Previous estimates have suggested that more than half of people who stop taking antidepressants experience withdrawal symptoms, but now a review of the evidence suggests this isn’t the case, at least for short-term use.
By Carissa Wong
9 July 2025
Antidepressant withdrawal symptoms include nausea and headaches
Savushkin/Getty Images
Antidepressant withdrawal symptoms may be less common than we thought, at least for short-term use – but questions remain about what happens to people who stop taking the drugs after much longer periods.
We know that people taking antidepressants for conditions such as depression, anxiety and phobias may experience withdrawal symptoms that can last for a few weeks, such as nausea, headaches, anxiety and depression, but while doctors may warn people about this possibility, it is unclear how often they actually occur.
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To find out more, Sameer Jauhar at Imperial College London and his colleagues reviewed 49 randomised controlled trials of antidepressant use. They first analysed a subset of studies that tracked the number of withdrawal symptoms participants experienced one week after either stopping antidepressants, coming off placebo pills or continuing to take antidepressants. The researchers found that those who stopped taking the drugs experienced one extra symptom compared with those in the other two groups.
In another analysis, the team looked at another subset of studies that tracked the types of withdrawal symptoms participants experienced after coming off antidepressants or placebo pills. Dizziness was found to be the most common symptom, followed by nausea, nervousness or irritability, and vertigo.
Specifically, 7.5 per cent of people in the antidepressant group experienced dizziness, while this figure was 1.8 per cent in the placebo group. Nausea, nervousness or irritability, and vertigo were each reported by less than 5 per cent of people in the antidepressant group, and less than 2 per cent in the placebo group.