Understanding Antidepressant Withdrawal
By Peter Walker
Here is an article I wrote for Cleo magazine on the difficulties that can be experienced when people withdraw from antidepressants rapidly.
It is critical that people seek the advice of their GP or Psychiatrist when they are considering embarking on this process. Unfortunately, I see far too many people who withdraw rapidly and end up experiencing distressing side effects, e.g., headaches, nausea, and disconcerting symptoms such as "brain zaps", and a sudden decompensation into depressed mood.
This can lead people to assume that their depression was lying hidden just under the surface and that their apparent improvement in coping was all a facade made possible by the antidepressant.
It is quite possible, however, that the depressive episode that occurs directly after the sudden cessation of medication that had been administered chronically for a long period is in fact a withdrawal syndrome.
This is why medical practitioners recommend a very gradual reduction in the dose of antidepressant medication.
