“Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome affects many patients”

“Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome affects many patients”

2024-03-01 14:30:18

INTERVIEW – The work of neurobiologist Mark Horowitz led to the development of a psychotropic medication withdrawal protocol in the United Kingdom. He explains the importance of an approach still ignored by many doctors.

The observation is known, and was brought to light during Covid: the consumption of psychotropic medications – antidepressants, anxiolytics and sleeping pills – is high in France. It is more common in women and increases with age. But what is often overlooked is that it can be difficult to stop these treatments. About half of patients experience withdrawal-related symptoms, such as nausea, dizziness, irritability, crying spells, anxiety, etc.

Their severity and persistence vary. They can be very debilitating. Mark Horowitz, a neurobiologist and researcher at the National Health Service in London, studies this difficult stopping syndrome and runs a specialist consultation in his clinic opened three years ago in north London. He has just published a guide (untranslated) to “deprescribing” benzodiazepines and antidepressants for doctors who are often unfamiliar with this phenomenon.

LE FIGARO. – How…

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