Tag: withdrawal

Global Survey Leads to New Recommendations for Deprescribing Psychiatric Drugs

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Growing rates of long-term psychiatric drug prescriptions and documented issues with withdrawal demonstrate a need for safe deprescribing practices.

New Guidance on Antidepressant Withdrawal for Doctors in the UK

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New guidance for primary care doctors in the UK on antidepressant discontinuation acknowledges severe and long-lasting withdrawal symptoms.

Gradual Tapering Recommended for Antidepressant Discontinuation

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A new literature review reinforces the need to “down-titrate” or taper antidepressants, especially drugs like Celexa and Paxil.

Why Detox Facilities and Psych Wards Are Not the Place to...

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In online communities, patients learn their strange symptoms may be due to the medications they are taking, and are offered solutions that provide hope.

A Different Psychiatry Is Needed for Discontinuing Antidepressants

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

Antipsychotics Often Prescribed Without Informed Consent

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New research reveals that patients are often not given fully informed consent before being prescribed antipsychotics.

Official Guidelines on Antidepressant Discontinuation Fail Practitioners and Patients

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A review of clinical practice guidelines for antidepressant discontinuation from across the English-speaking world reveals major pitfalls.

Common Statistical Method Conflates Withdrawal with Relapse

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Researchers argue that common study methods for psychiatric drugs may inadvertently minimize withdrawal effects and inflate drug efficacy.

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.

Psychotherapy Has an Enduring Effect on Depression—in Contrast to Depression Pills

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A meta-analysis published last month showed that psychotherapy has an enduring effect on depression—in contrast to depression pills.

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.

Fate of a Whistleblower: I Spoke Out About Abrupt Med Withdrawal

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A rapid withdrawal can be very dangerous and even deadly. You do not solve the problem by firing those who point this out, but that happened to me.

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.

What Can We Learn from Alcohol? A Paradigm Shift in How...

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The effects of alcohol—both positive and negative—have a lot to teach us about the biomedical view of psychiatric diagnoses and the drugs prescribed to treat them.

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...

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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...

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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.

Boy, Interrupted: A Story of Akathisia

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I watched my son’s life change almost overnight. He developed akathisia from antidepressants, taken as prescribed for just a few weeks for garden-variety anxiety.

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

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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.

Minimal Medication Alternatives for Psychosis Needed

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Researchers question the long-term use of antipsychotics and suggest increased research and investment in psychosocial interventions.

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

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Peter Gøtzsche: The MIND organization in Denmark and the psychiatric guild suppressed information regarding the discontinuation of psychiatric drugs.