in America provider directory to find practitioners who can help individuals withdraw from psychiatric medications.

EDUCATIONAL COURSES

Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal 1: This MIA Continuing Education course is composed of seven seminars,  with presentations by Jocelyn Pedersen, Dina Tyler, Emily Cutler, Will Hall, Sandra Steingard, Kelly Brogan, and Will Hall.

 

Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal II: The Psychiatrist’s Perspective on Challenges, Opportunities and Shared Decision-Making. This MIA Continuing Education course is composed of eight seminars,  witpresentations by Joanna Moncrieff, Sandy Steingard, David Healy, Johanna Ryan, Sami Timimi, Swapnil Gupta, Pesach Lichtenberg, and Roger Mulder.

 

In this MIA Continuing Education webinar, Olga Runciman, a co-founder of the Danish Hearing Voices Network, tells of her work with helping people taper from antipsychotics and other psychiatric medications.

 

A course in Denmark, led by Peter Gøtzsche, on safe withdrawal from psychotropics. (Subtitles in English.)

Up in the Air: Surviving 24 Hours with Akathisia

22
Flying from Anchorage to Cleveland while suffering from life-threatening akathisia was going to be a constant push-pull between the urge to freak out and maintaining my body and psyche so as not to scare the other passengers.

Out of the Abyss (with a Little Help from My Friends)

49
An ER doctor told me I was experiencing venlafaxine withdrawal, then told me to go home and take care of myself. Unbeknownst to me, I was about to enter pure hell.
prescription for Valium

Born Addicted to Valium: Understanding a Lifetime of Symptoms

4
Withdrawal felt like: evil feeding on my soul, my spirit being tortured, not being able to feel love, constantly feeling like I was falling in a dark tunnel, and wanting to get out of my body.
pill bottle with skull and crossbones label

Gabapentin Horror

34
After suffering PTSD in the late 1980s, I reluctantly accepted antidepressants. In time, I had resolved the trauma, but when I tried to stop the antidepressants (Prozac, and later Zoloft), I assumed my desperate feelings and “return” of depression were an indication I had an imbalance and needed those drugs. I didn’t understand I was experiencing withdrawal. (I was never told that for most people, psychiatric medications need to be tapered.)
sertraline antidepressant withdrawal

Ambushed by Antidepressant Withdrawal: The Escape Story

29
I’m 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.
Illustration of pills, a brain, and a person with scribbles indicating displeasure

A Different Psychiatry Is Needed for Discontinuing Antidepressants

63
The problems related to the use of antidepressants cannot be solved by an oversimplified psychiatry brainwashed by the pharmaceutical industry.

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

4
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)

13
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.

Literature Surveys

Study Highlights Difficulty of Antipsychotic Withdrawal

0
New research finds insomnia, anxiety, and depression are common symptoms of antipsychotic withdrawal, highlighting difficulties of discontinuation.
Pattern of blue and yellow pills or tablets on a pink background. concept of medicine, pharmacy and coronavirus. copy space

SSRI Withdrawal has Social, Cognitive, and Emotional Consequences

0
New research finds that the non-physical aspects of withdrawal from SSRIs are often overlooked.

Mental Health Staff Reluctant to Support Service Users in Tapering Antipsychotics, Study Finds

11
Study reveals schizophrenia patients find little support from mental health staff in reducing side effects-heavy drugs.
The young patient at the reception in the hospital

Patients Express Anger at Doctors’ Ignorance About Antidepressant Withdrawal Effects

20
Antidepressant users share their frustrations towards a healthcare system that overprescribes but is ill-equipped to support with discontinuation and withdrawal symptoms.

Prescribers Often Fail to Support Patients Discontinuing Antidepressants, Study Finds

7
Study reveals most patients are dissatisfied with prescribers' support when discontinuing antidepressants.