Imagine trying to stop taking medication meant to help you feel better, only to find yourself hit with terrifying symptoms that no one seems to believe are real.
That’s exactly what happened to Helena Burton, a 56-year-old psychotherapist from Essex.
After 15 years on the antidepressant venlafaxine, Helena decided to quit — and the experience was nothing short of a rollercoaster.
The Shock of Antidepressant Withdrawal
Helena describes the moment she stopped the drug as a bomb going off in her head.
Her face went numb, her brain felt like it was being zapped by electricity, and everything around her seemed unreal.
“I honestly felt like I was going mad,” she recalls.
But even as she struggled, doctors dismissed her symptoms, telling her antidepressant withdrawal wasn’t a real thing.
For decades, many psychiatrists, GPs, and pharmaceutical companies ignored or denied patients’ claims of severe withdrawal symptoms, blaming everything on either the return of depression or patients’ imaginations.
A Shift in Medical Understanding
That started to change in 2019. Thanks to growing research and campaigns championed by groups like Good Health, the Royal College of Psychiatrists finally acknowledged that antidepressant withdrawal can be severe and long-lasting.
Alongside the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), they now recommend that patients taper off antidepressants slowly over months, to minimize withdrawal effects.
This careful tapering isn’t just for antidepressants.
It’s also advised for drugs like benzodiazepines and sleeping pills, and even medications like opioid painkillers, steroids, and beta blockers.
The idea is to gradually reduce doses to avoid unpleasant and potentially dangerous symptoms.
The Reality: Support Is Still Lacking
Despite this progress, many patients still find little support from the NHS when trying to come off these drugs.
Medical professionals often seem unaware of or unwilling to acknowledge the severity of withdrawal problems.
Just last month, a controversial paper published in JAMA Psychiatry argued that withdrawal symptoms are mostly in patients’ minds, suggesting a “nocebo effect” where negative expectations worsen symptoms.
However, critics like Professor Joanna Moncrieff from University College London point out this study only looked at short-term antidepressant use, while millions of people have been on these drugs for years.
Helena’s Journey to Freedom
Back in 2019, Helena decided she’d had enough.
Her psychiatrist had suggested electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which involves inducing seizures to treat depression — a treatment she found frightening and invasive. She chose instead to quit venlafaxine.
Her first attempt to cut her dose from 37.5mg to 7.5mg over two weeks ended in terrible symptoms, forcing her back onto the full dose.
Then, she discovered “hyperbolic tapering” — reducing medication by 5-10% every few weeks, with smaller reductions as the dose got lower.
But it wasn’t easy. The NHS only provided venlafaxine in pill form with a coating that made cutting doses accurately very tricky.
Helena had to buy special tools and carefully weigh pills to manage her tapering.
Despite her efforts, some symptoms lingered, like temporary numbness in her arms. It took her a full year to stop the drug completely, in 2021.
Now, four years later, Helena feels emotionally stronger than ever.
Even after suffering a serious accident, she hasn’t experienced depression symptoms.
She’s now helping others navigate the tough journey of coming off antidepressants.
Why Isn’t There More Help?
In 2019, Public Health England recommended the NHS set up a helpline and website to support people quitting psychiatric drugs — a call backed by parliamentary groups and patient advocates. Yet, so far, little has been done.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ website now includes tapering advice, and NICE guidelines urge gradual dose reduction.
Still, denial and ignorance remain widespread among healthcare professionals.
A Growing Body of Evidence
Studies show that the longer someone takes antidepressants, the more likely and severe their withdrawal symptoms.
For example, research published in May found that people on these drugs for over two years were ten times more likely to experience withdrawal, and those symptoms were often long-lasting.
Meanwhile, in the US, new clinics like Outro have started offering specialist support for tapering, pairing patients with clinicians for tailored programs and providing custom medication doses.
One of the co-founders, Dr. Mark Horowitz, struggled himself to quit after 15 years on antidepressants, inspiring him to develop safe withdrawal guidelines.
Patients’ Voices: The Struggle to Come Off Medication
Kiera Dawes, 25, from County Durham, knows how hard it can be.
Prescribed gabapentin for fibromyalgia pain, she experienced brain fog, dizziness, and mood swings — all signs of withdrawal.
Her dose was increased repeatedly despite no relief, and when she finally decided to stop, the support was minimal: just brief check-in calls every two weeks.
She says, “Withdrawal has been hell. Gabapentin is a horrendous drug, and I wouldn’t have taken it if I’d known how hard it is to come off.
There definitely needs to be more support — it’s a really hard thing to go through.”
The Road Ahead: Calls for Better Support
GPs like Dr. Simon Opher, MP for Stroud, recognize that many doctors lack training on how to help patients safely withdraw from drugs like antidepressants.
He’s urging ministers to act on recommendations for NHS helplines and specialist services — but responses are slow.
NHS England states it’s working with healthcare professionals to support patients making informed choices, but for millions stuck on medications they no longer need, that help can’t come soon enough.