‘These drugs were never intended for a lifetime’: Evidence for long-term antidepressant use is flawed, researchers say
Researchers say the evidence used to justify long-term use confounds withdrawal with relapse.
Evidence justifying long-term antidepressant use is flawed, with common symptoms of ‘relapse’ likely reflecting withdrawal instead, researchers say.
UK and Australian researchers say that discontinuation trials, where patients on antidepressants are randomised to stop or continue treatment, are the main evidence used to support use beyond 12 months.
However, they say none of these trials tried to distinguish between withdrawal and relapse.
Symptoms such as low mood, anxiety and insomnia feature “strongly” on the depression scales the studies used to define relapse — symptoms now widely recognised as withdrawal-related, they say.
