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Don’t quit cold turkey: Doctors urged to phase out antidepressants for millions of patients to ease withdrawal symptoms
- GPs should wean patients off antidepressants, new guidelines suggest
- Experts hope that easing people over time will reduce the severity of withdrawal symptoms
- Charities are concerned that doctors are not equipped to reduce people’s medications
- Changes come as record amounts of antidepressants are distributed
GPs should wean patients off antidepressants to ease withdrawal symptoms and help reduce the millions who depend on the drugs, the new guidelines suggest.
NHS watchdog Nice said adults who wanted to stop taking antidepressants should reduce their doses in stages, rather than stop taking them cold turkey.
Experts hope that having people stop taking the pills over time will reduce the severity of withdrawal symptoms, helping more people quit successfully. But charities are concerned that GPs are not equipped to cut people’s medications down, and have urged prescriptions to be cut to begin with.
The changes come as record amounts of antidepressants are distributed. In 2021-22, approximately 8.3 million patients received an antidepressant drug, up from 7.9 million the year before. The Daily Mail has long campaigned to raise awareness about the over-prescription of antidepressants.
GPs should wean patients off antidepressants to ease withdrawal symptoms and help reduce the millions of people who depend on the drugs, new guidelines suggest
The changes come as record amounts of antidepressants are distributed. In 2021-22, approximately 8.3 million patients received an antidepressant drug, up from 7.9 million the year before.
Under the new draft guidelines, those who want to come off the drugs must first agree with their doctor whether it’s okay to stop taking the drug, then the speed and duration of withdrawal.
Any withdrawal symptoms should have resolved or be tolerable before the next dose reduction is made, according to the expert panel.
Mental health charity Mind welcomed the guidelines, which it hopes will “provide a focus for improvement”. But a spokesperson added: “We know that the vast majority of GPs don’t feel they really have the skills to help people reduce their medications.”