Doctors seek to understand why quitting antidepressants causes withdrawal for some

A “deprescribing” movement is building up in the psychiatry field, aimed at helping patients reduce or stop their antidepressants, especially SSRIs, when no longer considered necessary.

In early 2023, Liana Shatova began taking low doses of an antidepressant to ease symptoms of a premenstrual disorder marked by mood swings, anxiety and depression. At first, the difference was remarkable for her.

“I felt full of energy and could juggle multiple things at once,” said Shatova, 40, a business development manager from the Greater Boston area.

Then, after around 18 months on the medication, she started to fear she was becoming emotionally numb.

“My best friend’s mom died unexpectedly, everyone was in shock and sobbing, and I couldn’t cry at all,” said Shatova. “I just felt nothing.”

When Shatova asked her doctor if she could stop taking the medication sertraline, an antidepressant better known by its brand name Zoloft, she said she was reassured that she was on the lowest prescribed dose and that coming off it wouldn’t be difficult.