Antidepressant discontinuation reactions

Discontinuation reactions from antidepressants have been recognised since the drugs were first introduced1 and can occur with all the major classes of antidepressants. 2 3 This phenomenon has important implications for antidepressant prescribing, particularly as these drugs are increasingly used in disorders other than depression. Nevertheless, antidepressant discontinuation reactions have received little systematic study and many clinicians are unaware of them.4 The incidence of discontinuance reactions is unclear owing to the lack of research and of an accepted definition of what constitutes a discontinuation reaction. Antidepressants vary in their propensity to cause reactions,5 and reactions are more common after abrupt termination and longer courses of treatment. 6 7 Given this background, the reported incidence has varied from 0%6 to 100%.8 One of the few double blind placebo controlled studies found that in the two weeks after a 12 week treatment period adverse events, mostly mild or moderate, occurred in 35% of patients treated with paroxetine compared with 14% of …