ArticleTherapeutic advances in psychopharmacology2020
A survey of UK general practitioners about depression, antidepressants and withdrawal: implementing the 2019 Public Health England report.
Article in Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Discontinuing antidepressant medication: a qualitative evidence synthesis and logic model based on health professionals' views.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness and safety of Arecae Semen compounds for patients with depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- 'I Wish It Were More Often Told to People Before They Are Prescribed These Medications How Hard It Is to Get Off Them': A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis of Free-Text Responses to a Survey on Reducing and Stopping Psychiatric Medication.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Housing Environmental Enrichment, Lifestyles, and Public Health Indicators of Neurogenesis in Humans: A Pilot Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Article
- The lived experience of withdrawal from Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants: A qualitative interview study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
- Factors Associated with Psychotropic Medications Literacy among Community Pharmacists.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
- Outcomes of hyperbolic tapering of antidepressants.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2023Article
- The serotonin theory of depression and why we use antidepressants.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Article
- Antidepressant medication prescribing patterns in Irish general practice from 2016 to 2020 to assess for long-term use.Irish journal of medical science · 2022Article
- A Focus on Abuse/Misuse and Withdrawal Issues with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Analysis of Both the European EMA and the US FAERS Pharmacovigilance Databases.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Successful use of tapering strips for hyperbolic reduction of antidepressant dose: a cohort study.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2021Article
- The role of Facebook groups in the management and raising of awareness of antidepressant withdrawal: is social media filling the void left by health services?Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2021Article
- The 'patient voice': patients who experience antidepressant withdrawal symptoms are often dismissed, or misdiagnosed with relapse, or a new medical condition.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn 2019, a literature review indicated that more than half of people who try to come off antidepressants experience withdrawal effects. Both the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence and the Royal College of Psychiatrists updated their positions in line with that review, and Public Health England published a 152-page report called
methodIn order to facilitate implementation of these recommendations, an online survey was designed to explore United Kingdom general practitioner (GP) experiences, opinions, knowledge and needs in relation to depression, ADs and withdrawal. A total of 66 GPs had completed the survey when COVID-19 occurred.
resultsIn keeping with previous findings, this small sample of GPs had a predominantly psycho-social perspective on the causes of, and treatments for, depression. They broadly considered ADs effective for moderate/severe depression and ineffective for minimal/mild depression, for which they preferred psychological therapies and social prescribing. There was a marked lack of consistency in GPs' knowledge about the incidence and duration of withdrawal effects. Only a minority (29%) felt their knowledge about withdrawal was 'adequate' and fewer (17%) believed this about their 'Ability to distinguish between withdrawal effects and return of the original problem (e.g. depression)'. Two-thirds (68%) would like more training on these matters.
conclusionIt is hoped that even this small sample will be helpful when designing, and seeking funding for, GP training programmes, and when implementing the PHE recommendations for support services, based in the primary care system, for the millions of people contemplating or initiating withdrawal from ADs every year in the UK.
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