The Winter 2020 issue of the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy (JCPCP, 20,4), edited by Peter Lehmann, is a special issue on Withdrawal from Prescribed Psychotropic Drugs. It features articles on Medically unexplained symptoms and Functional neurological disorders Minimum dosage and monitoring of neuroleptics Recovering compensation for psychiatric withdrawal harm through litigation  Internationally known authors …

A new paper published in Schizophrenia Bulletin by Mark Horowitz, Sameer Jauhar, Sridhar Natesan, Robin Murray and David Taylor shows how extremely slow tapering off antipsychotics over months or years could reduce the potential negative experiences associated with antipsychotic withdrawal. The paper has been described as a ‘historic breakthrough’ in a recent article in the …

The International Institute of Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal has received a microgrant from Open Excellence to support us to continue our work. The grant will support us to design and deliver a training on psychiatric drug withdrawal in collaboration with clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience. It will also allow the Institute to support people …

A new article published in Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology provides a clear and accessible summary of what Adele Framer has learned from helping thousands of patients taper their antidepressants and other psychotropic medications, in her role as founder and operator of the online peer-support forum SurvivingAntidepressants.org. Although psychiatric drug withdrawal syndromes have been recognised since the …

These free presentations (3 hours CPD) by the main editors of the Guidance for Psychological Therapists are based on the companion publication “A short guide to what every psychological therapist should know about working with psychiatric drugs”. You can access the presentations here: https://prescribeddrug.info/training/ The presentations, which are each followed by a Q&A session are: Dr James Davies: Context …

A new study by Martin Harrow, Thomas Jobe, and Liping Tong found that odds of recovery from “serious mental illness” were six times greater if the patient discontinued antipsychotics within two years. The study followed patients with schizophrenia and affective psychosis (bipolar and depression with psychotic features) diagnoses for 20 years. The study was published …

The BBC World Service has produced this audio documentary on medication-free psychiatric treatment in Norway. The documentary features an interview with IIPDW Board member Dr Magnus Hald, as well as IIPDW Associates Mette Ellingsdalen and Dr Peggy Lilleby.

It is well-known that attempting antipsychotic withdrawal can be a fraught process, with a high risk of relapse that often leads people to resume the medication. Nonetheless, there is a group of people who appear to be able to discontinue successfully. Miriam Larsen-Barr and Fred Seymour have published a study in Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology …

Dr Swapnil Gupta, who sits on IIPDW’s Board of Trustees, has given an interview to Carlat Psychiatry on the topic of deprescribing in psychiatry. You can listen to the Podcast here.