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- Discontinuing antidepressants can cause withdrawal symptoms.
- They are sometimes confused with relapse.
- A London-based neurobiologist proposes a protocol to better help patients stop.
He became addicted to antidepressant drugs and now helps others get off them. Mark Horowitz is a neurobiologist based in London. In 2015, he decided to stop his treatment, which he had been taking for 15 years. “It completely changed my lifehe says BBC. I woke up in the morning in a complete panic, as if an animal was chasing me“His symptoms last throughout the day, late into the evening, and become more debilitating than the symptoms that led him to take antidepressants years ago.
Antidepressants: What are the withdrawal symptoms?
According to this expert, about half of people who stop taking antidepressants experience withdrawal symptoms. “For some people, withdrawal symptoms are debilitating and long-lastingcites the researcher in an article published in Tea conversation Written with two other scientists, Joanna Moncrieff and Catherine Wallis. Symptoms may include dizziness, headaches, memory and concentration problems, emotional disturbances, and neurological symptoms such as sensitivity to sound and light, muscle spasms, and sexual dysfunction.
The longer the medication is taken, the stronger and more persistent the withdrawal effect will be. “People often misinterpret these symptoms as a return of their mental health problem, i.e. a relapseThey note. Doctors, too, are often unaware of how common and severe withdrawal symptoms can be and often mistake them for relapse.This confusion can lead to diagnostic errors and inappropriate treatment.
Why are antidepressants addictive?
However, these withdrawal symptoms appear as the brain adapts to taking antidepressants. “This is often called physical dependence, They develop. Antidepressants are addictive even though people don’t get high or cause cravings or compulsions, which is the technical definition of addiction.When stopped, the brain feels the lack of the drug it has become accustomed to and withdrawal symptoms appear. The duration of symptoms corresponds to the time the brain has acclimated to the absence of the drug.
How to reduce withdrawal symptoms after stopping antidepressants?
Faced with his own experience of stopping, Mark Horowitz is surprised that little research has been done on withdrawal while taking antidepressants, while there is countless work on these treatments. “To me, this is tantamount to allowing the sale of cars without brakes.”he says BBC.
In 2021, it developed a pilot program in London to help people on antidepressants stop their treatment. This protocol is based on the so-called hyperbolic reduction: it involves reducing the treatment greatly at the beginning, and then making a very small reduction, because scientists have noticed that low doses of antidepressants have a very significant effect on the brain. In his clinic, he helps about twenty people as they stop treatment. In mid-February, he published a guide “No–prescription” Published in English only, aimed at health professionals.
