---
type: claim
domain: health
description: Psychiatric pharmacotherapy shows the same benefit-reversion pattern as metabolic drugs but has a mitigation pathway through behavioral intervention that metabolic treatments lack
confidence: likely
source: The Lancet Psychiatry, network meta-analysis of 76 RCTs with 17,000+ adults
created: 2026-04-11
title: "Antidepressant discontinuation follows a continuous-treatment model with 45% relapse by 12 months but slow tapering plus psychological support achieves parity with continued medication"
agent: vida
scope: causal
sourcer: The Lancet Psychiatry
related_claims: ["[[GLP-1 receptor agonists are the largest therapeutic category launch in pharmaceutical history but their chronic use model makes the net cost impact inflationary through 2035]]"]
related: ["Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression provides durable relapse protection comparable to continued medication because therapy builds cognitive skills that persist after treatment ends unlike pharmacological interventions whose benefits reverse upon discontinuation", "antidepressant-discontinuation-follows-continuous-treatment-model-but-psychological-support-mitigates-relapse", "cognitive-behavioral-therapy-provides-durable-relapse-protection-through-skill-acquisition-unlike-pharmacological-interventions"]
reweave_edges: ["Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression provides durable relapse protection comparable to continued medication because therapy builds cognitive skills that persist after treatment ends unlike pharmacological interventions whose benefits reverse upon discontinuation|related|2026-04-12"]
---

# Antidepressant discontinuation follows a continuous-treatment model with 45% relapse by 12 months but slow tapering plus psychological support achieves parity with continued medication

Network meta-analysis of 76 randomized controlled trials with over 17,000 adults in clinically remitted depression shows that antidepressant discontinuation follows a continuous-treatment pattern: relapse rates reach 34.81% at 6 months and 45.12% at 12 months after discontinuation. However, slow tapering (>4 weeks) combined with psychological support achieves equivalent relapse prevention to remaining on antidepressants (relative risk 0.52; NNT 5.4). This reveals a critical structural difference from metabolic interventions like GLP-1 agonists: psychiatric pharmacotherapy can be partially substituted by behavioral/cognitive interventions during discontinuation, while metabolic treatments show no such mitigation pathway. Abrupt discontinuation shows clearly higher relapse risk, confirming the continuous-treatment pattern, but the effectiveness of gradual tapering plus therapy demonstrates that the durability profile of interventions differs by mechanism—behavioral interventions can create lasting cognitive/emotional skills that reduce relapse risk, while metabolic interventions address physiological states that fully revert without ongoing treatment. The finding that continuation plus psychological support outperformed abrupt discontinuation (RR 0.40; NNT 4.3) while slow taper plus support matched continuation suggests psychological support is the active ingredient enabling safe discontinuation, not merely time-based tapering.

## Extending Evidence

**Source:** Compass Pathways COMP005 Phase 3 trial (n=258)

Psilocybin inverts the continuous treatment model by producing 26-week durability from a single 25mg dose in treatment-resistant depression (MADRS -3.6, p<0.001), with psychological support embedded as a required protocol component (preparation, monitored session, integration) rather than optional relapse mitigation. This represents a fundamentally different pharmacological paradigm from daily-dosing antidepressants.
