Suspending an antidepressant drug due to important side effects, as in the case described by Fedez on Instagram, can give a so-called ‘rebound’ effect. You essentially experience a resurgence of symptoms, such as anxiety or depression, for which the drug itself was taken. Professor Enrico Zanalda, past president of Sip, the Italian Society of Psychiatry and president of the Italian Society of Forensic Psychiatry explains it.
“This happens when the drug is not ‘scaled down’ – explains Zanalda – but it has to be suspended, as in the case of Fedez, due to the onset of annoying side effects. Fedez probably had a lot of anxiety before, then she calmed down with the drug , however side effects have appeared, such as that of mouth movement which can be very annoying.
Suddenly suspending it, then, there was a recrudescence of the symptoms for which it had been prescribed.
The rebound effect indicates a return of the most important symptoms”. “Psychiatric drugs – adds the expert – must be used under specialist medical supervision, in the specific case of a psychiatrist. Used correctly they are of great help, for example in cases of depression that is accompanied by a serious pathology, such as cancer in the case of Fedez, for example.
They are also important because it is known that a depressed person also tends to take less care, to be less proactive in treatment. There may be side effects, but these too must be managed correctly, through consultation with the psychiatrist. This step is important, because generally the drug that causes side effects is suspended, but if there is an indication for treatment, it is replaced with another one that can avoid this rebound effect”. “The antidepressant treatment – Zanalda also underlines – must usually be continued for a period of 6-8 months and even if one feels well and the drug is stopped before this period of time, very frequently there is a resumption of the symptoms for which it was taken initially. A phenomenon called relapse, because the depressive episode has not resolved itself but has only been subsided by the drug therapy, and by not assuming it the symptoms return”. “In the case of Fedez, as in other patients – concludes the expert – family support is important. When one has such a difficult experience as that of an oncological or cardiac pathology, such as a heart attack, one tends to review one’s life attitudes and one realizes which affections are the most important and the things that matter most “.
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