MIND, the leading mental health charity in the UK, published this detailed study on how people experience coming off psychiatric drugs. Because they learned how unhelpful doctors can be, they changed their policy and no longer recommend people try to come off drugs only with their doctor's approval.

Download the MIND Study here.

Introduction
Mind’s research into people’s experiences of
adverse effects of taking psychiatric drugs*
highlighted the lack of information and support
for people wanting to stop taking medication.
The research for Coping with coming offset out
to find out what happens when people do try to
come off psychiatric drugs: the effects of
withdrawal and what helps people to succeed.
Summary
Why stop?
The most common reasons given for wanting to
come off drugs were disliking the adverse effects
of taking them and not wanting to be on them
long-term.
Doctors and patients
The research highlighted significant difficulties
between doctors and their patients:
• Doctors were unable to predict who could
come off their psychiatric drugs successfully.
People who came off their drugs against their
doctor’s advice were as likely to succeed as
those whose doctors agreed they should
come off.
• People on mood stabilisers or neuroleptics
were particularly likely to come off against
their doctor’s advice or without telling their
doctor. About two thirds of people on mood
stabilisers and neuroleptics tried coming off
against the advice of their doctor or without
telling them.
• Where doctors were involved, they were the
least likely to be found helpful of any group
of people. About half the people who sought
or received help from a doctor found them
helpful. In contrast, around nine out of ten
people who sought help or support from a
counsellor or psychotherapist found them
helpful, with other service users being found
similarly helpful.
Difficulties
Of the people we interviewed, over half
experienced difficulties in coming off their drugs.
The most common difficulties were anxiety,
difficulty sleeping and depression. Those coming
off SSRIs were more likely to have difficulty
coming off than people on mood stabilisers
or neuroleptics.
Success
The biggest factor in influencing success in
coming off was length of time on the drug.
Four out of five people who had been on the
drug less than six months succeeded, compared
with under half who had been on it more than
five years.
Benefits
When people who succeeded in coming off their
medication were asked about the benefits, they
most often said: better mental ability, feeling
more alive, having taken back power and
control, no longer experiencing the adverse
effects, and feeling good about managing
without the drugs.
Recommendations
• All people who prescribe psychiatric drugs to
have training in how to support people who
take them. 
• More funding for services to support people
through coming off psychiatric drugs.
• Learning from best practice in mental health
and substance misuse organisations.
• Commissioning of user-led projects offering
independent information, advice and mutual
support for people on psychiatric drugs.
• Dialogue between all interest groups
concerned with taking or prescribing
neuroleptics and mood stabilisers.
• Further research into people's experiences of
trying to come off neuroleptics and mood
stabilisers.
This research has highlighted themes that are
familiar in many debates about mental health
services. They include:
• service users wanting to be listened to and
treated with respect
• alternatives to psychiatric drugs
• access to information
• value of peer support
• lack of credibility when you have a diagnosis
• control and coercion
• conflicting views about mental health and
distress.