Antidepressant withdrawal guidance must be updated to reflect evidence

Recommendations on antidepressant withdrawal need to be updated urgently to reflect the scientific evidence, said a group of experts writing in The BMJ.1

It was a concern that the evidence base contradicted the official position of the UK National Institute on Health and Clinical Excellence on antidepressant withdrawal, they said, and they warned that if doctors were following these recommendations many people may have had their withdrawal symptoms misdiagnosed as a relapse or a failure to respond to treatment.

As a result, patients who were trying to come off antidepressants may have had them reinstated or switched, or …