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MISSION

The International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (IIPDW) was created to respond to a glaring need in mental health: to develop ways for helping people withdraw from psychiatric drugs.

Mental health has failed to provide support to people who want to reduce or withdraw from their psychiatric drugs. Often, people are simply told it is a bad idea, and thus are left to try to reduce or withdraw without the support they need.

Indeed, psychiatric drugs have been prescribed for 60 years, there is little research that has been conducted on how to withdraw from these drugs. Most of the withdrawal studies that have been conducted have involved abrupt drug withdrawal, and even in studies where the drugs were more gradually withdrawn, there was no effort to identify the needed supports.

The mission of our institute is to bring together practice-based knowledge and research data to fill in this gap. Our goal is to gather such knowledge and disseminate it to patients, family members, professional helpers, professional organizations, and throughout society.

RECENT NEWS

  • Recordings of our Conference in May 2022 available now on Youtube

    As a little reminder, the conference featured Carina Håkansson, Robert Whitaker, Laura Delano, Joanna Moncrieff, Magnus Hald, Stevie Lewis and Mark Horowitz. The conference had overwhelmingly positive feedback. So if you couldn’t join us last May, this is your chance to catch up! You can watch the playlist here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn6xouxOUzCRfjnpywrEqImvkDkCthwsL

By donating you will be helping to add to the growing call for a global response to the issues of psychiatric drug withdrawal and iatrogenic harm.

Psychological Support for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal

IIPDW Board member John Read contributes to a piece in the Scottish Herald written by Health Correspondent Helen McArdle.

UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Updates Antidepressant Withdrawal Guidance

How to get help if you’re hooked on antidepressants: GPs must now warn people they face MONTHS of withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking depression pills – here’s how to do it safely

Auður Axels­dóttir interviews Magnus P. Hald

Podcast interview with Dr Carina Håkansson and Professor John Read

Fears UK Could Follow the US into Opioid Crisis

Royal College of Psychiatrists Changes its Position on Antidepressant Withdrawal

Maund et al.:Managing Antidepressant Discontinuation: A Systematic Review.

Do we need knowledge about withdrawing from psyhiatric drugs? If yes, what kind of knowledge and for whom?

Workshop in Norway, Januar 17, 2019 with Carina Håkansson, Magnus Hald and Ottar Ness among others.

OUR AIMS

  • Develop research and practice-based knowledge that will facilitate safe reduction of and withdrawal from psychiatric drugs.
  • Contribute to evidence-based practices for reduction of and withdrawal from psychiatric drugs, and facilitate their inclusion in general practice guidelines.
  • Support the human right to informed choice with regard to psychiatric drugs.
  • Promote practices that help families, friends, and practitioners support safe reduction of and withdrawal from psychiatric drugs, and take into account relational and social aspects essential to this process.

CONTACT US

Don’t hesitate to contact us at info@iipdw.org to get to know more about our work.

Also find us on Twitter and Facebook.