Almost half of long-term antidepressant users could stop taking their medication with the support of their GP and access to online or telephone helplines, a study has found.
More than 40 percent of study participants who were in good health and not at risk of relapse were able to stop taking their medication on their doctor’s advice, the scientists said.
They also found that patients who had access to online support or a psychologist over the phone reported lower rates of depression, fewer withdrawal symptoms, and better mental health.
The research, led by the Universities of Southampton, Liverpool and Hull York Medical School and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, has been published in the journal Jama Network Open.
An estimated 86 million antidepressant tablets were prescribed to 8.6 million patients in England in 2022-23, the latest year for which NHS statistics are available.
Professor Tony Kendrick Lead author of the study, a researcher from the University of Southampton, said the findings were significant because they showed that many patients were able to wean themselves off medication without the need for expensive, intensive therapy sessions.
“This approach has the potential to eliminate the risk of serious side effects for patients taking antidepressants for the long term and concerned about withdrawal symptoms,” he said.
“Providing patients with internet and psychologist telephone support is also cost-effective for the NHS. Our findings show that support not only improves patient outcomes but also tends to reduce the burden on primary healthcare whilst people are tapering off their antidepressants.”
A total of 330 adults who had been taking medication for at least one year during their first depression episode and for at least two years during their relapse participated in the study.
Co-author Una MacLeod, professor of primary care medicine at Hull York Medical School, said: “Many patients have been taking antidepressants for more than two years to treat their depression and probably no longer need them. The evidence from our study is clear and suggests the UK should establish a national helpline, both telephone and online, to help people who want to stop taking their medication.”
The findings are the latest in a seven-year research programme called “Reduce” that is investigating the long-term effects of stopping antidepressants.
Co-author Mark Gabbay, professor of general practice at Liverpool, said the study suggested many patients don’t need intensive face-to-face therapy sessions during withdrawal.
“This is the first study to demonstrate that large-scale withdrawal of long-term antidepressant treatment is possible without the need for psychological therapy,” he said.
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“Antidepressants are generally recommended for use for a maximum of two years and come with an increased risk of side effects as people get older. Our findings encourage more proactive consideration by family physicians of discontinuing antidepressants.”
Earlier this month, the largest study of its kind found that one in six people who stopped taking antidepressants experienced withdrawal symptoms as a direct result of the drug, lower than previous estimates.
The Lancet Psychiatry reported that 15% of patients experience one or more withdrawal symptoms as a direct result of stopping taking the medication, and approximately 2-3% experience severe symptoms.
Previous studies have suggested the incidence of withdrawal symptoms is much higher, affecting 56 percent of all patients, but experts say this figure is not certain.
A Lancet study of 21,000 people found that the most commonly used antidepressant in the UK had the lowest incidence of withdrawal symptoms.
Stopping antidepressants can cause a variety of symptoms or no symptoms at all, the most commonly reported being dizziness, headache, nausea, insomnia and irritability.
