{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T05:58:21Z","timestamp":1791266301212,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":67,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,1,1]],"date-time":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1577836800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Stopping antidepressants commonly causes withdrawal symptoms, which can be severe and long-lasting. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance has been recently updated to reflect this; however, for many years withdrawal (discontinuation) symptoms were characterised as \u2018usually mild and self-limiting over a week\u2019. Consequently, withdrawal symptoms might have been misdiagnosed as relapse of an underlying condition, or new onset of another medical illness, but this has never been studied.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Method:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This paper outlines the themes emerging from 158 respondents to an open invitation to describe the experience of prescribed psychotropic medication withdrawal for petitions sent to British parliaments. The accounts include polypharmacy (mostly antidepressants and benzodiazepines) but we focus on antidepressants because of the relative lack of awareness about their withdrawal effects compared with benzodiazepines. Mixed method analysis was used, including a \u2018lean thinking\u2019 approach to evaluate common failure points.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The themes identified include: a lack of information given to patients about the risk of antidepressant withdrawal; doctors failing to recognise the symptoms of withdrawal; doctors being poorly informed about the best method of tapering prescribed medications; patients being diagnosed with relapse of the underlying condition or medical illnesses other than withdrawal; patients seeking advice outside of mainstream healthcare, including from online forums; and significant effects on functioning for those experiencing withdrawal.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Several points for improvement emerge: the need for updating of guidelines to help prescribers recognise antidepressant withdrawal symptoms and to improve informed consent processes; greater availability of non-pharmacological options for managing distress; greater availability of best practice for tapering medications such as antidepressants; and the vital importance of patient feedback. Although the patients captured in this analysis might represent medication withdrawal experiences that are more severe than average, they highlight the current inadequacy of health care systems to recognise and manage prescribed drug withdrawal, and patient feedback in general.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/2045125320967183","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,9]],"date-time":"2020-11-09T21:59:35Z","timestamp":1604959175000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":72,"title":["The \u2018patient voice\u2019: patients who experience antidepressant withdrawal symptoms are often dismissed, or misdiagnosed with relapse, or a new medical condition"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5582-5697","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anne","family":"Guy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychotherapist, Secretariat Co-ordinator for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marion","family":"Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Retired Psychotherapist and Co-Founder of a Patient Support Group \u2018Recovery and Renewal\u2019, Helensburgh, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stevie","family":"Lewis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lived Experience of Prescribed Drug Dependence, Cardiff, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mark","family":"Horowitz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.l6103"},{"key":"bibr2-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.313.7061.858"},{"key":"bibr3-2045125320967183","unstructured":"Public Health England. Dependence and withdrawal associated with some prescribed medicines. An evidence review. https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/prescribed-medicines-review-report (2019, accessed 5 August 2019)."},{"key":"bibr4-2045125320967183","volume-title":"Position statement on antidepressants and depression","author":"Royal College of Psychiatrists","year":"2019"},{"key":"bibr5-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.addbeh.2018.08.027"},{"key":"bibr6-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000506868"},{"key":"bibr7-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000370338"},{"key":"bibr8-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000491524"},{"key":"bibr9-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0006-3223(98)00126-7"},{"key":"bibr10-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.addbeh.2019.01.025"},{"key":"bibr11-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0269881119845799"},{"key":"bibr12-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2174\/1574886313666180605095130"},{"key":"bibr13-2045125320967183","unstructured":"Weller I, Ashby D, Chambers M, et al Report of the CSM expert working group on the safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants. 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NHS Inst Innov Improv, https:\/\/www.england.nhs.uk\/improvement-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/11\/Going-Lean-in-the-NHS.pdf (2007, accessed 5 August 2019)."},{"key":"bibr34-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychres.2016.10.069"},{"key":"bibr35-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2017.00275"},{"key":"bibr36-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/neu.2019.4"},{"key":"bibr37-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(19)30366-9"},{"key":"bibr38-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000362803"},{"key":"bibr39-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjebm-2019-111238"},{"key":"bibr40-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(03)12599-8"},{"key":"bibr41-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000496734"},{"key":"bibr42-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3399\/bjgp11X548983"},{"key":"bibr43-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.m3200"},{"key":"bibr44-2045125320967183","first-page":"42","volume":"42","author":"Moncrieff J","year":"2018","journal-title":"Psychiatrist"},{"key":"bibr45-2045125320967183","first-page":"1443","volume":"23","author":"Bet PM","year":"2013","journal-title":"et al."},{"key":"bibr46-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2045125319872344"},{"key":"bibr47-2045125320967183","first-page":"109","volume":"19","author":"Middleton DJ","year":"2011","journal-title":"Qual Prim Care"},{"key":"bibr48-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(19)30032-X"},{"key":"bibr49-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2045125320950124"},{"key":"bibr50-2045125320967183","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2018-027837"},{"key":"bibr51-2045125320967183","first-page":"1","volume":"34","author":"Eveleigh R","year":"2017","journal-title":"BJGP Open"},{"key":"bibr52-2045125320967183","unstructured":"NICE. 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PE1517 - Polypropylene mesh medical devices, https:\/\/www.parliament.scot\/GettingInvolved\/Petitions\/scottishmeshsurvivors (2018, accessed June 23, 2020)."},{"key":"bibr66-2045125320967183","unstructured":"Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. 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