A systematic review and meta-analysis on antidepressant discontinuation found that while one in three people reports symptoms upon stopping, half are likely due to the nocebo effect. Severe symptoms are rare, affecting only about 3% of those discontinuing. Credit: SciTechDaily.
com How difficult is it to stop taking antidepressants? If countless Internet posts and multiple scientific studies are to be believed, discontinuing these medications is highly problematic, and doctors often underestimate the difficulties involved. However, it is unclear how common discontinuation symptoms actually are. Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and University Hospital Cologne have now conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis.
In their article in The Lancet Psychiatry, they conclude that one in three people reports symptoms after discontinuing antidepressant treatment, but half of those symptoms are attributable to negative expectations (the nocebo effect). Exploring the Nocebo Effect in Antidepressant Withdrawal According to the formal definition, antidepressants are not habit-forming. Unlike “true” addictive substances, for example, taking them does not cause the body to require higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect.
Even so, many patients report symptoms such as dizziness, headache, or insomnia when they stop taking these mood medications. The phenomenon went largely unremarked by researchers for years, but there are now a relatively large nu.
