In several other articles on this website, we have discussed discontinuation (withdrawal) symptoms that can occur when an antidepressant medication is stopped. Please see:
Antidepressant discontinuation (withdrawal): Introduction
Antidepressant discontinuation (withdrawal): Risk factors
Antidepressant discontinuation (withdrawal): Clinical features
Antidepressant discontinuation (withdrawal): Management
How exactly should desvenlafaxine be stopped?
Anticholinergic medication for antidepressant discontinuation syndrome?
Antidepressant discontinuation (withdrawal): Duloxetine
How can duloxetine be tapered very slowly?
Antidepressant discontinuation and “brain zaps”
Discontinuation symptoms may be mistaken for worsening of the illness
But a common clinical challenge is to distinguish between antidepressant discontinuation (withdrawal) symptoms and symptoms of the illness for which the antidepressant was being prescribed. As you can imagine, it is extremely important to be able to distinguish between these two possibilities because the treatment will be very different.
Antidepressant discontinuation (withdrawal) symptoms can easily be mistaken for relapse or worsening of the illness (Fava et al., 2018). Though not based on systematic research, it is believed that this happens fairly commonly (Horowitz and Davies, 2025).
Register