Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome: What It Is And What To Do About It
Antidepressant drugs are among the most used in the world of psychiatry, but they are still substances whose use carries the risk of developing unwanted effects.
In fact, some people experience a problematic dependence on these drugs, which causes withdrawal syndrome if they stop taking antidepressants Let’s see what to do to avoid these complications.
As their name indicates, antidepressants are drugs commonly used in the treatment of depressive disorders, and which are normally consumed orally in pill format. This type of psychopathology is characterized by being accompanied by symptoms linked to low mood and the inability to experience interest or incentives for the stimuli provided by the environment.
For example, it is common for people with major depression to spend most of their free time lying on the couch or in bed and hardly have a social life or be interested in participating in projects or any activity that is not mandatory (and In the most severe cases, difficulties in experiencing pleasure or feeling excitement about things give rise to constant thoughts of suicide, or directly to attempts to end one’s own life due to the feeling of hopelessness and restlessness).
In this way, antidepressant drugs They work by intervening in the patient’s neuronal activation patterns, so that your brain does not remain so much in that state of “flattening” of emotions and little general activation. To do this, its active ingredients cross the blood-brain barrier to reach the neuronal receptors, where these molecules are captured.
In short, the active ingredients of antidepressants compensate for the abnormal functioning of the brain and perform the tasks that in a person without depression would be carried out by neurotransmitters (molecules used by the nervous system so that its neurons communicate with each other and that, for some reason, they are in short supply or do not do their job properly in people with depression).
Now, the fit between antidepressants and the brains of people diagnosed with depressive disorders is not perfect. In fact, much is still unknown about how they work, and they are used because in many cases they help, although it is not known exactly why. They are not even used in all cases in which there is depression, nor only with depressive-type psychological disorders: we must not forget that the chemical interactions that occur in the brain are very complex and to a certain extent unpredictable.
It is because of that The consumption of these medications is always accompanied by risks, which is why it must be carried out under medical indication and assistance. Among these unwanted effects is withdrawal syndrome, a phenomenon that can also arise when trying to stop taking drugs taken outside the clinical context (tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, etc.).
What is withdrawal syndrome like with antidepressants?
After taking antidepressants for months, the brain adapts to this situation, modifying its neuronal connections as if the drug were another permanent element of the nervous system. That is, as the active ingredient is present every day in the body, the body acts accordingly. However, this also goes hand in hand with the phenomenon known as tolerance: This “readjustment” implies that the effect of the medication after three months of taking it is weaker than the first day of taking the pill, at least if the same amount is consumed.
The B side of this is that, upon ending or stopping treatment, about a third of patients develop withdrawal syndrome: a set of symptoms associated with discomfort that appear because the brain “is missing” something. The most frequent and important symptoms are these:
Fortunately, withdrawal syndrome can appear in different degrees of intensity, and not all of them are very problematic. Furthermore, with medical supervision, it tends to disappear in a matter of two weeks: little by little, the nervous system gets used to the new situation, in the same way it adapted to the presence of the drug.
In any case, withdrawal syndrome is one of the reasons why it is essential to have medical supervision not only when taking an antidepressant psychoactive drug, but also when stopping taking it. Usually, withdrawal of this medication is done gradually so that the symptoms do not burst with great intensity into the person’s life.
Are you looking for addiction treatment?
If you want to have professional treatment for problems due to addiction to drugs and psychotropic drugs, we invite you to contact us.
In CITA Clinics We specialize in offering therapy and health and psychological assistance for people with addictive disorders with or without substances. We offer outpatient care and also through admissions in our fully equipped residential module located in an environment full of nature. You will find us in Barcelona and in Dosrius (Mataró).
