Dr Rani speaks to Adele Framer, the founder of the peer support community SurvivingAntidepressants.org. Adele has personal experience of antidepressant withdrawal syndrome, having suffered 11 years of symptoms after coming off 10 mg of paroxetine(Paxil) in 2004. Her paper — “What I have learnt from helping thousands of people taper off antidepressants and other psychotropic medications” was published in the Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology journal.

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Outline of discussion:

1. Adele’s own experience of withdrawal which was misdiagnosed as a relapse of her condition.
2. The fact that there is very little help out there for people who are struggling to come off antidepressants and that more and more people are turning to online peer support forums.
3. Professionals commonly tend to confuse withdrawal symptoms for relapse of mental illness.
4. Insomnia is a very common withdrawal symptom. If it is not identified as a withdrawal symptom, more medications to aid sleep might be added leading to polypharmacy.
5. Accidentally skipping a dose of medication, and taking it at different times can also give rise to withdrawal symptoms which will go unrecognised.
6. The difference between withdrawal symptoms and relapse of mental illness.
7. What health professionals can do to support people
8. ...and much more

Hosts: Dr Rani Bora, Dr Suraj Gogoi