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“More skills, less pills”: NPs reimagine polypharmacy and psychiatric deprescribing
“More skills, less pills”: NPs reimagine polypharmacy and psychiatric deprescribing
NewsNurse practitioners at the University of Wisconsin are reimagining polypharmacy and psychiatric medication deprescribing as an active partnership with patients, with an emphasis on communication and shared decision-making. A 2026 article in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, “Deprescribing in Action: Reducing Polypharmacy to Improve Mental Health,” co-authored by three University of Wisconsin faculty members and…
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Can we distinguish withdrawal from relapse? Emerging evidence from antidepressant tapering
ResearchAs a new study confirms that the symptoms that follow antidepressant discontinuation are linked to withdrawal rather than relapse, its analysis suggests it's time to update our tools for measuring them. When symptoms emerge after an antidepressant is reduced or discontinued, one of the most important and difficult clinical questions is whether those symptoms represent…
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When the drug is gone, the adaptations may not be….
NewsA young neuroscientist from the Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology asserts that the discontinuation of psychotropic drugs and effects of drug withdrawal should be a field of study on its own. For decades, psychopharmacology has focused primarily on what happens when a medication is started: how drugs interact with receptors, alter…
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UK pharmacists are ideally placed to help patients taper psychotropics. Will the guidance catch up?
NewsA recent article on deprescribing best practices in The Pharmaceutical Journal, the official publication of Great Britain's Royal College of Pharmacy, shows growing awareness among pharmacists of psychotropic deprescribing. But clear guidelines are is still lacking. In August, a brief article, “Best practice for prescribing drugs with dependence potential,” appeared in The Pharmaceutical Journal, the…
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Patient-centered tapering offers a path toward significant opioid reduction
ResearchGradual dose reduction can effectively minimize opioids for pain management. A randomized clinical trial published in July 2026 in Annals of Internal Medicine evaluated three patient-centered approaches to tapering long-term opioid therapy among adults with chronic pain who did not have moderate or severe opioid use disorder. Participants worked collaboratively with their deprescribing clinician to…
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Florida guidance urges cautious use of psychiatric medications and safe deprescribing in youth
NewsIn July, the Florida Department of Health released new guidance encouraging clinicians to take a cautious, comprehensive approach before prescribing psychotropic medications to children ages 5–17. Except in emergencies, it advises providers to conduct thorough medical, developmental, and psychosocial evaluations and address factors such as sleep, nutrition, physical activity, screen time, family environment, and potential…
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US Department of Health and Human Services advocates deprescribing of unnecessary psychiatric drugs
NewsOn May 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a clinician advisory to reduce continuation of unnecessary psychiatric drug treatment, moving in the direction of earlier governmental initiatives encouraging deprescribing of opiates, benzodiazepines, and antipsychotics for geriatric patients. This represents a significant shift in federal policy, as it addresses a…
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Hyperbolic tapering gets a cameo at the American Psychiatric Association
NewsDr. Chris Aiken, a psychiatrist and editor-in-chief of The Carlat Report, an independent source of clinical psychiatry advice, gave a presentation titled "The Much Too Medicated Patient: Rational and Irrational Polypharmacy", about deprescribing unnecessary psychiatric polypharmacy. Aiken’s session was standing-room only.
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International Conference on Deprescribing broadens its interest in psychotropic deprescribing
NewsIn late April, 2026, more than 260 researchers, clinicians, public members, students, policy makers, health and community organisation representatives, and patient advocates came to Montréal, Canada to attend the third International Conference on Deprescribing (ICOD 2026), co-hosted by the Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network and the US Deprescribing Research Network. Originally focusing on reducing…
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American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology backs deprescribing
NewsThe American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology's February, 2026 consensus statement in JAMA Network Open represents an important shift in the field by recognizing deprescribing as an essential component of responsible psychopharmacologic care, emphasizing that the need for every course of psychiatric medication should be reassessed regularly rather than assumed to be indefinite.
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