Content advisory: this episode contains themes of metal health and suicidality

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by Dr MarkHorowitz, who is a psychiatrist, researcher and world-leading expert in psychiatric medication withdrawal and deprescribing. Mark is also the lead author of the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines and co-founder of Outro Health, the only virtual clinic in the United States offering a clinically validated antidepressant tapering service.

Together, they explore how antidepressants,gabapentinoids and other psychoactive medications became so widely prescribed and why stopping them is often far more difficult than starting them. Thediscussion looks closely at what the evidence actually shows about effectiveness, long-term risks, withdrawal effects and suicidality, particularly for women and younger people.

The conversation also examines how hormonal changes, life stressors and social factors are frequently overlooked, leading to the medicalisation of distress that may be a normal response to difficultcircumstances.