Depression relapses more common after discontinuing antidepressants

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-09-30 07:00

International

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After using antidepressants for a prolonged period, those who stop using them are still more likely to have a relapse of depression than those who continue with the medication. International researchers enrolled nearly 500 people who had been taking antidepressants for two years or more and split them into two groups; one continued using antidepressants and the other switched to a placebo treatment. After three months, one in five of those on antidepressants reported feeling worse than six weeks after the trial began, compared to nearly one in two in the placebo group. After a year, 39 per cent of people in the antidepressant group had a depression relapse compared to 56 per cent in the placebo group.