Non-pharmacological treatment (such as cognitive behavioural therapy) is recommended as the first line of treatment for common mild and moderate mental health disorders. However, antidepressant prescriptions are often the first option offered by health services. Current guidelines recommend antidepressant use is maintained for 6 to 12 months; however, many people who take antidepressants take them for more than 2 years. When individuals discontinue their antidepressants too quickly, significant physiological and psychological symptoms can occur. These may include increased anxiety, dizziness, electric shock-like sensations, brain zaps, agitation, and emotional blunting. Consumers with lived experience have reported the current options for support from health services are inadequate and have called for more support options for assisting with antidepressant discontinuation.
Qualitative research in the UK has highlighted the need to consider health care professionals' roles in supporting their clients, particularly how and when to initiate discussions around discontinuation. However, even though prescribers and GPs have named increased psychological support and the value of multidisciplinary support as key facilitating factors in managing discontinuation, psychologists have been underrepresented in the discussions within the literature.
Currently, no research has explored Australian psychologist perspectives on how they view their role in supporting client discontinuation from antidepressants. This doctoral research aims to investigate the perceived role of the psychologist in supporting individual clients in the management of antidepressant discontinuation. The first study will seek to explore the current knowledge and beliefs that Australian psychologists hold about antidepressant discontinuation and their role in multidisciplinary management via a mixed-methods online survey. The second study will aim to identify an expert consensus via a modified Delphi method for the most appropriate support strategies and actions to be implemented by psychologists if their clients are discontinuing their antidepressant medication. Given the nature of this research, there are no specific research hypotheses.