Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome

Abstract

Discontinuation syndromes occur with many psychotropic agents. Withdrawal syndromes have been sporadically reported with the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), although these are generally thought to affect a minority of patients. In contrast, drugs that act as central nervous system (CNS) depressants, such as sedative hypnotics, opiates, and ethanol, have prominent and potentially severe withdrawal effects. For example, habituation and pharmacologic dependence to benzodiazepines led to difficulty in stopping treatment with these agents and ultimately resulted in their listing as scheduled substances?