Millions of people take antidepressants to manage anxiety and depression, yet many questions remain about their long-term effectiveness and what happens when people try to stop taking them. As concerns grow about withdrawal symptoms and the challenges of coming off these medications, understanding both their benefits and limitations has never been more important.
Today on The Dhru Purohit Show, Dhru sits down with Dr. Mark Horowitz to explore the widespread use of antidepressants, why so many people struggle to come off them, and how withdrawal symptoms are often misunderstood. Dr. Horowitz shares his own difficult experience tapering off antidepressants and how it inspired him to research and develop safer, evidence-based approaches for reducing these medications. He also examines the research behind how antidepressants were originally approved, highlighting key limitations in some of the studies and how those flaws may have shaped our understanding of their benefits and risks. Along the way, he explains what happens in the brain during the tapering process, and the best and worst practices for supporting individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, and antidepressant discontinuation.
Also mentioned in this episode:
For more on Dr. Horowitz, follow him on X/Twitter @markhoro, Outro Health’s socials: Facebook @outrohealth, Instagram @outrohealth, X/Twitter @outrohealth, LinkedIn @outrohealth, YouTube @outrohealth, or visit his Websites: Dr. Mark Horowitz https://markhorowitz.org/ and Outro Health https://www.outro.com/.
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