New guideline to safely reduce dependency on antidepressants

Doctors, pharmacists, and patients now have access to a new, comprehensive guideline on safely reducing the use of all antidepressants. Many healthcare providers lack the knowledge to guide people in reducing their dependency on these widely-prescribed drugs. The guideline by the associations of psychiatrists, general practitioners, pharmacists, and patient organization Mind aims to change that, NOS reports.

The collaboration released its first guideline in 2018 on reducing the use of the most commonly used antidepressants. The new one covers all antidepressants, with step-by-step instructions on tapering off their use.

About 250,000 people in the Netherlands take antidepressants long-term. Many people want to stop at some point due to side effects or to see if their mental health holds up without medication. But tapering off is not always easy.

If the tapering happens too fast, people can relapse into depression or psychosis. Or they can suffer withdrawal symptoms. Psychological complaints can also occur. And these symptoms could sometimes indicate a chance of a relapse.

“So in addition to guidelines on the dosage, this manual also explains which signals doctors should pay attention to see in time whether there is a risk of a relapse during tapering,” Eric Ruhe, co-author of the document as a psychiatrist at Radboudumc, explained to NOS. “In this way, we hope more doctors will dare to guide people. Because if you follow the steps, you can go a long way. And if you can’t figure it out, you can consult a psychiatrist or pharmacist. That is also the beauty of this multidisciplinary manual, it really is a joint venture of the different disciplines.”

Psychiatrist Christiaan Vinkers of Amsterdam UMC, who wasn’t involved in the manual, is enthusiastic about the opportunities it offers. “This can really be an important step in making the possibility of phasing out widely accessible, provided that it makes sense. It will not be possible for everyone,” he said. “In the past, doctors were mainly happy that there was a well-functioning medicine. There was hardly any thought about tapering back then. Those days are over.”