What I have learnt from helping thousands of people taper off antidepressants and other psychotropic medications

Although psychiatric drug withdrawal syndromes have been recognized since the 1950s – recent studies confirm antidepressant withdrawal syndrome incidence upwards of 40% – medical information about how to safely go off the drugs has been lacking. To fill this gap, over the last 25 years, patients hav...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology 2021, Vol.11, p.2045125321991274-2045125321991274
Main Author: Framer, Adele
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antidepressants
Discontinuing Psychotropic Medications
Drug withdrawal
Psychotropic drugs
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Summary:Although psychiatric drug withdrawal syndromes have been recognized since the 1950s – recent studies confirm antidepressant withdrawal syndrome incidence upwards of 40% – medical information about how to safely go off the drugs has been lacking. To fill this gap, over the last 25 years, patients have developed a robust Internet-based subculture of peer support for tapering off psychiatric drugs and recovering from withdrawal syndrome. This account from the founder of such an online community covers lessons learned from thousands of patients regarding common experiences with medical providers, identification of adverse drug reactions, risk factors for withdrawal, tapering techniques, withdrawal symptoms, protracted withdrawal syndrome, and strategies to cope with symptoms, in the context of the existing scientific literature.
ISSN:2045-1253
2045-1261
DOI:10.1177/2045125321991274