In one 2010 study cited in the new paper , Japanese researchers found that 78 percent of people trying to taper off Paxil suffered severe withdrawal symptoms. The research team had them taper much more slowly, over an average of nine months and for as long as four years. By blocking the transporter, antidepressants prolong and enhance serotonin’s effects. “Doctors have in mind that these drugs act in a linear way, that when you reduce dosage by half, it reduces the effect in the brain by a half,” Dr. Horowitz said. “It doesn’t work that way.

Source: New York Times March 06, 2019 00:00 UTC