New Study Challenges Perception of Antidepressant Withdrawal Severity

A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry contests previous claims that a significant percentage of patients experience severe withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing antidepressants. This research, led by Dr. Sameer Jauhar, posits that reported symptoms are generally mild and not clinically significant.

Few areas of mental health care garner as much debate as the long-term use of antidepressants, which are prescribed to approximately one in nine adults in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A reassessment of the issue began in 2019, sparked by a British study that indicated 56 percent of patients experienced withdrawal symptoms upon stopping their antidepressant medications, with 46 percent labeling those symptoms as severe. The findings gained considerable media attention in Britain, leading to changes in psychiatric training and prescribing guidelines and fueling a grassroots movement advocating for a reduction in psychotropic drug prescriptions. This movement recently gained traction in the United States, particularly with the ascent of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.

However, a new study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry refutes earlier concerns by suggesting that the existing warnings may have been exaggerated. Researchers found that, one week after discontinuing antidepressants, patients reported withdrawal symptoms such as dizziness and nausea, but these symptoms tended to remain below clinically significant levels.

Dr. Sameer Jauhar, a psychiatrist at Imperial College London and co-author of the study, emphasizes that the earlier narrative suggested that all antidepressants could cause significant withdrawal for a large portion of users, a claim that he argues does not hold up under scientific analysis. His assertions aim to reassure both patients and prescribers regarding the nature of withdrawal from these medications.