ArticleTherapeutic advances in psychopharmacology2021
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?
Article in Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review of manipulations to pharmaceutical dosage forms used in psychotropic tapering plans.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- An assessment of the reporting of tapering methods in antidepressant discontinuation trials using the TIDieR checklist.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Pooled it
- Accessing Mental Health Services: a Systematic Review and Meta-ethnography of the Experiences of South Asian Service Users in the UK.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- A randomized controlled trial evaluating the effects of social networking on chronic disease management in rheumatoid arthritis.Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism · 2022Trial
- The role of empathy in antidepressant withdrawal.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Hidden Costs: The Clinical and Research Pitfalls of Mistaking Antidepressant Withdrawal for Relapse.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2025Article
- 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
- 'We need more support and doctors that understand the process of tapering …': A content analysis of free-text responses to a questionnaire on discontinuing long-term benzodiazepine receptor agonist use.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Step change in guidance on withdrawing antidepressants.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Antidepressants: A content analysis of healthcare providers' tweets.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- Article
- Outcomes of hyperbolic tapering of antidepressants.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2023Article
- General Practice Patients' Experiences and Perceptions of the WiserAD Structured Web-Based Support Tool for Antidepressant Deprescribing: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Case Study With Realist Evaluation.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- User Perspectives on Professional Support and Service Use During Psychiatric Medication Discontinuation.Community mental health journal · 2022Article
- The experiences of 585 people when they tried to withdraw from antipsychotic drugs.Addictive behaviors reports · 2022Article
- 'I just thought that it was such an impossible thing': A qualitative study of barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long-term use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists using the Theoretical Domains Framework.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2022Article
- Mobile phone applications to support psychotropic tapering: a scoping review protocol.HRB open research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntidepressant withdrawal is experienced by about half of people who try to reduce or come off their medication. It can be a debilitating, long lasting process. Many clinicians misdiagnose or minimise symptoms, inadvertently prolonging suffering. Most are unable to help patients safely taper off. There has been little research into the peer support communities that are playing an increasingly important role in helping people withdraw from psychiatric medications.
methodsTo illustrate the growth and activities of Facebook withdrawal groups, we examined 13 such groups. All were raising awareness of, and supporting individuals tapering off, antidepressants and were followed for 13 months. A further three groups were added for the last 5 months of the study.
resultsIn June 2020, the groups had a total membership of 67,125, of which, 60,261 were in private groups. The increase in membership for the 13 groups over the study period was 28.4%. One group was examined in greater detail. Group membership was 82.5% female, as were 80% of the Administrators and Moderators, all of whom are lay volunteers. Membership was international but dominated (51.2%) by the United States (US). The most common reason for seeking out this group was failed clinician-led tapers. DISCUSSION: The results are discussed in the context of research on the prevalence, duration and severity of antidepressant withdrawal. We question why so many patients seek help in peer-led Facebook groups, rather than relying on the clinicians that prescribed the medications. The withdrawal experiences of tens of thousands of people remain hidden in these groups where they receive support to taper when healthcare services should be responsible. Further research should focus on the methods of support and tapering protocols used in these groups to enable improved, more informed support by clinicians. Support from Governments and healthcare agencies is also needed, internationally, to address this issue.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.