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Millions warned over severe risks from coming off antidepressants

Millions are warned over ‘severe’ side-effects while coming off anti-depressants with 56% of patients suffering withdrawal effects

  • Millions of patients get insomnia when coming off anti-depressants, study finds
  • Medical evidence shows 56% of patients would suffer drug withdrawal effects 
  • Some 1.8million are at risk of severe symptoms coming off anti-depressant drugs

Millions of people face severe side-effects when trying to come off anti-depressants, a major review has concluded.

For years health officials have played down the difficulty of withdrawing from antidepressants, insisting side-effects are ‘mild’ and last no more than a week or two.

But a review of medical evidence today shows 56 per cent of people suffer withdrawal effects if they try to come off the drugs.

According to the NHS, 16 per cent of adults – seven million people in England – took the drugs in 2016-17, one of the highest rates in the world [File photo]

The worst-hit experience nausea, anxiety, insomnia and agitation, with many people put back on antidepressants as doctors mistake the symptoms for a relapse of depression itself.

The issue is contentious – just last week a senior psychiatrist resigned from his Government position after he received sustained abuse for playing down the side-effects of withdrawal.

The new study, in the Journal of Addictive Behaviours, suggests of the seven million people taking antidepressants in England alone, four million are at risk of withdrawal symptoms if they try to come off the pills.

Some 1.8million are at risk of severe symptoms and for 1.7million – 25 per cent of patients taking the drugs – the withdrawal effects would last at least three months.

For years health officials have played down the difficulty of withdrawing from antidepressants, insisting side-effects are ‘mild’ and last no more than a week or two [File photo]

Experts believe the problem has helped drive up antidepressant use in Britain to levels that are among the highest in the Western world.

The scientists behind the review, from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence, called for guidelines by NHS watchdog NICE to be rewritten in light of the findings.

Researcher Dr James Davies, of Roehampton University, said: ‘This new review of the research reveals what many patients have known for years – that withdrawal from antidepressants often causes severe, debilitating symptoms which can last for weeks, months or longer.

‘Existing NICE guidelines fail to acknowledge how common withdrawal is and wrongly suggest that it usually resolves within one week.

‘This leads many doctors to misdiagnose withdrawal symptoms, often as relapse, resulting in much unnecessary and harmful long-term prescribing.’


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The review involved evidence from 24 existing studies, including 5,300 patients. The findings have been submitted to Public Health England, which is conducting a review into prescription pill dependency.

That review was triggered by a campaign by the Daily Mail raising awareness of patients left dependent on drugs through no fault of their own.

People in Britain use more antidepressants than almost every other country in the Western world. Experts believes this is partly due to lack of awareness of withdrawal problems.

According to the NHS, 16 per cent of adults – seven million people in England – took the drugs in 2016-17. This is one of the highest rates in the world.

The scientists behind the review, from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence, called for guidelines by NHS watchdog NICE to be rewritten in light of the findings [File photo]

And the length of time people are kept on the drugs has soared, with one in four users taking the pills for an average of 15 months compared with eight months 20 years ago.

Dr Davies believes part of the problem is patients being left on the pills for years because they find it so hard to withdraw. If there was wider awareness of the withdrawal issue, fewer patients would be prescribed the drugs in the first place, he said.

If the NHS reduces prescriptions, he said, it could cut the £250million annual bill spent on antidepressants alone and instead put money into counselling, talking therapies and other proven treatments.

NICE said that it was reviewing its guidance.

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