{"id":133441,"date":"2026-02-25T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=133441"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:50:06","slug":"cchr-psychiatry-concedes-antidepressant-withdrawal-can-be-severe-and-prolonged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/cchr-psychiatry-concedes-antidepressant-withdrawal-can-be-severe-and-prolonged\/","title":{"rendered":"CCHR: Psychiatry Concedes Antidepressant Withdrawal Can Be Severe and Prolonged"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Feb. 25, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR)<\/a> says a landmark article published in Psychiatric Times<\/em> confirms what patients, independent researchers, and CCHR have documented and warned about for more than three decades: SSRI antidepressant withdrawal is more common and severe than previously acknowledged and frequently misdiagnosed.[1]<\/p>\n

\"Official
Image caption: Official psychiatric publication acknowledges diagnostic errors and prolonged antidepressant withdrawal – confirming concerns long raised by patients, researchers, and CCHR.<\/em><\/p>\n

For millions of Americans, this recognition is not new information; it is validation.<\/p>\n

Since the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine and paroxetine in the late 1980s and early 1990s, withdrawal risks have routinely been denied, minimized, or reframed. Patients reporting withdrawal symptoms were often told they were experiencing a relapse of their underlying \u201cmental illness.\u201d The recent Psychiatric Times<\/em> article acknowledges that relapse became a \u201ccommon diagnostic error,\u201d leading to reinstatement of medication and \u201ctrapping patients in a cycle of long-term use based on a misunderstanding of their symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authors also concede serious methodological flaws in traditional relapse-prevention trials that can inflate perceptions of benefit while obscuring evidence of physiological dependence. They describe the current reassessment of antidepressant withdrawal as a \u201cparadigm shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

CCHR disputes that characterization.<\/p>\n

Jan Eastgate, President of CCHR International, says, \u201cThis is not a paradigm shift. It is a belated recognition of a public health crisis that patients have been reporting for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, at least 45 million Americans\u2014including approximately 2.1 million children and adolescents\u2014are taking antidepressants. A 2019 systematic review found, using a weighted average, that 56% of patients experienced withdrawal symptoms after stopping antidepressants. That would equate to approximately 25.2 million Americans, including more than one million children and adolescents, who could potentially suffer withdrawal effects when they stop taking the drugs.[2]<\/p>\n

Withdrawal effects include dizziness, vertigo, \u201cbrain zaps\u201d (electric shock sensations), paresthesia (numbness, tingling, or burning), cognitive impairment, and akathisia, a distressing movement disorder characterized by an uncontrollable, intense urge to move and severe inner restlessness; new or worsening anxiety, irritability, emotional blunting, insomnia, fatigue, and impaired concentration.[3]<\/p>\n

CCHR maintains these reactions are not minor inconveniences but destabilizing physiological responses that can impair functioning and, in severe cases, contribute to suicidal or violent behavior.<\/p>\n

In 2019, The New York Times<\/em> reported that physicians had for years \u201cdismissed or downplayed such symptoms,\u201d frequently attributing them to recurrence of mood disorders.[4]<\/p>\n

CCHR points to what it describes as a strategic and misleading shift in terminology.<\/p>\n

In 1996, at a pharmaceutical industry-funded meeting, the term \u201cantidepressant discontinuation syndrome\u201d (ADS) was introduced in place of \u201cwithdrawal.\u201d In 1997, experts who attended the meeting published papers promoting the new terminology.[5] In 2001, sales representatives for the manufacturer of paroxetine (Paxil) were reportedly instructed to avoid using the word \u201cwithdrawal.\u201d[6]<\/p>\n

Dr. David Healy, a leading psychopharmacologist, has argued that the term was designed to deflect from concerns about dependence. He and colleagues stated: \u201cIn lay terms, you can just as easily become hooked on SSRIs as on benzodiazepines or opiates, and SSRIs can be more difficult to get off than anything else.\u201d[7]<\/p>\n

ADS was added to the APA\u2019s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders<\/em> (DSM-5) and remains in the DSM-5-TR as a \u201cmedication-related adverse effect.\u201d In 2025, an APA member writing in Psychiatric Times<\/em> described withdrawal as a \u201cvery small minority\u201d who experience severe and prolonged symptoms.<\/p>\n

CCHR argues that this underscores the scope of a problem long minimized.<\/p>\n

Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring, a U.S. psychiatrist specializing in tapering and withdrawal management, has warned that discontinuation can take months and that symptoms may persist for years. Full recovery may take 12 to 24 months. In some cases, he notes, symptoms can drive individuals to suicidal despair.[8]<\/p>\n

Despite mounting evidence, U.S. antidepressant labels mention discontinuation symptoms but portray them as short-lived and, as Josef Witt-Doerring has noted, do not warn of months-long withdrawal.<\/p>\n

CCHR says the recent acknowledgment in Psychiatric Times<\/em> represents a long overdue validation for millions who were told their suffering was imaginary, exaggerated, or evidence of relapse. \u201cFor 36 years, CCHR has documented patient testimonies, regulatory failures, and industry tactics that minimized the risks of antidepressant withdrawal,\u201d Eastgate stated.<\/p>\n

CCHR<\/a>, which was established by the Church of Scientology and Professor of psychiatry Thomas Szasz in 1969, says the FDA now needs to solve this problem and take decisive corrective action proportionate to the scale of harm. Until resolved, there must be immediate label revisions clearly warning of severe and protracted withdrawal and the creation of a national adverse-event reporting database dedicated specifically to psychiatric drugs, with mandatory reporting of suicides, violence, and severe or prolonged withdrawal reactions.<\/p>\n

Until the FDA and the APA fully confront and correct a crisis that developed under their authority, millions remain at risk. The FDA approved these drugs and allowed labeling that minimized dependence and withdrawal risks. Eastgate adds, \u201cThe oversight of agencies entrusted to protect Americans has failed. Recognition in a journal is not reform. Acknowledgment is not accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more, visit:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.cchrint.org\/2026\/02\/23\/antidepressant-withdrawal-severe-prolonged\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/em><\/p>\n

[1] Nicolas Badre, MD, et al., \u201cExiting Antidepressants: A Needed Spotlight on Withdrawal,\u201d Psychiatric Times<\/em>, 9 Feb. 2026<\/p>\n

[2] James Davies and John Read, \u201cA systematic review into the incidence, severity and duration of antidepressant withdrawal effects: Are guidelines evidence-based?\u201d Addictive Behaviors<\/em>, 97 (2019), p. 111<\/p>\n

[3] Nicolas Badre, MD, Psychiatric Times<\/em>, 9 Feb. 2026<\/p>\n

[4] Christopher Lane, Ph.D., \u201cAntidepressant Guidelines to Tighten in the UK: Welcome policy change also reveals scale of the problem,\u201d Psychology Today<\/em>, 31 May 2019; Benedict Carey, \u201cHow to Quit Antidepressants: Very Slowly, Doctors Say,\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, 5 Mar. 2019<\/p>\n

[5] Joseph Glenmullen, M.D., Prozac Backlash<\/em>, (Simon & Schuster, NY, 2000), p. 76<\/p>\n

[6] \u201cDrug Maker Withheld Paxil Study Data,\u201d ABC News, 9 Dec. 2004, https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Health\/story?id=311956<\/a><\/p>\n

[7] David Healy, et al., Children of the Cure: Missing Data, Lost Lives and Antidepressants<\/em>, (Samizdat Health Writer\u2019s Co-operative Inc., 2020), pp. 43-44<\/p>\n

[8] \u201cSSRI Dangers & Tapering Off Safely with Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring,\u201d Independent Medical Alliance, 11 Sept. 2025<\/p>\n

MULTIMEDIA<\/strong><\/p>\n

CCHR Image link for media: https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/26-0225-s2p-cchrwdraw-300dpi.webp<\/a><\/p>\n

Image caption: Official psychiatric publication acknowledges diagnostic errors and prolonged antidepressant withdrawal – confirming concerns long raised by patients, researchers, and CCHR.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Feb. 25, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) says a landmark article published in Psychiatric Times confirms what patients, independent researchers, and CCHR have documented and warned about for more than three decades: SSRI antidepressant withdrawal is more common and severe than previously acknowledged and frequently misdiagnosed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9788,"featured_media":133438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[608,12804],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion-news","category-ap","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":1175,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9788"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133441"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133446,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133441\/revisions\/133446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}